Give Us This Day (1949 film)

1949 British film

14 October 1949 (1949-10-14)

Running time

120 minutesCountryUnited KingdomLanguageEnglishBudget$600,000^[1] or £195,000^[2]Box office£80,000^[2]

Give Us This Day is a 1949 British film, directed by Edward Dmytryk. This film was released in the United States as Christ in Concrete.^[3] Another alternate title was Salt to the Devil.

The film was based on the 1939 novel Christ in Concrete by Pietro Di Donato. The title is taken from the Lord's Prayer.

Plot

Geremio is an Italian bricklayer living with his family. The film depicts how Geremio and his family endure the struggles of living in Brooklyn during the Great Depression.

Cast

Sam Wanamaker.....Geremio
Lea Padovani.....Annunziata
Kathleen Ryan.....Kathleen
Charles Goldner.....Luigi
Bonar Colleano.....Giulio
William Sylvester.....Giovanni
George Pastell.....The Lucy (as Nino Pastellides)
Philo Hauser.....Head of Pig
Sid James.....Murdin
Karel Stepanek.....Jaroslav
Ina De La Haye.....Dame Catarina
Rosalie Crutchley.....Giulio's wife

Production

Red Scare

At the time this movie was made, Dmytryk had been blacklisted as a member of the Hollywood Ten. Wanamaker had also been blacklisted. The movie was filmed entirely in London due to this.^[4]

Reception

The film received a mixed review from New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther. He called it "a film drama of considerable graphicness but of oddly limited power." While praising the movie for its "careful and earnest attempt to capture the hard yet wistful quality of Mr. di Donato's tale", Crowther said that "the spirit and compulsion of this deeply distressing tale of poverty and frustration are absent from the film."^[5]

The film was a commercial failure in America.^[6]

References

^ A. H. WEILER (13 November 1949). "BY WAY OF REPORT: José Ferrer, Man With Many Prospects -- 'Finian's Rainbow' Being Sought". New York Times. p. X5.
^ ^a ^b Chapman, J. (2022). The Money Behind the Screen: A History of British Film Finance, 1945-1985. Edinburgh University Press p 102. Income is producer's share of receipts.
^ Crowther, Bosley (2009). "Christ in Concrete". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. Archived from the original on 31 December 2009. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
^ "Christ in Concrete (1949) – Edward Dmytryk – Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related". AllMovie. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
^ Crowther, Bosley (21 December 1949). "THE SCREEN IN REVIEW; ' Give Us This Day,' Film Based on Pietro di Donato Novel, Unveiled at the Rialto". The New York Times.
^ Harper, Sue; Porter, Vincent (2003). British Cinema of The 1950s The Decline of Deference. Oxford University Press USA. p. 15.