Product Description

Ingrid Bergman and Gary Cooper paired off again after For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943) with this overwrought melodrama based on the romance novel by Edna Ferber. Bergman plays Clio Dulaine, a beautiful half-Creole woman whose return to 1875 New Orleans from Paris creates a stir. Born out of wedlock, Clio's mother was a local woman who became pregnant by a wealthy, married landowner. Scandalized, his wife and family set about humiliating Clio's mother and even paid for Clio's voyage to France in an effort to get rid of the girl. Now Clio returns with a dwarf, Cupidon (Jerry Austin), and a maid, Angelique (Florence Robson) in her entourage. At the docks, Clio meets a handsome gambler from Texas, Colonel Clint Maroon (Cooper) and is smitten. To Clio's delight, their blossoming romance inspires calumny, but Maroon soon realizes that Clio is a gold digger. He departs for Saratoga Springs, where he is working on a venture involving the railroad. Clio follows him there, bent on marrying either Clint or his business partner, Bart Van Steed (John Warburton). Saratoga Trunk (1945) was exhibited to servicemen overseas in WWII for two years before it was released to the general public. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #105603 in DVD
• Formats: Import, NTSC, Black & White, Full Screen
• Subtitled in: Portuguese
• Running time: 135 minutes

Customer Reviews

"Unbelievable, But a Delight to Watch"
This movie comes off as a parody of all the creole women/riverboat gambler-entrepreneur stories brought to the silver screen. Even Coop's costuming is exaggerated for effect. Bergman and Cooper do have a chemistry, and this was capatilized on following their pairing in "For Whom the Bell Tolls." It is not "high art" but it is so delightful to watch. To see Bergman and Cooper work the camera, to view the sets and costuming. To witness the flirtations, and to see Bergman's temper rise and fall. This is the only time I have ever seen Gary Cooper overact--but he does it on purpose and with great skill. I feel he probably did not really want to make this movie, but that it was a "filler" for him.
He remained the consumate pro, however. An off-beat treat.

Fun classic
I love New Orleans and most movies about the place. In this good story by esteemed novelist Edna Ferber, Ingrid Bergman plays Clio Dulaine, the daughter of a New Orleans placee whose benefactor married another. We learn immediately that the broken-hearted mother shot the father. Bergman is wonderful as the daughter who returns from Paris and intends to make good and show up the family that spurned her mother. A little bit mellodramatic at the beginning when she loses it upon first returning to the old house in the French Quarter, the movie has wonderful atmospheric black and white photography and surprising plot twists among the characters she runs into, including a woman who perceives Clio's plans. Interesting side trip into the history of the railroad--the Saratoga Trunk. The costumes and interiors are beautiful, and the painted backdrops of New Orleans are effective. Flora Robson plays her loyal, sassy personal maid in a dreadful make-up job. Jerry Austin, a comedic dwarf, is her other servant. And the young Gary Cooper in an enormous Western hat is great, as always, especially when he first gazes at Bergman. They soon realize they both want the same things in life. Will they end up together? Fun!

.......EVERY SO OFTEN FILM CHEMISTRY RADIATES THE SILVER SCREEN.................
So it is with Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman in "Saratoga Trunk"...even the background music complements the cowboy and his Louisiana lady...this is a sintilating/love story the casting was perfect with Lady Flora Robson as the paroachial and apprehensive nanny and 'lil Cupidor' played by Jerry Austin as the ever faithful bootman...and why not, the famous Warner Bros studio bosses knew everything about making superior films for our viewing pleasure...Bergman and Cooper excelled in a very popular film preceding this one: "For Whom The Bells Tolled"...but in this here movie their screen chemistry was a match made in heaven...their coquette love scenes had the thrill of the chase and waiting breathlessly for Bergman to cave in to a man of the west and the outdoor virility Cooper displayed with pure simple naturalness...you'll enjoy this DVD; afterall, it costs a small ransom, but it's worth it.....SSGT CHRIS SARNO-USMC FMF