Sangaree
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Edward Ludwig
Fernando Lamas
Arlene Dahl
Patricia Medina
Francis L. Sullivan
Charles Korvin
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
In Georgia, at the end of the Revolutionary War, the wealthy Gen. Darby, lying on his deathbed, asks his friend, Dr. Carlos Morales, to take over Sangaree, his estate, and establish an experimental program designed to give slaves and indentured servants their freedom. Carlos, the son of indentured servants, is grateful to Darby for providing him with an education, and accepts the responsibility, which calls for the creation of free clinics and schools for the children of slaves. Though Carlos proudly accepts the charge, Roy Darby, the general's son and a friend of Carlos, knows that his sister Nancy will contest the terms of the will and fight to gain control of the estate. Roy's prediction proves accurate, but before Nancy begins to wage her battle, she disguises herself as a country girl and boards the boat taking Carlos to Savannah to get a look at him. Introducing herself as "Dolly Lake," Nancy asks Carlos about his plans, and when he tells her that he intends to take over the plantation the following day, she warns him that "Miss Darby" and her fiancé, the attorney Harvey Bristol, will fight him. By the time he and Nancy reach Savannah, Carlos sees through Nancy's ruse, but plays along with her and steals a kiss before she leaves. In Savannah, Carlos attends an elegant party hosted by his former sweetheart, Martha Darby, who, although she is now married to Roy, still carries a torch for him. During the festivities, Martha tells Carlos that she intends to expose Nancy as an accomplice to Felix Pagnol, a French pirate who has been harassing ships off the coast of Savannah. Carlos urges Martha to suppress the information when he realizes that she intends to use it to blackmail Nancy into dropping her legal challenge to Carlos' inheritance. When Roy arrives with news of a plague outbreak, Dr. Bristol rudely dismisses the announcement as nonsense, and concurs with his son's belief that Carlos and Roy are merely using the threat of plague to generate interest in Darby's free clinic. During the trial to contest her father's will, Nancy renounces her fiancé when he tries to prove that her father was "insane." As a result, the judge rules in Carlos' favor, and the provisions of the will remain intact. Later, at a tavern, Bristol challenges Carlos to a fight, but Carlos trounces both Bristol and his henchman. Having broken off her engagement to Bristol, Nancy begins pursuing Carlos in earnest. After overhearing two pirates discussing plans to intercept a Darby ship, Carlos accuses Nancy of betraying her own company, but she denies the accusation. Carlos and his friend, Gabriel Thatch, later explode the pirate ship on its way to menace the Darby cargo. Later, as Carlos prepares to fight as Gabriel's second in his duel with Pagnol, Pagnol tells him that Bristol is behind the piracy. Carlos finds the stolen Darby cargo in the Bristol warehouse, and when he also discovers that the warehouse is the source of the plague, he orders it burned. Martha contracts the plague, but before dying, she confesses to having been Bristol's accomplice after she shoots Bristol and tells Carlos that she joined the pirates to get at the Darby fortunes. Free to resume their romance, Nancy and Carlos look forward to running Sangaree as husband and wife.
Director
Edward Ludwig
Cast
Fernando Lamas
Arlene Dahl
Patricia Medina
Francis L. Sullivan
Charles Korvin
Tom Drake
John Sutton
Willard Parker
Charles Evans
Lester Mathews
Roy Gordon
Lewis L. Russell
Russell Gaige
William Walker
Felix Nelson
Voltaire Perkins
Crew
Lucien Cailliet
Herbert Coleman
Sam Comer
John Cope
Ross Dowd
David Duncan
Josephine Earl
Farciot Edouart
John P. Fulton
Edith Head
Earl Hedrick
Wallace Kelley
Paul Lerpae
Harold Lewis
Lionel Lindon
James Miller
Frank Moss
Richard Mueller
Hal Pereira
William H. Pine
Howard Smith
William C. Thomas
Marvin Weldon
Wally Westmore
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was Savannah. The film was Paramount's first three-dimensional, Technicolor picture. A May 1953 New York Times article noted that the first ten days of filming was done in 2-D, but that Paramount board chairman Adolph Zukor urged the filmmakers to switch to 3-D to keep up with industry trends. A February 1953 Hollywood Reporter news item announced that an Eastman color negative was being used for 3-D shooting, and Technicolor for 2-D. The Variety review noted that the picture was "tailored for equipment in any theatre." Although reviews indicate that the picture was presented in widescreen, no widescreen process, or ratio, was mentioned. According to the February 1953 Hollywood Reporter item, Paramount had been "given permission" by Technicolor to use the phrase "release prints by Technicolor" in the film's advertising for the first time. The phrase was not used in the film's onscreen credits, but was included frequently in the onscreen credits of later pictures.
According to a February 1952 Hollywood Reporter news item, the film was originally slated as a starring vehicle for Clark Gable and Lana Turner. The same article noted that director Edward Ludwig was to collaborate on the script, but his contribution to the final screenplay has not been confirmed. Hollywood Reporter news items add Emile Meyer, Ethel Sway, Barbara Wilkin, Raoul Freeman, William Hind, Sigrid Aiello, Louise Bates, James Conaty, Kay Garrett, Patti McKaye, Ruth Packard and Les O'Pace to the cast, but their appearance in the final film has not been confirmed. Sangaree was the first of two films in which Arlene Dahl and Fernando Lamas, who were married to each other from 1954-1960, appeared together.
