Portrait in Black


Portrait in Black is a 1960 American neo-noir thriller film directed by Michael Gordon, and starring Lana Turner and Anthony Quinn. Produced by Ross Hunter, the film was based on the play of the same by name by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts, who also wrote the screenplay. The film was distributed by Universal-International. This was the final film appearance by veteran actress Anna May Wong.

Plot

San Francisco socialite Sheila Cabot becomes increasingly disturbed as she cares for her ailing, disagreeable husband. Along the way, she falls in love with Dr. David Rivera, who is tending her husband. This leads to a series of unfortunate events, resulting in the death of the husband and an ensuing murder investigation that reveals a surprise culprit.

Cast

Portrait in Black was filmed in and around San Francisco, including a sequence at Devil's Slide on the Pacific Coast Highway.
It was the last of three screen teamings between Sandra Dee and John Saxon.

Home video release

Portrait in Black was released on DVD in Region 1 as a Lana Turner double feature with Madame X by Universal Studios Home Entertainment on February 5, 2008. It was released on Blu-ray disc by Kino Lorber on May 28, 2019.

The play

The film was based on a play that had premiered in London at the Piccadilly Theatre in 1946 and had a short run on Broadway the following year. The writers, Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts, had worked on it for 13 months.
Film rights were sold almost immediately, to Universal, for a reported $100,000 against a sliding percentage of the gross to reach a maximum of 15% at $2.5 million. A clause was added that if a film was not released by June 30, 1950, the rights would revert to the authors and they would keep the $100,000. Diana Wynyard appeared in the London production and her husband Carol Reed was going to direct the film version. However, he disagreed with Universal about how best to adapt it. Another director, Michael Gordon, encountered similar difficulties. In 1948, Goff approached Universal to buy the project back but balked at the studio's demand for $316,000. When the June 30, 1950 deadline passed, the project reverted to the authors. They tried finance the film with Michael Gordon and Joan Crawford.

Reception

According to Variety, the film earned $3,600,000 in rentals in 1960.

Radio adaptation

Portrait in Black was presented on Theatre Guild on the Air on March 2, 1952. The one-hour adaptation starred Barbara Stanwyck and Richard Widmark.