The Rose Tattoo | |||||||||
Director: | Daniel Mann | ||||||||
Producer: | Hal B. Wallis | ||||||||
Screenplay: | Tennessee Williams
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Music: | Alex North | ||||||||
Cinematography: | James Wong Howe | ||||||||
Editing: | Warren Low | ||||||||
Distributor: | Paramount Pictures | ||||||||
Released: | (New York City) | ||||||||
Runtime: | 117 minutes | ||||||||
Country: | United States | ||||||||
Gross: | $4.2 million (US)[1] |
The Rose Tattoo is a 1955 American film adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play of the same name. It was adapted by Williams and Hal Kanter and directed by Daniel Mann, with stars Anna Magnani, Burt Lancaster, Marisa Pavan and Jo Van Fleet. Williams originally wrote the play for Italian Anna Magnani to play on Broadway in 1951, but she declined the offer because of her difficulty with the English language at the time. By the time of this film adaptation, she was ready.
Anna Magnani won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance, and the film wonBest Art Direction and Best Cinematography receiving five other nominations including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress for Pavan.
Serafina Delle Rose, a Sicilian seamstress, living in a community in proximity to the Gulf of Mexico,[2] fiercely proud of and loyal to her truck-driving husband Rosario, is pregnant with her second child. Estelle asks Serafina to make a shirt for her lover from expensive silk; Serafina does not know that the lover is Rosario and that Estelle has a tattoo of a rose on her chest to match his.
That night, Rosario is killed in an accident while trying to evade police during a smuggling run. Serafina collapses, and the doctor informs her daughter Rosa that she has miscarried.
Three years later, Serafina has become a recluse, allowing her appearance and reputation to deteriorate. She decides to attend her daughter's graduation, but two prostitutes arrive demanding that she quickly mend their bandanas for a political convention. She reluctantly does but is appalled by their talk of men and reprimands them. One of the women, Bessie, takes offense and mocks Serafina with Rosario's infidelity. Serafina is infuriated when Rosa introduces her to her new sailor boyfriend Jack Hunter. She forces him to vow before a statue of the Virgin Mary that he will respect Rosa's innocence.
Determined to find out the truth about Rosario, Serafina heads to the church to ask the priest if her husband had confessed to an affair with another woman. When he refuses to answer, she attacks him, and a truck driver named Alvaro pulls her off. He drives her home, where she offers to repair his torn shirt. She loans Alvaro the rose silk shirt that she had sewn the night of her husband's death until she is able to repair his, and they agree to meet later that night.
Alvaro returns, having impulsively gotten a rose tattooed on his chest. Serafina is disgusted and tries to throw him out, then demands that Alvaro drive her to a club her husband used to attend. Once there, she meets Estelle, who confesses and shows Serafina the rose tattooed on her chest as a symbol of her love for Rosario. Returning home, Serafina smashes the urn containing Rosario's ashes and invites Alvaro to return in the night.
Alvaro turns up hours later severely intoxicated, and Serafina leaves him in a drunken stupor and retires to bed. That night, Rosa returns home and falls asleep on the sofa; Alvaro mistakes her for Serafina and tries to kiss her. Rosa screams, and Serafina gets rid of Alvaro.
The following morning, Serafina finds Alvaro on top of a boat mast outside her house begging for forgiveness. Jack arrives and asks Serafina if he can marry Rosa. She gives her consent, and they leave to be married. Serafina then calls Alvaro down from the boat mast before declaring in front of her neighbors that they have to pick up from where they left off the night before. They enter her house and shut the door. A lively pop tune is heard on Serafina's player piano, along with the sounds of their partying and laughter.
Much of the film was shot on location in Key West, Florida,[2] although the setting is not specifically mentioned in the film. The house featured in the film stands to this day and is known, appropriately, as the "Rose Tattoo House".
The house was given Italian furniture and objects, as well as wallpaper not characteristic of houses in Key West at the time.[2]
The premiere of the film was held in New York City at the Hotel Astor on December 12, 1955, with Arthur Miller, Marlon Brando, Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield among the celebrities in attendance.
Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result |
---|---|---|---|
Academy Awards | Best Motion Picture | Hal B. Wallis | |
Best Actress | Anna Magnani | ||
Best Supporting Actress | Marisa Pavan | ||
Best Art Direction – Black-and-White | Art Direction: Hal Pereira and Tambi Larsen; Set Decoration: Samuel M. Comer and Arthur Krams | ||
Best Cinematography – Black-and-White | James Wong Howe | ||
Best Costume Design – Black-and-White | Edith Head | ||
Best Film Editing | Warren Low | ||
Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture | Alex North | ||
British Academy Film Awards | Best Foreign Actress | Anna Magnani | |
Marisa Pavan | |||
Directors Guild of America Awards | Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures | Daniel Mann | |
Golden Goblet Awards | Special Mention | Anna Magnani | |
Golden Globe Awards | Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama | ||
Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture | Marisa Pavan | ||
National Board of Review Awards | Top Ten Films | ||
Best Actress | Anna Magnani | ||
New York Film Critics Circle Awards | Best Actress |