The Rose Tattoo

Dir: Daniel Mann
Scr: Tennessee Williams
Prod: Hal B. Wallis
Prod Co.: Paramount Pictures
Cast: Anna Magnani, Burt Lancaster, Virginia Grey, Marisa Pavan, Jo Van Fleet
1955 | B&W | 35mm | English | English Subtitles | 117min

Following the success of the Tennessee Williams' play on Broadway, Williams and co-writer Hal Kanter adapted it for this 1955 film. Anna Magnani – Williams’ original choice for lead role – stars as a widow living in a community of Italian immigrants in Louisiana who is still reeling from her unfaithful husband’s untimely death. Both the film and the play effectively depicted this unique community’s reliance on faith and sense of morality, showing the tumultuous and romantic lives the residents led. Cinematographer James Wong Howe reflects the inner turmoil of the protagonist through striking black-and-white images that are at once fierce and gentle. The film not only earned Magnani an Academy Award for her astonishing performance, it also gave Howe his first Academy Award after five previous nominations. Showing together with James Wong Howe: Cinematographer.

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