Flicks in Five: 'Porgy and Bess'

This movie/musical/opera is based on the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin, DuBose Heyward and Ira Gershwin.

It's based on Heyward's novel, Porgy. The 1959 film project Porgy and Bess was the last for Samuel Goldwyn, who had given us films like Wuthering Heights, Guys and Dolls, The Best Years of our Lives and others during his lengthy career.

But because Porgy and Bess had such controversial subject matter — drug addiction, prostitution, violence and murder — it didn't do very well at the box office. Goldwyn once complained, "No one is waiting breathlessly for my next picture."

Also, it was difficult at the time to find black actors who wanted to star in Porgy and Bess because many people felt that racial stereotypes pervaded the production. Sydney Poitier eventually took the role; he was offered $75,000 to play the part because he had had some reservations. Also in the cast were Dorothy Dandridge, Sammy Davis Jr., Pearl Bailey, Diahann Carroll and Brock Peters.

Doing the music were André Previn and Ken Derby. They supervised and arranged Gershwin's music. Because Poitier could not sing and the score was beyond what Dorothy Dandridge could handle, their vocals were dubbed; Adele Addison and Robert McFerrin — Bobby's father — eventually did the overdubbing, but neither one of them got any screen credit.

You won't see Porgy and Bess on screen, although it had been shown in a 70mm version in cinemas during a limited run in the early 2000s. Part of that is because there are conflicting rights about which estate of George Gershwin's the music and rights actually belong to, so it's unlikely you'll ever see Porgy and Bess, even on television.

This week on Flicks in Five, we'll hear Kathleen Battle singing "Summertime" from Porgy and Bess.

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