The Prairie (film)

The Prairie is a 1947 American western film based on the novel The Prairie by James Fenimore Cooper.

The Prairie
Directed byFrank Wisbar
Produced byEdward F. Finney
Written byArthur St. Claire
Based onthe novel The Prairie by James Fenimore Cooper
Music byAlexander Steinert
CinematographyJames S. Brown Jr.
Production
company
Zenith Pictures
Distributed byScreen Guild Productions
Falcon Films[1]
Release date
November 27, 1957
Running time
65 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$120,000[2][3] or $200,000[4]

Cast
  • Lenore Aubert as Ellen Wade
  • Alan Baxter as Paul Hover
  • Russ Vincent as Abiram White
  • Jack Mitchum as Asa Bush
  • Charles Evans as Ishmael Bush
  • Edna Holland as Esther Bush
  • Chief Thundercloud as Eagle Feather
  • Fred Coby as Abner Bush
  • Bill Murphy as Jess Bush
  • David Gerber as Gabe Bush
  • Don Lynch as Enoch Bush
  • George Morrell as Luke

Production

The film was made by a new company, a co-operative venture between director Frank Wisbar, production manager Edward Finney and writer Arthur St Claire. The financed, cast and made the picture themselves.[3] Reportedly Wisbar raised some finance from his family back in Germany.[4]

It was shot at a new studios, the Motion Picture Center, over 12 days at an estimated $10,000 a day.[3]

"This is an interesting, a desperate, attempt to break the deadlock on independent production", said Wisbar. "The other boys and I made up our minds to finance, cast and film a picture as well as it could be done, without interference from the "front office", distributors, or anyone else. We did this knowing a low budget can be – and usually is – the ruin of a good picture. I know. I've made them; bad ones."[3]

Wisbar said they picked Cooper's novel because it was in the public domain and also "because it keeps the rootin', tootin', and shootin' to a minimum and stresses the human element, the story of a man who was a law unto himself. We wrote our script straight, cutting out every scene that was not absolutely necessary."[3]

Wisbar said the film was made in a style that was "realistic but stylised. Camera treatment is modern in what I would call highly poetic."[3]

The film marked the acting debut for Robert Mitchum's brother John.[5]

Reception

The Los Angeles Times said "I wish I could say the film makes some claim on artistry."[6]

Associated Producers Inc announced a new version of the book would be filmed on 2 March 1959 but it appears to have not been made.[7]

References
  1. "PRAIRIE, the". Monthly Film Bulletin. 18. 1951. p. 267. ProQuest 1305813522.
  2. Mark Thomas McGee, Talk's Cheap, Action's Expensive: The Films of Robert L. Lippert, Bear Manor Media, 2014 p 103
  3. Scheuer, P. K. (Aug 17, 1947). "DRAMA AND THE ARTS". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 165780563.
  4. Nicolella, Henry (2017). Frank Wisbar: The Director of Ferryman Maria, from Germany to America and Back. McFarland. pp. 142–146. ISBN 9781476666884.
  5. Vallance, T. (Dec 5, 2001). "Obituary: John Mitchum". The Independent. ProQuest 311986864.
  6. Scheuer, P. K. (Oct 12, 1949). "'Prairie' stylized". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 165981785.
  7. "FILMLAND EVENTS". Los Angeles Times. Dec 31, 1958. ProQuest 167377258.
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