By Richard Harland Smith
Holiday for Sinners
Brief Synopsis
Three old friends reunite during Mardi Gras and try to forget their problems.
Cast & Crew
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Gerald Mayer
Director
Gig Young
Jason Kent
Keenan Wynn
Joe Piavi
Janice Rule
Susan Corvier
William Campbell
Danny Farber
Richard Anderson
Father Victor [Carducci]
Film Details
Also Known As
Days Before Lent
Genre
Drama
Release Date
Jul
25,
1952
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
Distribution Company
Loew's Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the novel Days Before Lent by Hamilton Basso (New York, 1939).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 12m
Sound
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
6,503ft
(7 reels)
Synopsis
At Mardi Gras time in New Orleans, young doctor Jason Kent loses an impoverished patient and expresses his bitterness to Father Victor Carducci, a boyhood friend who has come to administer the last rites. Victor tells Jason about his hopes for a new clinic for the poor, but Jason has already decided to accept a position in India with noted researcher Dr. Surtees. Jason's mentor, Dr. Konndorff, congratulates Jason, but wants him to think about his decision over the weekend. At home, Jason is visited by Joe Piavi, another boyhood friend who is now a punch drunk fighter. Joe reminisces about the kindness of Jason's father, who also was a doctor, further reminding the disillusioned Jason that his selfless, idealistic father died beloved but broke. After the squawking of Jason's monkey unnerves Joe, Jason gives his almost blind friend money and urges him to keep his eye appointment at the hospital. As Joe leaves, Jason's girl friend, Susan Corvier, arrives. Although born to a wealthy family, Susan is an idealist, who wants to help the poor. When Jason tells her that he is accepting the position in India and wants her to come with him as his wife, she agrees, even though she would like him to stay. The next day, when Victor is informed by Monsignor Lavaud that the diocese will not give him money to build a clinic, Victor feels powerless and threatens to leave the priesthood. Meanwhile, Jason is visited by reporter Danny Farber, an acquaintance, who wants Jason to get him an interview with Surtees. Jason scoffs, but asks Danny to get money that crooked fight promoter Mike Hennighan owes to Joe for his last fight. Danny then goes to see Hennighan, who angrily denies owing Joe money and says that Joe might be committed to a sanitarium if he keeps making wild charges. He then asks Danny to come up to his room that night to make a deal. Later, Danny finds Joe, gets him drunk and says that Hennighan wants to have him committed. When Danny says that Jason will soon be going far away, Joe is upset and goes to Jason's apartment. There Jason admits that he is leaving, saying that he does not want to wind up like his father. He feels responsible for Joe, though, and promises to send him money. He again prods Joe to have an eye operation and suggests that Joe go to Hennighan and ask, politely, for his money. When Joe amiably goes to Hennigan's hotel, henchmen stop him from going upstairs, and one of them gives him money for drinks. Now upset, Joe drinks heavily in a poolhall and becomes violent. A short time later, Danny goes to Hennighan's room and finds Joe's hat on the floor, and Hennigan's body in the bathtub. Meanwhile, Jason talks with Surtees and learns that he cannot bring a wife to India. Trying to decide whether to take the job or not, Jason crashes a fancy dress ball looking for Susan, who defies her mother and leaves with Jason. At a diner, the understanding Susan tells Jason that she will wait for him, but their conversation is interrupted when a newsboy comes in talking about Hennighan's murder and saying that Joe is the prime suspect. Blaming himself, Jason goes looking for Joe in his usual haunts, but cannot find him. In the morning, a disoriented Joe wakes up on the docks, not remembering what he has done, and finds a lot of money in his pockets. He sees his picture in the morning paper, but his vision is too poor to read the story. He goes to Jason's father's old office, where he is reminded by the neighborhood grocer that the doctor died. A short time later, two of Hennighan's thugs go to the grocer looking for Joe and force him to admit that Joe had just left. At the same time, Jason goes to Victor and learns from his sister Rosa of Victor's problems. Meanwhile, the two thugs continue looking for Joe in the neighborhood, unaware that Joe has already let himself into Jason's apartment. When Danny goes to the apartment, Joe asks him to read the newspaper story, and Danny lies that it says Joe is going to referee the Silver Gloves boxing matches. Hoping to cash in on a good story, Danny tells Joe that he needs to have a more recent photograph and suggests that they could easily get through the crowds if Joe wears Jason's Mardi Gras costume. Danny then takes Joe down to the street and avoids the two thugs, who have been watching Jason's apartment. Joining in with the revelers, though, Joe starts to shadowbox, thus attracting the attention of the thugs, who fire shots that wound Joe and kill Danny. Jason arrives moments later but is knocked down when he tries to stop the thugs from escaping. Just then Victor, who has heard the commotion while praying in his church, arrives and gives the last rites to Joe, who clings to life. As he climbs into the ambulance, Jason tells Victor that somehow he will help him start up the clinic. That night, when Jason walks back to his apartment, Susan is waiting for him and smiles as Jason glances at a plane flying overhead.
