Joan of Arc

"Greatest of all spectacles!"

1948 2h 25m EN

😐

6.2

MID

★6.2TMDB · 89

DramaHistory

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In the 15th Century, France is a defeated and ruined nation after the One Hundred Years War against England. The fourteen-year-old farm girl Joan of Arc claims to hear voices from Heaven asking her to lead God's Army against Orleans and crowning the weak Dauphin Charles VII as King of France. Joan gathers the people with her faith, forms an army, and conquers Orleans.

“Greatest of all spectacles!”

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Cast

Ingrid Bergman
Joan of Arc
Francis L. Sullivan
Pierre Cauchon, Count-Bishop of Beauvais
J. Carrol Naish
John, Count of Luxembourg, Joan's Captor
Ward Bond
La Hire
Shepperd Strudwick
Father Massieu, Joan's Bailiff
Gene Lockhart
Georges de la Trémouille, the King's Chief Counsellor
John Emery
Jean, Duke d'Alencon, cousin of Charles
Leif Erickson
Dunois, Bastard of Orleans

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Victor Fleming
Writers: Maxwell Anderson, Andrew Solt
Languages: French, English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

78 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Victor Fleming, shot by Joseph A. Valentine. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Hugo Friedhofer. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Frank Sullivan shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Ingrid Bergman and Francis L. Sullivan and J. Carrol Naish carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Greatest of all spectacles!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0040491 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Victor Fleming directs. Joseph A. Valentine behind the camera. Hugo Friedhofer scores. Frank Sullivan cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in French, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

178 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, English.
3Directed by Victor Fleming, shot by Joseph A. Valentine. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Hugo Friedhofer. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Frank Sullivan shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Ingrid Bergman and Francis L. Sullivan and J. Carrol Naish carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Greatest of all spectacles!".
8IMDB entry: tt0040491 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 89 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Joseph A. Valentine
Original score: Hugo Friedhofer
Editing: Frank Sullivan
Costume design: Dorothy Jeakins
Makeup / hair: Lilyan Lashman
Runtime: 145 min · 2h 25m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Joan of Arc (1948)

Awards

Academy Award for Best Costume Design, Color
Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Color
National Board of Review: Top Ten Films

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Victor Fleming

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2020-01-05
★ 7/10
But if I had a hundred fathers and a hundred mothers, I could not go back. I must go forward now. In the Fifteenth Century, France is a defeated and ruined nation after the One Hundred Years War against England. Up steps a teenage farm girl who claims to hear voices from heaven telling her to lead God's army against Orleans and to crown the weak Dauphin Charles VII as the King of France. Joan gathers the people with her faith, forms an army and advances on Orleans - from here real history is formed in all its heroic and tragic glory... Savaged by some critics, cut by the studio to various run times, it really is a case of asking film fans to at least see the now readily available full 145 minute version to give it a fair trial. Starring Ingrid Bergman in the title role and directed by a clearly fawning Victor Fleming (he takes every single opportunity to focus on Bergman's natural beauty), it's unfortunately a mixture of a stirring historical epic with over theatrical stage bound theatricals. Bergman, although surrounded by a great array of superlative supporting players, carries the lead role with aplomb. She clearly dives into the role with a passion of some distinction and film lovers are rewarded with a performance of great depth and feeling, none more so with the sequences in the last tragic quarter of the pic. The screenplay by Maxwell Anderson and Andrew Holt (based on the play "Joan of Lorraine") is beautifully written, with dialogue passages that stir the blood whilst holding court. For some the literate passages may come off as long winded, even tedious, but in Bergman's hands they hopefully will entice the masses in the way that "The Maid of Orleans" actually did. 7.5/10
CinemaSerf2022-07-09
★ 6/10
Whatever you do, try to avoid the dreadfully hacked version of this - the original version; coming in at just under 2½ hours is far, far better. That said, however - it still isn't all that great. Ingrid Bergman doesn't so much act as Joan of Arc, she suggests quite strongly that Joan of Arc would have been just like her! The pained, saintly expression coupled with the rousing battle cries and heartfelt pleading make it hard to imagine the real woman could have been anything but! José Ferrer expertly plays the, duplicitous, selfish monarch who'd betray his own mother for a sou in a creepily magnetic fashion and, of course, Francis L. Sullivan is super as the presiding Bishop Cauchon serving whichever master suits him best so long as our heroine goes to the flames. The rest of the cast rather underperform though: Ward Bond, Gene Lockhart and Cecil Kellaway are fish out of water and Lief Erickson is frankly dreadful in the quite pivotal role of Dunois. The writing is dreary; way too wordy. The ensemble performances never seem to set foot out of doors, which renders the battle scene largely ineffective and the trial scenes are just all too bitty to establish any genuine sense of the threat she was under during this corrupt trial. Maybe it needed Cecil B. De Mille to take the grand scale cinematography to it - the story certainly merits it; but this is uncomfortably constricted and too physically theatrical. The costumes are glorious, though, and the lighting does go some way to compensate for the rigidity the production. Well worth watching, but it could have been much better had Victor Fleming had more imagination.