Lorna Doone (1951 film)

Plot

Lorna Doone falls for John Ridd, but is betrothed (against her will) to one Carver Doone. As the English Civil War looms, John is determined to defeat the vicious Doone family and win Lorna over.

Cast

Production

Edward Small first announced plans to film the novel in 1944 and hired George Bruce to write a screenplay in 1946. He sent representatives to England to scout locations that year and there was talk of a co-production with J Arthur Rank starring Louis Hayward with filming in Scotland. Charles Bennett and Leonore Coffee also worked on the early drafts of the script. In 1948 Alfred Hitchcock announced plans to film the novel for Transatlantic Pictures. Small claimed he had registered the title in the US; Hitchcock could film the story but would not be able to call it Lorna Doone in the US. This prompted Small to announce he would start filming in England in association with Rank and producer John Beck on 1 March 1949. This was postponed due to the US–English film trade war of 1948–19 and in August 1949 filming was put back indefinitely.

The project was reactivated later in 1949 when Small signed a two-picture deal with Columbia Pictures, for Lorna Doone and The Brigand. It was decided instead to make the movie in Hollywood, with locations shot at Yosemite National Park. Richard Greene and Barbara Hale were cast in the leads and Jesse Lasky Jr did the final draft of the script.

The final script was heavily influenced by Westerns.

Reception

Reviews were mixed.