The Great Gatsby (1974 w/ Robert Redford)

Drama/Romance

Run Time: 144 minutes

Released in English in USA

In color and stereo

Oh, the beauty and the glamour of the roaring twenties... It was an era expertly immortalized by author F. Scott Fitzgerald in his novel, The Great Gatsby, a book which has been adapted to film six times between the years 1926 and 2013. 1974 was the third time Gatsby and company made their way to the silver screen.

Directed by Jack Clayton with a screenplay written by Francis Ford Coppola, this version of the film boasted a star studded cast. With famous names of the era, including Robert Redford as Gatsby and Mia Farrow as Daisy, 1974's The Great Gatsby had no trouble drawing audiences to the theater. Released on March 29, 1974, it grossed $26,533,200 at the box office and rentals topped $14 million, numbers that far exceeded the $6.5 million spent to make the film.

Though it stayed quite close to the novel and won two Oscars, three Baftas, a Golden Globe and a British Society of Cinematography Award, the film received mixed reviews from the critics.

The movie was filmed in New York- Manhattan, 5th Avenue, Park Avenue, Plaza Hotel and Waldorf Astoria Hotel- and Rhode Island- Bristol, Newport, Hammersmith Farm and Rosecliff Mansion (Gatsby's Mansion)- with some interior scenes shot in studio in Buckinghamshire, England.

It was produced by David Merrick and distributed by Paramount Pictures.

--Truman Capote was originally hired to write the screenplay and had made the character of Nick homosexual and Jordan into a lesbian.

--Robert Evans bought the rights to the novel in 1971 so then wife, Ali McGraw, could play Daisy but when she left him for Steve McQueen, he began looking for other actresses who could play the part.

--Howard Da Silva was also in the 1949 version of the film.

--Mia Farrow was pregnant during filming.

--Warren Beatty, Marlon Brando and Steve McQueen were all considered for the role of Gatsby and Candice Bergen, Natalie Wood, Cybill Shepherd and Faye Dunaway were all considered for Daisy.

--Francis Ford Coppola finished his draft of the screenplay in three weeks.

Robert Redford as Jay Gatsby

Sam Waterston as Nick Carroway

Mia Farrow as Daisy Buchanan

Bruce Dern as Tom Buchanan

Karen Black as Myrtle Wilson

Scott Wilson as George Wilson

Edward Herrmann as Ewing Klipspringer

Lois Chiles as Jordan baker

Howard Da Silva as Meyer Wolfsheim

Kathryn Leigh Scott as Catherine

Regina Baff as Miss Baedecker

Vincent Schiavelli as Thin Man

Roberts Blossom as Mr. Gatz

Beth Porter as Mrs. McKee

Patsy Kensit as Pammy Buchanan

The Great Gatsby is the tale of Chicago native and narrator Nick Carroway who is transplanted to Long Island, New York in the summer of 1922. He lives just on the other side of the island from his upper-class second cousin Daisy Buchanan and her husband, Tom and next door to the wealthy and intriguing Jay Gatsby.

Curious and, more accurately, naive; Nick is drawn to Gatsby, the character living next door. He befriends Gatsby and gains invitation to the lavish parties held on the estate and eventually works his way into the intriguing Gatsby's inner circle. In turn, Nick's cousin Daisy, along with her husband and friend, are brought into the circle as well. It is then, that Nick learns of Gatsby's long standing infatuation with his former lover, Daisy and his desire to have her as his own once again.

During his summer in New York and his life in the fictional area of West Egg, Nick becomes witness to love, money, crime, sex, murder and lies. He spends much of the time warring with his conscious and battling with his morals. Nick's eyes are opened to, not only, the beauty and excitement of the roaring twenties but also to the deception and depravity hidden within high society. In The Great Gatsby, we get a glimpse of what money truly can and can not buy.