Production
Sturges originally wrote the script as a freelance project after being let go by Universal Pictures. He told the story to producer Jesse L. Lasky, who had his own unit at Fox, who requested a treatment. Sturges refused to do a treatment, and instead delivered a finished shooting script, which Lasky said was "the most perfect script I'd ever seen", with nothing that needed to be trimmed.
Sturges offered the script to Lasky for $62,475, but Lassky instead structured a deal in which Sturges got $17,500 upon signing, 31⁄2% of the first $500,000 in receipts, 5% of the next $500,000, and 7% of all receipts over $1,000,000. Such a percentage deal was highly unusual at that time, and caused an uproar among producers and writers.
Both director William K. Howard and Spencer Tracy were supposed to have worked on Marie Galante, but when it was postponed, they were transferred to The Power and the Glory. Irene Dunne and Mary Astor were both considered for the part of Sally Garner, eventually played by Colleen Moore. Moore was lent to Fox by MGM, as was Helen Vinson, and had not appeared in a film since 1929.
The film was in production from 23 March to late April 1933, with some re-shooting in June 1933. It had originally been set to begin in late February 1933, but was postponed several times.
Location shooting took place at the Hasson station beyond the Santa Susana Pass, using the largest locomotive in the west, leased from the Southern Pacific Railroad; and at the Iverson Ranch in Chatsworth, California.
During filming, Sturges acted as the dialogue director, working with the actors much as he had done in stage rehearsals as a playwright.
The film was previewed in Los Angeles on 17 June 1933, and after objections from the Hays Office about the sexual nature of the relationship between a stepmother ("Sally Garner") and her stepson ("Tom Garner Jr."), some re-editing was done. When this did not satisfy the censors, reshooting and more extensive re-editing was done to alleviate their concerns. The film was premiered in New York City on 16 August 1933, and was generally released on 6 October of that year. Fox coined the word "narratage" to describe the non-chronological narration of the story.
Read more about this topic: The Power And The Glory (1933 film)
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