Details

Release year: 1959

Storyline

A British woman trying to escape Hungary with her freedom fighter lover and a group of Westerners, as the Soviet Union moves to crush the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, finds herself the obsession of an enigmatic Communist officer.

Top credits

Directors

Anatole Litvak

Writers

Cast

Deborah Kerr — Diana Ashmore
Yul Brynner — Major Surov
Jason Robards — Paul Kedes
Robert Morley — Hugh Deverill

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Did you know

• During filming, Yul Brynner's hand was cut by a former crazed lover who traveled across Europe to find him. There are scenes where Brynner's bandaged hand is not shown on-screen, and there are scenes where he is holding a prop to camouflage the hand.

• This marked Jason Robards's feature film debut, the son of character actor Jason Robards (1892-1963). Ron Howard had appeared in an unbilled part in the 1956 film Frontier Woman, but The Journey marked his first credited appearance; he was billed as Ronny Howard.

• Loosely based on the short story by Guy de Maupassant, "Boule de suif" (literally "Ball of Fat," though "Dumpling" or "Butterball" might be better translations). Set during the Franco-Prussian War, it's been used as the basis for other films/TV episodes as well. In this case, Deborah Kerr's Lady Ashmore is quite different than the prostitute "Dumpling" in the original story, but while Yul Brynner's Major Surov has more depth and humanity than the Prussian officer in Maupassant's story, the basic motivation for his attraction is similar, though perhaps less vulgar. In both cases, her fellow travelers selfishly and ignobly pressure "Dumpling"/"Lady Ashmore" to sacrifice herself to the officer for their freedom.