Porgy and Bess (1959 film)

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Porgy and Bess (1959 film) is a musical drama adaptation of George Gershwin's opera, notable for its all-Black cast and its controversial yet historically significant place in American cinema.

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Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf film
artDirectionBy Oliver Smith
basedOn Porgy and Bess
basedOnAuthor DuBose Heyward
George Gershwin
Ira Gershwin
basedOnWorkType opera
character Bess
Crown
Porgy
Sportin' Life
linked to: Sportin’ Life
cinematographer Leon Shamroy
composer George Gershwin
costumeDesigner Irene Sharaff
countryOfOrigin United States
director Otto Preminger
distributor Columbia Pictures
editor Louis Loeffler
featuresCastCharacteristic predominantly African-American cast
genre drama film
film adaptation of an opera
musical film
hasHistoricalSignificance notable in American cinema history for its all-Black principal cast
hasReceptionCharacteristic controversial depiction of African-American life
lyricist Ira Gershwin
nominatedFor Academy Award for Best Art Direction, Color
Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Color
Academy Award for Best Costume Design, Color
notableSong Bess, You Is My Woman Now
I Got Plenty o' Nuttin'
It Ain't Necessarily So
Summertime
originalLanguage English
producer Samuel Goldwyn
productionCompany Samuel Goldwyn Productions
releaseDate 1959-06-24
releaseYear 1959
runtimeMinutes 138
screenwriter N. Richard Nash
setIn Catfish Row
Charleston, South Carolina
linked to: Charleston
stars Brock Peters
Diahann Carroll
Dorothy Dandridge
Pearl Bailey
Sammy Davis Jr.
Sidney Poitier
storyBy DuBose Heyward
wonAward Academy Award for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture

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Referenced by (4)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Dorothy Dandridge performedIn Porgy and Bess (1959 film)
Bess adaptedIn Porgy and Bess (1959 film)
André Previn notableWork Porgy and Bess (film adaptation score)
linked to: Porgy and Bess (1959 film)
Samuel George Davis Jr. notableWork Porgy and Bess (1959 film)