| The Roots of Heaven | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | John Huston |
| Screenplay by | Romain Gary Patrick Leigh-Fermor |
| Based on | The Roots of Heaven (1956 novel) byRomain Gary |
| Produced by | Darryl F. Zanuck |
| Starring | Errol Flynn Juliette Gréco Trevor Howard Eddie Albert Orson Welles Paul Lukas Herbert Lom |
| Cinematography | Oswald Morris |
| Edited by | Russell Lloyd |
| Music by | Malcolm Arnold |
Production company | Darryl F. Zanuck Productions |
| Distributed by | 20th Century-Fox |
Release dates | |
Running time | 126 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3.3 million[3][4] |
| Box office | $3 million[5][6] |
The Roots of Heaven is a 1958 Americanadventure film directed byJohn Huston and produced byDarryl F. Zanuck. The screenplay was written byRomain Gary andPatrick Leigh Fermor based onRomain Gary's1956 novel of the same name. The film starsErrol Flynn,Juliette Gréco,Trevor Howard,Eddie Albert,Orson Welles,Paul Lukas,Herbert Lom, andGrégoire Aslan. The film was distributed by20th Century-Fox.
InFrench Equatorial Africa, crusading environmentalist Morel endeavors to preserve the elephants from extinction as a lasting symbol of freedom for all humanity. He is helped by Minna, a nightclub hostess, and Major Forsythe, a disgraced British military officer hoping to redeem himself.
20th Century-Fox bought the film rights thenovel byRomain Gary in April 1957 for more than $100,000.[7] The novel had sold over 300,000 copies inEurope, but had not yet been released in the U.S., where it would become a bestseller.[8][9] In May,Darryl F. Zanuck announced that he would produce the film independently for Fox (he had a contract with the studio to make films), and wantedJohn Huston to direct.[10] Zanuck said that the theme of the film was "simple ... A man comes to the conclusion that if we don't stop killing people we destroy ourselves.' And he says, 'Why not start with our biggest companions on earth, the elephants, whose only enemy is man?'"[11] He later added:
This picture is really great for us – intellectually great. Whether it's commercially great, whether people will grab on to it, we must wait and see. If they grab on to a man in love with a bridge, then why shouldn't they grab on to a man in love with an elephant?[11]
Huston said that he wanted to direct the novel before Zanuck approached him:
After my experience withSelznick [onA Farewell to Arms] – all those memorandum! – I'd sworn never to work with a producer again, but I did want very much to make this particular film. So we met several times and talked it through and finally agreed to try it.[12]
Huston agreed to direct for a fee he described as "slightly higher" than $300,000. Regarding the irony of a big-game hunter like Huston making a film about a militant elephant conservationist, Huston said: "Contrary to prevailing opinion, I never found an elephant big enough to justify the sin of killing one."[13] Zanuck visited theBelgian Congo in late 1957 to scout locations.[14][15]
William Holden was mentioned as a possibility for the lead part of Morel, as wasJames Mason.[16] Holden wanted to take the role but he was under contract toParamount, which would not permit him to make the film unless he signed another contract, but he refused.[17][18]
The lead role was taken byTrevor Howard.Errol Flynn signed to play a key support role but was given top billing.[19] Flynn left the cast of the playThe Master of Thornfield to appear in the film.[20][21] Flynn and Huston had famously brawled at aHollywood party more than a decade earlier.[22]
Juliette Gréco, who had appeared in Zanuck's version ofThe Sun Also Rises and became his lover, was signed as the female lead Minna.[23]Eddie Albert andPaul Lukas were also cast, andOrson Welles agreed to play a cameo role.
Shooting took place mainly on location inFrench Equatorial Africa[24] over five months in theBelgian Congo andChad in theNorthern Cameroons, where the elephants were located. The cast and crew suffered from heat,malaria and othertropical diseases. Temperatures would routinely reach 134 °F (57 °C) in the day and 95 °F (35 °C) degrees at night, and people would shower four or five times per night. Some days required a four-hour drive to the location and back, and all water was transported to the set by aircraft.[11] Gréco contracted a serious illness[25] and the company reported 900 sick calls from a cast and crew of 120.[26] Flynn mentioned the challenges of the location with affection in his autobiographyMy Wicked, Wicked Ways (1959).
Zanuck said "I would never make a picture there again"[4] but he was proud that "[t]here is not one dubbed line, transparency plate or process shot in the whole picture."[11] The unit then moved toParis for studio filming. While there, Gréco fell ill with a recurrence of her illness. Flynn also had a recurrence of malaria requiring hospitalization.[12] Welles filmed his part over two days at a Paris studio. His rate was normally $15,000, but he was not paid because he wished to reciprocate Zanuck for helping Welles fundOthello (1952).[27]
Huston later said: "I still don't want to have to work with a producer again but if I had to, I'd certainly choose Darryl. He's been very good, co-operative and decent throughout."[12] He also said that he was "completely responsible... for the badness ofThe Roots of Heaven. I really wanted to make that one and Daryl Zanuck got me everything and everybody I wanted. But I had the screenplay done by someone who had never done one before, and it was bad. By then the cast, crew and me were in Africa; it was too late to turn back, we would have spent a fortune for nothing, so we went ahead and did the best we could."[28] He also said thatRoots of Heaven "could have been a very fine film. And largely owing to me was not a good film at all."[29]
The film was edited inLondon rather than Paris so that Zanuck could be near Gréco, who was makingWhirlpool there.[30]
The film opened at thePalace Theatre inNew York City on October 15, 1958.[31]
The film earned rentals of $3 million in the United States and Canada[5] and recorded admissions of 1,266,452 in France.[32]
In a contemporary review forThe New York Times, criticBosley Crowther wrote: "After the intermission, the final third of the film goes down the drain. This is the more disappointing—and strangely surprising, indeed—because the elements, up to this point, have seemed so beautifully under control. ... The screen play just goes to pieces. ... And the performances, which are forceful in the first two-thirds of the film, run progressively to twaddle as the survivors stagger toward the end. ...The Roots of Heaven does not go deep in sandy soil."[1]
Upon the film'sLos Angeles-area release on December 31, 1958, criticPhilip K. Scheuer of theLos Angeles Times wrote: "John Huston may have bitten off more than he could chew inThe Roots of Heaven, but much of it makes for thoughtful mastication. ... it sometimes seems too strange to be real."[2]
FilmInk called the film "possibly the first big budget studio film about aneco-terrorist (unless you countTarzan] movies)."[33]
The sounds of theTIE fighter fromStar Wars, and laterStar Wars films, were created in part by reusing and altering the recordings of aggravated elephants vocalizing in later scenes inThe Roots of Heaven.[34]Star Wars sound directorBen Burtt described that because the film was produced by 20th Century Fox, he and his team had access to a vast array of old sound properties produced by the studio.[citation needed]
The film was first released on Blu-ray in 2011 byTwilight Time in a limited edition of 3,000 units. The only special feature on the disc is an isolated score track.
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