Director
Gerald Mayer
Director
Cast
Gig Young
Jason Kent
Keenan Wynn
Joe Piavi
Janice Rule
Susan Corvier
William Campbell
Danny Farber
Richard Anderson
Father Victor [Carducci]
Michael Chekhov
Dr. Konndorff
Sandro Giglio
Nick Muto
Edith Barrett
Mrs. Corvier
Porter Hall
Louie
Ralph Dumke
Mike Hennighan
Frank De Kova
The wiry man
Will Wright
The man with the cigar
Jack Raine
Dr. Surtees
Dorothy Neumann
Rosa Carducci
Jimmy Moss
Boy with priest
Peter Brocco
Father
Jean Andren
Nurse
Ian Wolfe
Monsignor Lavaud
William Schallert
Priest
Pat Goldin
Small man
Anthony Merrill
Reporter
Paul Raymond
Reporter
Sam Pierce
Reporter
Alan Harris
Escort
Brick Sullivan
Bartender
Kay Sharpe
Jill Corvier
Edward Mcnally
Windy
John Damler
Freddie
Tony Roux
Fuerza
Mike Pat Donovan
Pool player
Frank Pharr
Pool player
Donald Kerr
Bystander
Darrell J. Holman
Doctor
Howard Martin
Boy
Paul Kruger
Policeman
Robert R. Stephenson
Policeman
Bill Baldwin
Doorman
Vernon Rich
Usher
William L. Erwin
Usher
Jack Gargan
Barman
John Call
News vendor
Donald Dillaway
Captain O'Brien
Peter Virgo
Counter man
Merritt Smith
Black attendant
Steve White
Zulu
Ernest Hatch
Derelict
Domenick Delgado
Italian boy
Harry Cody
Call out usher
Frank Nordstrom
Call out usher
Robert Strong
Call out usher
Steve Carruthers
Call out usher
George Ford
Dancing partner
James Gonzales
Dancing partner
Ralph Brooks
Dancing partner
Ann Tyrrell
Patrick Conway
Barbara Morrison
Shimen Ruskin
Ann Morrison
Nikki Juston
Della Clark
Jessie Arnold
Frank Mills
Mae Clarke
Bob Alden
Mary Parker
Roy Butler
Beatrice Gray
Crew
A. I. Bezzerides
Screenwriter
Hugh Boswell
Production Manager
Alberto Colombo
Music Director
Joselyn Couret
Technical Advisor
Joel Freeman
Assistant Director
Cedric Gibbons
Art Director
Keogh Gleason
Set Decoration
Sydney Guilaroff
Hair styles Designer
John Houseman
Producer
Stanley Lambert
Sound
Arthur Loew Jr.
Associate Producer
Arthur Lonergan
Art Director
Warren Newcombe
Special Effects
Helen Rose
Women's Costume Designer
Douglas Shearer
Recording Supervisor
Fredrick Y. Smith
Film Editor
William Tuttle
Makeup created by
Paul Vogel
Director of Photography
Edwin B. Willis
Set Decoration
Videos
Movie Clip
Film Details
Also Known As
Days Before Lent
Genre
Drama
Release Date
Jul
25,
1952
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
Distribution Company
Loew's Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the novel Days Before Lent by Hamilton Basso (New York, 1939).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 12m
Sound
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
6,503ft
(7 reels)
Articles
Holiday for Sinners
An international grain trader based in Chicago at the time of the 1929 Stock Market crash, John Houseman turned in desperation to a second career as a theatrical producer. His association with up-and-coming actor-manager Orson Welles led to shared labor in the Works Progress Administration-funded Federal Theatre Project, which in turn beget The Mercury Theatre, the infamous 1938 radio recreation of H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds, and Orson Welles' feature film directorial debut, Citizen Kane (1941). After parting ways with Welles, Houseman produced plays on Broadway and films for Universal, Paramount and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. His first project for MGM was an adaptation of Hamilton Basso's 1939 novel Days Before Lent, which was rolled out to American moviegoers as Holiday for Sinners (1952). Set in New Orleans during Mardi Gras, the traditional Catholic festival of excess on the eve of Lenten self-denial, the film centers on the relationship of an idealistic young doctor (Gig Young) and his priest best friend (Richard Anderson) as they attempt to maintain their devotion to the poor against temptations of cash and carnality. Directed by Gerald Mayer, nephew of studio head Louis B. Mayer, the film costars Keenan Wynn in one of his best, most unheralded roles, as a boxing champion on the skids, whose failing eyesight and predilection for booze ultimately forces the hand of fate.
By Richard Harland Smith
By Richard Harland Smith
Holiday for Sinners
An international grain trader based in Chicago at the time of the 1929 Stock Market crash, John Houseman turned in desperation to a second career as a theatrical producer. His association with up-and-coming actor-manager Orson Welles led to shared labor in the Works Progress Administration-funded Federal Theatre Project, which in turn beget The Mercury Theatre, the infamous 1938 radio recreation of H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds, and Orson Welles' feature film directorial debut, Citizen Kane (1941). After parting ways with Welles, Houseman produced plays on Broadway and films for Universal, Paramount and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. His first project for MGM was an adaptation of Hamilton Basso's 1939 novel Days Before Lent, which was rolled out to American moviegoers as Holiday for Sinners (1952). Set in New Orleans during Mardi Gras, the traditional Catholic festival of excess on the eve of Lenten self-denial, the film centers on the relationship of an idealistic young doctor (Gig Young) and his priest best friend (Richard Anderson) as they attempt to maintain their devotion to the poor against temptations of cash and carnality. Directed by Gerald Mayer, nephew of studio head Louis B. Mayer, the film costars Keenan Wynn in one of his best, most unheralded roles, as a boxing champion on the skids, whose failing eyesight and predilection for booze ultimately forces the hand of fate.
By Richard Harland Smith
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The film's working title was Days Before Lent. According to Hollywood Reporter news items, Jonathan Cott was cast as a New Orleans police captain, but Cott was not in the film. News items also include Harry Anderson and Phil Schumacher in the cast, but their appearance in the released film has not been confirmed. Other Hollywood Reporter news items indicated that David Rose was initially set to do the music score. Holiday for Sinners marked producer John Houseman's first film for M-G-M and British actor Jack Raine's first American film. Although the picture was not shot on location in New Orleans, stock footage of the Mardi Gras is seen throughout the film.
