Valerie (film)

Valerie
Valerie
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Gerd Oswald
Screenplay by	Leonard Heideman; Emmett Murphy;
Produced by	Hal R. Makelim
Starring	Sterling Hayden; Anita Ekberg; Anthony Steel;
Cinematography	Ernest Laszlo
Edited by	David Bretherton
Music by	Albert Glasser
Color process	Black and white
Production; company	Hal R. Makelim Productions
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date	August 1, 1957;
Running time	82 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Valerie is a 1957 American Western film directed by Gerd Oswald and starring Sterling Hayden, Anita Ekberg and Anthony Steel.^[1]^[2] The film was apparently inspired by Akira Kurosawa's 1950 classic Rashomon.^[1]

Plot

Rancher John Garth is arrested for critically wounding his wife Valerie and killing her parents. During Garth's trial, contradictory flashback sequences are depicted.^[1]

Cast

Sterling Hayden as John Garth
Anita Ekberg as Valerie Horvat
Anthony Steel as Reverend Steven Blake
Peter Walker as Herb Garth
Jerry Barclay as Jim Mingo
Iphigenie Castiglioni as Mrs. Horvat
John Wengraf as Mr. Louis Horvat
Gage Clarke as Jonathan Griggs
Tom McKee as Dave Carlin
Sydney Smith as Judge Frisbee
Bob Adler as Lundy
Stanley Adams as Dr. Jackson
Malcolm Atterbury as Sheriff
Juney Ellis as Nurse Linsey
John Dierkes as Bartender
Norman Leavitt as Linsey
Darryl Duran as Earl Davis

Production

Filming for Valerie started in December 1956.^[3] It was the only film that Anthony Steel and Anita Ekberg made together during their marriage.^[4]

Reception

Variety called the film "a challenging experiment."^[5]

In a contemporary review in Baltimore's The Evening Sun, reviewer Hope Pantell wrote: "This opus opens with an assortment of bodies, then proceeds to show, sometimes in painfully long-winded fashion, how they got to be so stiff."^[6]

Writing in The Philadelphia Inquirer, reviewer Samuel L. Singer assessed the lead actors' performances: "Lovely Anita Ekberg, Swedish beauty, displays her charms and engages in a limited amount of histrionics. Sterling Hayden is grimly nonsmiling as her husband, and Anthony Steel, her real-life husband, is convincing as the minister."^[7]

Home media

Valerie was released on DVD by MGM Home Video on September 26, 2011 via MGM's MOD (manufacture-on-demand) program through Amazon.com.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Valerie (1957) - Gerd Oswald | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie".
^ VALERIE Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 24, Iss. 276, (Jan 1, 1957): 91.
^ Paris Night-Club Singer Signed; Wengraff Acts Anita Ekberg's Father Scheuer, Philip K. Los Angeles Times 4 Dec 1956: A11.
^ Vagg, Stephen (September 23, 2020). "The Emasculation of Anthony Steel: A Cold Streak Saga". Filmink.
^ Review of film at Variety
^ Pantell, Hope (October 25, 1957). "On the Screen". The Evening Sun. p. 22.
^ Singer, Samuel L. (October 3, 1957). "'Valerie' Stars Anita Ekberg". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 8.

External links

Valerie at IMDb
Valerie at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
Valerie at the TCM Movie Database

This 1950s Western film–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This article related to an American film of the 1950s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[:0-1] "Valerie (1957) - Gerd Oswald | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie".

[2] VALERIE Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 24, Iss. 276, (Jan 1, 1957): 91.

[3] Paris Night-Club Singer Signed; Wengraff Acts Anita Ekberg's Father Scheuer, Philip K. Los Angeles Times 4 Dec 1956: A11.

[vagg-4] Vagg, Stephen (September 23, 2020). "The Emasculation of Anthony Steel: A Cold Streak Saga". Filmink.

[5] Review of film at Variety

[6] Pantell, Hope (October 25, 1957). "On the Screen". The Evening Sun. p. 22.

[7] Singer, Samuel L. (October 3, 1957). "'Valerie' Stars Anita Ekberg". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 8.

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