''Rapture'' () is a 1965

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

film directed by

John Guillermin Yvon Jean Guillermin (11 November 192527 September 2015), known as John Guillermin, was an English film director, writer and producer. Working both in the United Kingdom and the United States, he was most active in big-budget, action-adventure f ...

, and starring Melvyn Douglas, Patricia Gozzi, and Dean Stockwell. It was written by Stanley Mann based on the 1954 novel ''Rapture in My Rags'' by Phyliss Hastings''.'' It is reportedly Guillermin's own favorite among his films. His widow Mary said it "was the only film he directed that wholly satisfied his vision as an artist."

Plot

Young teenager Agnes, her retired widower father, and their caretaker Karen, live in an old house on the

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

coast in France. Agnes, who is immature and perhaps backward, has been removed from school and lives an isolated and childlike life. While walking home from church, they witness a prison bus crash. The convicts attempt to flee and are shot at by the guards. One knocks down a guard and injures him before escaping. Agnes finds the convict in their shed. In her imagination, she thinks that she has created him from a scarecrow, and her creation belongs to her. She does not tell the police about him. The family hide him and he stays for a while. The gendarme dies and the police believe the family know something about the fugitive. He and Karen become close but Agnes catches them kissing and attacks Karen, who leaves. The fugitive leaves separately, refusing to go with Karen, but Agnes follows him and he brings her home. A relationship develops and, after, her father objects, they leave together for a town. However, she struggles to manage a household and returns home. The police question her about her absence. She says nothing but the fugitive, following her home, is seen, chased and killed.

Cast

* Melvyn Douglas as Frederick Larbaud * Patricia Gozzi as Agnes Larbaud * Dean Stockwell as Joseph * Gunnel Lindblom as Karen * Murray Evans as Young Gendarme * Sylvia Kay as Genevieve * Ellen Pollock as Landlady * Peter Sallis as Armand * Chris Sandford as Albert - Young man at wedding * Leslie Sands as First Gendarme * Rene Aranda as Wedding guest (Uncredited) * Jean-Claude Bercq as The mechanic in Karen's room (uncredited) * Albert Daumergue as Barman on the boat (Uncredited) * Marius Gaidon as Wedding guest (Uncredited) * Pierre Gualdi as Café's owner (Uncredited) * Gaston Meunier as Wedding guest (Uncredited) * Georgette Peyron as Wedding guest (Uncredited) * Robert Secq as Wedding guest (Uncredited)

Production

Development

The film was based on the novel ''Rapture in My Rags'' published in 1954. The ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' called it "a touching story". The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' called it "a tremendously worthwhile experience." The book became a best seller in England. In 1957 film rights were bought by Andre Hakim the son in law of Daryl F. Zanuck of 20th Century Fox, where Hakim had a production deal. Hakim beat out Carol Reed and Hecht Hill Lancaster who both wanted the novel. She said he wanted Audrey Hepburn and Yul Brynner to play the lead. In March 1963 Daryl F. Zanuck listed the film on the slate of 20th Century Fox projects for that year, with a tentative start date of 10 September.

Shooting

Filming began September 1964 in France. It was directed by John Guillermin who signed a four picture deal with Fox. Serge Bourguignon, who had directed Gozzi in '' Sundays and Cybele'' later said Zanuck wanted him to direct the film "but I didn't want to do it. He said, "Well, you can do it with the same style," but I refused. So they hired Guillermin, who is a very good director, but Patricia didn't get along with him at all. Dean Stockwell later recalled:

''Rapture'' could have been interesting but didn’t turn out to be that interesting. It was a little film with a girl named Patricia Gozzi who had a great deal of success in a film prior to this one. I don’t think she went on to a career after that. But I had a hell of a time working in France, I loved it! The director, John Guillermin, was kind of a maniac. He’s known to be a maniac, and he is! I got along with him pretty well, though. But, I don’t think it was a good film.

Reception

Critical

'' The Monthly Film Bulletin'' wrote: "This sentimental tear-jerker would appear to have been designed as a vehicle for Patricia Gozzi, and the basic situation has certain resemblances with ''Sundays and Cybele'', though the influence seems to be more the silent Swedish cinema. The atmosphere of repressed and confused sexuality is very clumsily conveyed, with symbolism thickly laid on and would-be lyrical photography that merely calls attention to itself. The oddly assorted cast seem unable to adjust to one another; and though Dean Stockwell comes off reasonably well, Patricia Gozzi lacks the experience to make her admittedly unbelievable role in any way convincing." ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine called the film a "penumbral play of love against loneliness" that "boost the artistic stock of English director John Guillermin" and "clinch sthe reputation of France's 15-year-old Patricia Gozzi." The ''

'' called it "a beautifully made movie of nuances".

Box Office

According to Fox records, the film needed to earn $2,500,000 in rentals to break even and made $1,310,000, meaning it made a loss.