The Prodigal

"It should have played Disneyland..."

-Lana Turner's response to the film.

The Prodigal (MGM 1955)

Samara checking out the life sized statue of herself in 1955's "The Prodigal". Lou Valentino Collection

Lana on co-star Edmund Purdom and The Prodigal:

...Now it was back to work. Lex (Barker, her husband at the time) accepted a contract offer from Universal, and I started fittings for The Prodigal. Dore Schary told the press he hoped to make the picture one of "the really significant spectacles of all time". But when I read the script I wondered what Schary had been drinking. I was to play a creature called Samara, the high priestess of Astarte, goddess of the flesh, who was the very temptress who incited the prodigal son of the Bible to leave his home. It was strong stuff! The prodigal son they named Micah and, to play him, chose Edmund Purdom, a young man with a remarkably high opinion of himself. His pomposity was hard enough to bear; worse yet was the garlic breath he brought back from lunch. My lines were so stupid I hated to go to work in the morning.

Production Dates: August 2, 1954-September 24, 1944

Release Date: May 13, 1955.

Credited Cast and Crew:

Lana Turner, Edmund Purdom, Louis Calhern, Audrey Dalton.

Directed by: Richard Thorpe

Writing Credits: Joseph Breen and Samuel James Larson (adaptation), Maurice Zim

Produced by: Charles Schnee

Original Music by: Bronislau Kaper

Cinematography by: Joseph Ruttenburg

Synopsis: When young Hebrew Micah first lays eyes on Samara, the beautiful goddess of Astarte, his breath is so taken away by her beauty that he is willing to give up everything, including his own faith.

My Review: After seventeen years of being under contract to MGM, Lana was right back where she began. For almost all of her adult life she had had to fight the dreaded "Sweater Girl" tag, even long after she had proved to studio bosses, critics and movie goers that she really was a serious actress and could handle almost every dramatic role that they threw at her. Part of the problem with Lana's later years at MGM was the changing of the guard in the front office, namely longtime studio head Louis B. Mayer being replaced by cornball "let's make a message picture!" Dore Schary. He never thought much of Lana Turner and it's unclear as to whether he truly didn't know WHAT to do with his thirty (five) year old sex symbol or whether he was slowly trying to kick her out of the door and out of her (very) expensive contract. Regardless, he started assigning her to parts that just simply didn't fit the "Lana Turner" formula, the formula that the public (and critics) were paying to see. All of a sudden the girl who was best at playing the "modern woman", was being wasted in over the top costume dramas. 1955's The Prodigal was one such film.

At a very full two hours, The Prodigal is draggy and talky and only picks up when Turner and Purdom get together (thirty-five minutes into the film). Lana looks stunning in her gorgeous costumes and she and Purdom have terrific, passionate, chemistry and you truly believe that he WANTS her and is going to give up anything and everything just to have her. Lana does the best she can with silly dialogue ("I belong to all men" she tells Purdom. What does that MEAN?) and a part that in reality she is just walking through, not because she's not trying but because she's not being challenged. She had done the "Sweater Girl" bit, now it was time for her to grow up. She deserved better than this.

Your Review: What are YOUR thoughts on this film? Contact me at Liza@lanaturneronline.com

Purchase The Prodigal:

VHS

Photo Gallery