August 25, 1949 –
Vincente Minnelli adaptation of Gustave Flaubert’s novel, Madame Bovary, starring Jennifer Jones, James Mason, Van Heflin, and Louis Jourdan, opened in New York City on this date.
After the expensive box-office failure of The Pirate, director Vincente Minnelli worked hard to cut corners on this film, fearing he might be otherwise be accused of extravagance. However, he devoted a great deal of time to the ball sequence, which he regarded as the most important scene in the film; he even had composer Miklos Rozsa compose the waltz theme used in it well in advance of the start of filming.
