An American Dream (film)

An American Dream (also known as See You in Hell, Darling) is a 1966 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]

An American Dream
film poster
Directed byRobert Gist
Produced byWilliam Conrad
Jimmy Lydon
Written byMann Rubin
Based onAn American Dream novel by Norman Mailer
StarringStuart Whitman
Janet Leigh
Eleanor Parker
Music byJohnny Mandel
CinematographySam Leavitt
Edited byGeorge R. Rohrs
Production
company
William Conrad Productions
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • August 31, 1966 (1966-08-31)
(New York)
Running time
103 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

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

Production
Publicity still from the set of An American Dream: Eleanor Parker and Stuart Whitman (actors), Robert Gist (director, behind them) and Sam Leavitt (cinematographer, in white hat)

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]

See also

References
  1. "An American Dream (1966)". Hollywood. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  2. "An American Dream(1966)". Yahoo movies. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  3. "An American Dream (1966)". emanuellevy.com. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  4. "An American Dream (1966) - Robert Gist - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie".
  5. "An American Dream". Time Out. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
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