The Story of Esther Costello (1957) DVD5 Uncomp - Joan Crawford, Rossano Brazzi [DDR]

2016.01.09


The Story of Esther Costello (1957) DVD5 Uncomp - Joan Crawford, Rossano Brazzi [DDR]

The Story of Esther Costello is a 1957 British drama film starring Joan Crawford, Rossano Brazzi, and Heather Sears (who won a Bafta as Best British Actress for her performance). The film is an exposé of large-scale fundraising. The Story of Esther Costello was produced by David Miller and Jack Clayton, with Miller directing. The screenplay by Charles Kaufman was based on a novel by Nicholas Monsarrat. It was distributed by Columbia Pictures.

CAST:-


Joan Crawford as Margaret Landi


Rossano Brazzi as Carlo Landi


Heather Sears as Esther Costello


Lee Patterson as Harry Grant


Ron Randell as Frank Wenzel


Fay Compton as Mother Superior


John Loder as Paul Marchant


Denis O'Dea as Father Devlin


Sidney James as Ryan


Bessie Love as Matron in Art Gallery


Robert Ayres as Mr. Wilson


Maureen Delaney as Jennie Costello


Harry Hutchinson as Irish publican


Tony Quinn as Irish pub customer


Janina Faye as Esther Costello, as a child


Victor Rietti as Signor Gatti

Directed by David Miller


Produced by Jack Clayton, David Miller


Written by Charles Kaufman


Music by Lambert Williamson


Running time 127 minutes

MOVIE PLOT:- The Story of Esther Costello (1957)


With her marriage to womaniser Carlo Landi (Rossano Brazzi) in ashes, wealthy and childless Margaret Landi (Joan Crawford) finds an emotional outlet in patronizing a 15-year-old deaf, dumb, and blind Irish girl named Esther Costello (Heather Sears). Esther's disabilities are the result of a childhood trauma and are psychosomatic rather than physical. As Costello makes progress with Braille and sign language, she is seen as an example of triumph over adversity. Carlo gets wind of Margaret's new life and re-enters the scene. He views Esther as a source of cheap financial gain and arranges a series of exploitative tours for her under a mercenary manager Frank Wenzel (Ron Randell). One day when Margaret is absent from the Landi apartment, Carlo seduces and rapes the now 16-year-old Esther. The shock restores the girl's sight and hearing. When Margaret learns of her husband's business duplicities and the rape, she consigns Esther to the care of a priest and a young reporter who loves her (Lee Patterson). Margaret then kills Carlo and herself.

PRODUCTION NOTES:-


The film is based on a book by Nicholas Monsarrat that nearly had Helen Keller's co-workers suing for libel due to perceived parallels between Helen's story and Esther's. In particular, the book seemed to slur the character of Anne Sullivan's husband, writer-publicist John Macy, who was close to Keller's age. A relationship between John and Keller has long been a subject of speculation. Esther's reporter friend was reminiscent of Keller's highly publicised attempt to elope with reporter-secretary Peter Fagan.

The novel focuses mainly on the falsehoods behind large-scale charities and the self-serving natures of those involved. When Esther recovers her sight and hearing, her promoters worry that this will put an end to the Costello Fund. They convince her that the rape was her fault, and that to reveal that she is healed would bring shame and ruin to Margaret. She is actually coached to continue acting as deaf-blind, and does so for about a year; however, in that time she makes several slips (some deliberate). Esther's reporter friend discerns the truth and meets Esther privately, whereupon she tells him everything. He plans to write up the story, then take Esther away and marry her. But as he returns to the newspaper office, word comes to him that Esther has suddenly died. When he confronts Margaret she reveals nothing, and continues the charade. The story can never be printed because it will smear Esther's name and disillusion the people who believe in the charity and its message of hope. The novel closes with Margaret giving an impassioned speech at a convention, as millions of attendees open their wallets.



TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:-


Video Codec: MPEG-2


Video Bitrate: 7204 kbps


Video Resolution: 720x480


Video Aspect Ratio: 1.778:1


Frames Per Second: 29.970


Audio Codec: AC3


Audio Bitrate: 192kb/s CBR 48000 Hz


Audio Streams: 2


Audio Languages: English


RunTime 127 mins


Subtitles: None


Ripped by: Trinidad [DDR]