All the Fine Young Cannibals is a 1960 American drama film directed by Michael Anderson, starring Robert Wagner, Natalie Wood, Susan Kohner, George Hamilton, and Pearl Bailey. Hamilton said that the film "combined Southern Gothic with a biopic of jazzman Chet Baker."George Hamilton & William Stadiem, Don't Mind If I Do, Simon & Schuster, 2008, p 139 It was loosely based on The Bixby Girls, a 1957 novel by Rosamond Marshall that was set in the World War I era.
Plot
Two young people in love, musician Chad Bixby and Sarah "Salome" Davis, are forced apart despite the latter's pregnancy. They marry others, but are brought back together by chance. A downtrodden blues singer mothers Bixby while guiding his career.
Cast Robert Wagner as Chad Bixby Natalie Wood as Sarah "Salome" Davis Susan Kohner as Catherine McDowall George Hamilton as Tony McDowall Pearl Bailey as Ruby Jack Mullaney as Putney Tinker Onslow Stevens as Joshua Davis Anne Seymour as Mrs. Bixby Virginia Gregg as Ada Davis Mabel Albertson as Mrs. McDowall Louise Beavers as Rose
Production All the Fine Young Cannibals was the first film that Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood made together. George Hamilton says that director Vincente Minnelli shot some scenes when Michael Anderson was unavailable, including an ending for the film that was not used.Interview with George Hamilton, The Diva Review, accessed 23 December 2014
Wagner's character is loosely based on the jazz trumpeter Chet Baker. Reception Box office According to MGM records, the film earned $950,000 in the U.S. and Canada, and $860,000 elsewhere, resulting in a loss of $1,108,000. Critical Filmink argued "it’s not a very good movie – director Michael Anderson seems ill at ease with the material, which needed a Douglas Sirk, and the talented cast are allowed to over act. "
Influence The film's title was later taken by the English band Fine Young Cannibals.
See also List of American films of 1960
References
External links