Tender Is the Night (film)



Tender Is the Night is a 1962 film directed by Henry King (his last film), based on the novel of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It stars Jennifer Jones and Jason Robards.

The soundtrack featured a song, also called "Tender Is the Night", by Sammy Fain (music) and Paul Francis Webster (lyrics), which was nominated for the 1962 Academy Award for Best Song. Robards won the 1962 NBR Award for his performances in Tender Is the Night and Long Day's Journey Into Night.

King's previous film had been Beloved Infidel, a biographical drama about Fitzgerald, author of Tender Is the Night.

There are interesting backstage anecdotes about pre-production in "Memo from David O. Selznick," an edited collection of the iconic producer's letters and notes. Selznick's then-wife was sought and cast as the film's lead, and his letters reflect insight into the casting process (Jane Fonda had wanted to play Rosemary; William Holden, Henry Fonda and Christopher Plummer were considered for Dick), the creative angst around the project, and Selznick's own clever insights into the source novel and its requirements to become a successful film property.

Plot summary
At a party in the south of France, when she sees her husband, Dr. Dick Diver, take an interest in an American movie starlet, Rosemary Hoyt, jealousy gets the better of Nicole Diver, a woman with many emotional issues.

The story flashes back to how Dick and Nicole met. A distinguished psychiatrist, he made the classic mistake of falling in love with a patient, Nicole Warren, and marries her over the warnings from his mentor, Dr. Dohmler, that it will ruin Dick's career.

Dick spends the next years of his life abandoning his work to indulge wife Nicole's many whims, leading a hedonistic life, paid for by Nicole's sophisticated sister, Baby. By the time he realizes the error of his ways and attempts to resume his career, it is Nicole who has found a new lover, wanting a divorce.

Cast
• 2

Soundtracks
The film score was composed by Bernard Hermann. Soundtracks included the main theme "Tender Is the Night" composed by Sammy Fain with lyrics by Paul Francis Webster (above). This song was played in the film by pianist George Greeley (uncredited). Other songs were:
 * "Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (song)''", composed by Ray Henderson
 * "Charleston", composed by James P. Johnson
 * "Auld Lang Syne", Traditional music: lyrics by Robert Burns, lyrics by Andreas Frege
 * "Honey", music by Richard A. Whiting, lyrics by Seymour Simons & Haven Gillespie
 * "Jeannine, I Dream of Lilac Time", composed by Nathaniel Shilkret, lyrics by L. Wolfe Gilbert