A Hollywood epic defined by its off-screen chaos and a tragic, legendary tree
In short: The 1957 film Raintree County was MGM's most expensive production at the time, yet it is remembered less for its scope than for the near-fatal car accident of its lead actor and the bizarre, erratic behavior that plagued its troubled, high-stakes set in the American South.
Adapted from Ross Lockridge Jr.’s 1948 bestseller, Raintree County was a massive undertaking that faced delays from its inception. MGM purchased the rights for $150,000 in 1947, but the project stalled for years due to ballooning costs. When it finally reached production in 1956 under director Edward Dmytryk, the film became a logistical and personal nightmare. It was the first to utilize the 65-millimeter MGM Camera 65 widescreen process, yet the technical ambition was overshadowed by the instability of its stars, Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor.
The production was nearly derailed on May 12, 1956, when Clift crashed his car into a telephone pole. He suffered severe facial fractures that required extensive surgery, leaving the left side of his face partially paralyzed. His subsequent performance was marked by heavy drinking and erratic behavior, including reports of him running naked through the town of Danville, Kentucky. Taylor also faced health crises, including a collapse from hyperventilation, while the production struggled with the logistical burden of shooting on location in Mississippi and Tennessee.
Critics at the time were largely unimpressed, praising the visual production values—including the artificial 'golden rain' tree created for the finale—but dismissing the screenplay as formless and vague. Despite a world premiere in Louisville attended by 5,000 people, the film failed to recoup its massive budget, recording a loss of $484,000. While it earned four Academy Award nominations, including a Best Actress nod for Taylor, the film remains a cautionary tale of studio excess and the human cost of mid-century Hollywood ambition.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Raintree County (film)
- Also: Wikidata — Raintree County · CC0
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