The First Legion
About The First Legion
Father John Fulton, a Jesuit teacher, has decided to leave the order. His friend Father Marc Arnoux cannot talk him out of it. That night their old teacher, Father Jose Sierra, who had been paralyzed, stands and walks, and tells Fulton to stay. The wheelchair-bound neighbor Terry Gilmartin hopes for the same cure. Her doctor, Peter Morrell, who attended Sierra and who loves Terry, tells Arnoux that he faked Sierra's recovery and will not confess it. The rector orders Arnoux to defend the miracle in Rome. Arnoux refuses. The rector dies of a heart attack. Morrell then admits the trick, including to Terry. She goes to the seminary chapel, prays for him, and stands up out of the chair.
Cast & crew
More about The First Legion
Douglas Sirk directed and produced for Sédif Productions. Emmet Lavery adapted his own play, which opened at the 46th Street Theatre in October 1934 with no women in the cast, moved to the Biltmore, and closed in January 1935. Charles Boyer financed the film. The play's Father Aherne was renamed Father Arnoux to fit Boyer's accent. Robert De Grasse photographed it. Francis D. Lyon edited. Hans Sommer wrote the music. Most of the picture was shot at the Mission Inn in Riverside, California. The seminary gate was a house in Beverly Hills. A New York opening followed on 27 April 1951, with United Artists releasing it. Los Angeles opened on 14 December 1951. In 1948 Joseph Lucachevitch had bought French rights for $50,000 plus a share of profits, with Julien Duvivier set to direct. That version was not made.
Themes
Making
Sirk used the Mission Inn's courts for the seminary and a private gate in Beverly Hills for the entrance.
Look
Robert De Grasse shot the seminary interiors at the Mission Inn in Riverside and the gate scene at a Beverly Hills house.
Music
Hans Sommer wrote the score.
Preservation
UCLA Film and Television Archive restored the film. The restoration was screened in March 2015, paid for by the Louis B. Mayer Foundation and the Carl David Memorial Fund.
Notes
- Charles Boyer plays Father Marc Arnoux. Wesley Addy is Father John Fulton. H. B. Warner is Father Jose Sierra.
- Lyle Bettger is Dr. Peter Morrell. Barbara Rush is Terry Gilmartin. William Demarest is Monsignor Michael Carey.
- Leo G. Carroll is the rector, Father Paul Duquesne. Walter Hampden, George Zucco, and Taylor Holmes play other priests.
- The Broadway play had no female roles. Terry and her mother were added for the film.
- UCLA restored the film with money from the Louis B. Mayer Foundation and the Carl David Memorial Fund. The restoration was shown in March 2015.
Scenes
- Father Sierra rises from his paralysis and tells Fulton to stay.
- After Morrell admits the fraud, Terry stands up in the chapel while praying for him.
Influenced by
- The First Legion (play by Emmet Lavery, 1934)
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (The First Legion, 1951.webm)