PORGY and BESS
1959
According
to official archives the original 1959 film was never released to the
public. The Gershwin estate was disappointed as the score had been
substantially edited to make it more like a musical. Much of the music
was omitted from the film, and many of Gershwin's orchestrations were
either changed or completely scrapped. In March 1992 major sections of
the actual film footage was discarded due to acetate deterioration.
In 1993, the Glyndebourne Festival stage production of Porgy and Bess was greatly
expanded
scenically and taped by the BBC in a television studio without an
audience and is the only version of the opera to officially appear on
DVD or Video.
STORY:
Set among the black residents of a
fishing village in 1912 South Carolina, Bess - a woman with a
disreputable history - tries to break free from her brutish lover Crown
after he
becomes wanted for murder. The only person willing to
overlook her past and offer her shelter is the crippled Porgy. Their
relationship is threatened by the disapproval of the townspeople, the
presence of her old drug supplier Sportin' Life - and the threatened
return of Crown.
CAST:
Sidney Poitier ... Porgy
Dorothy Dandridge ... Bess
Sammy Davis Jr. ... Sportin' Life
Pearl Bailey ... Maria
Brock Peters ... Crown
Leslie Scott ... Jake
Diahann Carroll ... Clara
Ruth Attaway ... Serena Robbins
Claude Akins ... Detective
Clarence Muse ... Peter
Everdinne Wilson ... Annie
Joel Fluellen ... Robbins
Earl Jackson ... Mingo
Moses LaMarr ... Nelson
Margaret Hairston ... Lily
Ivan Dixon ... Jim
Antoine Durousseau ... Scipio
Helen Thigpen ... Strawberry woman
Vince Townsend ... Elderly man
William Walker ... Undertaker
Roy Glenn ... Frazier
Maurice Manson ... Coroner
Adele Addison ... Bess (singing voice) (uncredited)
Maya Angelou ... Dancer (uncredited)
Geoffrey Holder ... Dancer (uncredited)
Inez Matthews ... Serena (singing voice) (uncredited)
Robert McFerrin ... Porgy (singing voice) (uncredited)
Nichelle Nichols ... Dancer (uncredited)
Loulie Jean Norman ... Clara (singing voice) (uncredited)
PLEASE NOTE:
Although
this is the best quality version of this film available, the picture
quality is NOT up to modern DVD standards. Please do not expect it to
be. The film is some 60 years old and has never been 'lovingly
preserved'. However, it is the best quality version available.
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