| Louisiana Story | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Robert J. Flaherty |
| Written by | Robert J. Flaherty Frances H. Flaherty |
| Produced by | Robert J. Flaherty |
| Starring | Joseph Boudreaux Lionel Le Blanc E. Bienvenu Frank Hardy Oscar J Yarborough |
| Cinematography | Richard Leacock |
| Edited by | Helen van Dongen |
| Music by | Virgil Thomson |
Production company | Robert Flaherty Productions Inc. forStandard Oil Co. of New Jersey |
| Distributed by | Lopert Films |
Release date |
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Running time | 78 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Languages | English French |
Louisiana Story is a 1948 Americanblack-and-whitedrama film directed and produced byRobert J. Flaherty. The script was written by Flaherty and his wifeFrances H. Flaherty. Although it has historically been represented as adocumentary film, the events and characters depicted are fictional. The film was commissioned by theStandard Oil Company to promote its drilling ventures in the Louisianabayous.
A youngCajun boy and his pet raccoon live an idyllic existence playing in thebayous ofLouisiana. His elderly father allows an oil company to drill for oil in the inlet that runs behind their house. An inland barge is towed into the inlet from interconnecting waterways. The rig crew completes its operation and its friendly drillers depart, leaving behind a clean environment and a wealthy family.
Louisiana Story was shot on location over the course of 15 months in the Louisiana bayou country, using local residents for actors. Producer Robert J. Flaherty spent three months searching for a locale before filming began.[2]
Although the film was sponsored by theStandard Oil Company, the company's name is not heard or seen, and Flaherty retained full ownership of the film. Of the approximately 300,000 feet of negative film shot, only about 8,000 feet were used in the final cut. Standard Oil used some of the remaining film to create two short promotional films. The film's budget was $258,000.[2]
The boy, named in the film as Alexander Napoleon Ulysses Le Tour, but in the credits just identified as "the boy", is played by Louisiana native Joseph Boudreaux. When filming a scene involving a fight with an alligator, Boudreaux was so adept at subduing the alligator that the film crew tied a rope around his waist to pull him back to the shore to make the struggle seem more realistic.[2]
The film was photographed byRichard Leacock and edited byHelen van Dongen, who were also the associate producers. It was distributed by the independentLopert Films.
In 1952, it was reissued by anexploitation film outfit with a new title,Cajun, on the bottom half of a double bill with another film titledWatusi.[3]
In a contemporary review forThe New York Times, criticBosley Crowther wrote: "Like all of Flaherty's pictures, it is a gem of the cinematographer's art and it ripples and flows with deep feeling for beauty and simplicity. ... Within this simple story framework, Flaherty—being his own writer as well as director—has devised a genial. romantic parable. a conspicuously idyllic union of the pulse and rhythm of primitive life with that of the machine. ... Ironically. the most powerful and truly eloquent phases of this film are not those portraying the youngster, beautiful and tender though they be, but those demonstrating the great energy in the operations of a drilling crew."[1]
The film was nominated for anAcademy Award forBest Writing, Motion Picture Story in 1948.[4]
In 1949,Virgil Thomson won thePulitzer Prize for Music for his score, which is based on a famous field tape of authentic Cajun musicians and performed by thePhiladelphia Orchestra conducted byEugene Ormandy.[5][6]
In 1994,Louisiana Story was selected for preservation in the United StatesNational Film Registry by theLibrary of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[7][8]
The film was included in the top 10 of the firstBritish Film Institute'sSight and Sound poll in 1952.[9] It was nominated by theAmerican Film Institute for inclusion in itsAFI's 100 Years of Film Scores list in 2005.
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