"If it's one thing I despise, it's emotionalism in painting."
John Wayne enjoyed ribbing Kirk Douglas for playing Vincent Van Gogh in Lust for Life (1956), as if portraying an artist was beneath a tough guy. Certainly, Douglas relished challenging himself with roles the Duke wouldn't ever touch. Fortunately, he had the chops to pull them off.Vincent Van Gogh (Kirk Douglas) studies as a priest but falls out with his superiors over his unorthodox sympathy for miners. Depressed, Van Gogh relocates to Paris with the support of his brother Theo (James Donald), working as an artist. He befriends Paul Gauguin (Anthony Quinn), a French artist who encourages Van Gogh's work, helping him blossom into a major painter. As Van Gogh's style develops from still-lifes into vibrant landscapes, his art consumes him to the point of madness.
Based on Irving Stone's novel, Lust for Life offers a handsome, accessible treatment of Van Gogh's life. Director Vincente Minelli captures authentic locations in Belgium, Holland and France with Russell Harlan's sumptuous color photography, ranging from barren coal towns to verdant plains and wheat fields. While rather slow-moving, but Norman Colman's literate script keeps its drama on a relatable human scale. There's a sweeping score, romantic and poignant, by dependable composer Miklos Rosza.
Minelli provides montages of Van Gogh's artwork (narrated, strangely, by Theo), but mostly focuses on Van Gogh's personal conflicts. Aimless floundering in the priesthood gives way to missionary work, where he lives alongside coal miners, scandalizing the church. He's a man of great vision and torment; when a lover spurns him, Van Gogh holds his hand over a flame; he argues with Theo and his father (Henry Daniell) about religion. His quest for life's beauty becomes a blessing and a curse, as his inner demons bleed into reality.
Lust for Life lacks the bloat that makes another Irving Stone adaptation, The Agony and the Ecstasy, a bore. Rather than frame Van Gogh's work as God's own, Minelli focuses on its hero's own torment and conflicts. Van Gogh, too wrapped up in art to keep his family or maintain his lifestyle, clashes with Gauguin, a hard-drinking womanizer who enjoys fame, fortune and genius. Van Gogh loses his lover (Pamela Brown) to his passion, amputates his ear after falling out with Gauguin and suffers a mental breakdown. Van Gogh only achieved fame posthumously, his tragic life commemorated in immortal art.
Kirk Douglas tackles Van Gogh with aplomb, giving a hearty performance channeling his swagger into an uncharacteristic role. Besides a fair resemblance to the painter, his outsized style proves a surprisingly good fit, making Van Gogh passionate, engaged and thoroughly compelling. Anthony Quinn earned an Oscar for his flashy supporting turn, but James Donald's low key acting provides a better contrast. There's a slew of fine supporting players: Henry Daniell and Madge Kennedy as Van Gogh's parents, Pamela Brown as a disappointed lover, Laurence Naismith as a doctor.
Turning 100 years old today, Kirk Douglas will probably be remembered as the uber-masculine Spartacus and similar heroes more than his dramatic chops. A shame, as movies like Lust for Life shows. Happy birthday Kirk - is another hundred years too much to hope for?