The Razor's Edge

The Razor's Edge (1946)

Timing: 2:25 (145 min)

6.8/10
82

6.819/10
626

7.3/10
7400

All about film

Video 1

Photo 6

Actors and characters

Release date

1946-11-19

Country

United States

Production

20th Century Fox

Genre

Drama, Romance, Adventure

Budget

$1 200 000

Revenue

$0

Website

Director

Edmund Goulding

Actors

Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney, John Payne, Anne Baxter, Clifton Webb, Herbert Marshall, Lucile Watson, Frank Latimore, Elsa Lanchester, Fritz Kortner
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Darryl F. Zanuck

Operator

Arthur C. Miller

Composer

Alfred Newman

Artist

Audition

Editing

J. Watson Webb Jr.
All team (11)

• While filming a scene in the hospital, Ann Baxter (1923-1985) drew on her own childhood memories of losing her three-year-old brother.
• 89 sets were built with decorations. At the time (1946), the shooting schedule was the longest in the history of cinema.
• Playwright and novelist William Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) was hired to write the screenplay, and the script he wrote is still kept in the film company's archives. How much of his script was ultimately used in the film remains unknown.
• 20th Century Fox acquired the rights to adapt the source novel in March 1945 for $250,000 plus 20% of the net profit. The contract stipulated that if filming did not begin by February 2, 1946, the film company would be fined $50,000. To avoid paying the fine, producer Darryl F. Zanuck (1902-1979) organized filming in the mountains near Denver, Colorado, in August 1945 (they portrayed the Himalayas in the film). The film’s cast had not yet been finalized at that time, so a stunt double played Larry, and he was only filmed from a distance. Zanuck hoped that Tyrone Power (1914-1958) would star in the lead role, so he kept delaying the start of filming to give Power time to be demobilized, which happened in January 1946.
• The film company 20th Century Fox did not use Somerset Maugham's screenplay, written based on his own novel of the same name (1944), and therefore felt somewhat indebted to him. Director George Cukor (1899-1983) suggested gifting Maugham a painting, and later recounted that Maugham was given a canvas by Henri Matisse (1869-1954).
• The 20th Century Fox film company did not use Somerset Maugham's screenplay, written based on his own novel of the same name (1944), and therefore felt somewhat indebted to him. Director George Cukor (1899-1983) proposed gifting Maugham a painting, and later recounted that Maugham was gifted a canvas by Henri Matisse (1869-1954).