| The Searching Wind | |
| Director: | William Dieterle |
| Producer: | Hal Wallis |
| Screenplay: | Lillian Hellman |
| Starring: | Robert Young Sylvia Sidney Ann Richards |
| Music: | Victor Young |
| Cinematography: | Lee Garmes |
| Editing: | Warren Low |
| Distributor: | Paramount Pictures |
| Runtime: | 108 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
The Searching Wind is a 1946 American drama film directed by William Dieterle and starring Robert Young, Sylvia Sidney, and Ann Richards. It is based on the play of the same name by Lillian Hellman.[1] It had originally been planned for producer Hal Wallis to make the film at Warner Bros., but after he left the studio he brought the project to Paramount Pictures.[2]
In 1945, after hearing of the death of Mussolini, an American career diplomat and his family reflect on his mistakes he made during the interwar years.[3]
Hellman's play debuted on Broadway in 1944 and ran for 318 performances. Montgomery Clift was in the original cast which was directed by Herman Shumlin.[4]
Hellman later said it was "The nearest thing to a political play" she had written "which is probably why I don't like it much any more. But even there I meant only to write about nice, well born people who, with good intentions, helped to sell out a world."[5]
Hal Wallis bought the screen rights for $100,000. Wallis had made a film of Hellman's Watch on the Rhine while head of Warner Bros. Hellman did the script. It was one of the first films Wallis made as a producer at Paramount.[6]
Richards' casting was announced in September 1944. Joseph Cotten turned down the male lead.[7] [8]
Filming started 13 December 1945.[9]
Variety thought the film "isn't likely to hold the run-of-the-mill entertainment-goer looking for escapist stuff" and "should earn back its coin... for though well-mounted, it nevertheless doesn't appear too heavily budgeted. The film is an improvement on the Broadway play... because it is more coherent, and better acted."[10]