The Wild Heart

The Wild Heart - 1952 | 82mins | Drama, Romance | Colour

The Production Team

Director: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. (US version: Rouben Mamoulian)
Producer: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger and David O. Selznick
Script: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Additional scenes: Rouben Mamoulian. (from a novel by Mary Webb)
Cinematography: Christopher Challis.
Editing: Reginald Mills.
Art Direction: Arthur Lawson.
Production Design: Hein Heckroth.
Costume Designer: Ivy Baker and Julia Squire.
Make-Up Artist: Connie Reeve and Jimmy Vining.
Special Effects: W. Percy Day.
Sound: John Cox, Red Law and Charles Poulton.
Music: Brian Easdale.

The Cast

David Farrar - Jack Reddin
Jennifer Jones - Hazel Woodus
Cyril Cusack - Edward Marston
Sybil Thorndike - Mrs. Marston
Esmond Knight - Abel Woodus
Edward Chapman - Mr. James
Hugh Griffith - Andrew Vessons
George Cole - Cousin Albert

Plot Synopsis

There had been a dispute between David O.Selznick and Alexander Korda during the shooting of Gone to Earth (1950). Although Selznick had been around while they shot it, he said the finished article wasn't what he had agreed to and took them to court. Selznick lost, but had the rights to make changes to the US version. Unlike the changes to other films, for the US version he decided to remake large chunks of it. He didn't include any previously cut scenes but cut a lot of the existing ones, and got director Rouben Mamoulian to shoot a lot of extra scenes. Most of the extra ones are explanatory (and unnecessary) and close-ups of Jennifer. The most amusing additional sequence is nearing the end when he added some close-ups of Jennifer as she was about to plummet down the well carrying her pet fox. They obviously couldn't find a tame fox in America so she's carrying what is obviously a stuffed toy! Some of the scenes he cut allow the film to lose a lot of the magical elements.