An American Dream (film)

1966 film by Robert Gist

August 31, 1966 (1966-08-31)

(New York)

Running time

103 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglish

An American Dream (also known as See You in Hell, Darling) is a 1966 American Technicolor drama film directed by Robert Gist and starring Stuart Whitman and Janet Leigh.^[1]^[2] It was adapted from the 1965 Norman Mailer novel of the same name. The film received an Oscar nomination for Best Song for "A Time for Love," music by Johnny Mandel and lyrics by Paul Francis Webster.^[3]

Plot

Stephen Rojack, a war hero, returns home to become a tough-talking television commentator who strongly criticizes the police's inability to put an end to the criminal activities of Ganucci, an organized-crime figure.

Separated from his alcoholic wife Deborah, he goes to her seeking a divorce. A violent argument breaks out, ending with Rojack throwing her from a 30th-story window.

At the police station, where he tells the police his wife committed suicide, Rojack runs into Ganucci as well as the gangster's nephew Nicky and nightclub singer Cherry McMahon, a former girlfriend of his. Rojack resumes his romantic interest in Cherry, further infuriating the Ganuccis.

Barney Kelly, his dead wife's father, is suspicious about Deborah's death and confronts Rojack, getting him to admit his guilt. Instead of informing the police, Barney decides to let Rojack struggle with his conscience.

Meanwhile, bribing her with a singing contract, the Ganuccis are able to convince Cherry to lure Rojack into an ambush. At the last second, she breaks down and warns him. Rojack takes her gun and is able to shoot Nicky, but then is gunned down himself.

Cast

Stuart Whitman as Stephen Richard Rojack
Janet Leigh as Cherry McMahon (singing voice was dubbed by Jackie Ward)
Eleanor Parker as Deborah Rojack
Barry Sullivan as Lt. Roberts
Lloyd Nolan as Barney Kelly
Murray Hamilton as Arthur Kabot
J.D. Cannon as Sgt. Walt Leznicki
Susan Denberg as Ruta
Les Crane as Nicky
Peter Marko as Hoodlum
Warren Stevens as Johnny Dell
Joe De Santis as Eddie Ganucci
Stacy Harris as O'Brien
Paul Mantee as Shago Martin
Harold Gould as Ganucci's Attorney
George Takei as Ord Long
Kelly Jean Peters as Freya
Hal K. Dawson as Apartment House Guard (uncredited)
Richard Derr as Undetermined Role (uncredited)
James Nolan as Monsignor (uncredited)

Production

When An American Dream bombed at the box office, the desperate distributors re-titled the film See You in Hell, Darling.^[4]

Review

The director intended to make a horror movie, but failed to create that effect: According to Time Out magazine, it turns out to be "just tediously violent".^[5]^[3]

References

^ "An American Dream (1966)". Hollywood. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
^ "An American Dream(1966)". Yahoo movies. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
^ ^a ^b "An American Dream (1966)". EmanuelLevy.com. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
^ "An American Dream (1966) - Robert Gist - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie".
^ "An American Dream". Time Out. Retrieved 8 June 2013.