Tycoon (1947 film)

Tycoon
Tycoon
	Film poster
Directed by	Richard Wallace
Written by	Borden Chase; John Twist
Based on	Tycoon; by Charles Elbert Scoggins
Produced by	Stephen Ames
Starring	John Wayne; Laraine Day ; Cedric Hardwicke
Cinematography	W. Howard Greene; Harry J. Wild
Edited by	Frank Doyle
Music by	Leigh Harline
Production; company	RKO Radio Pictures
Distributed by	RKO Radio Pictures
Release date	December 27, 1947;
Running time	128 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$3.2 million
Box office	$2.5 million (US rentals)

Tycoon is a 1947 American Technicolor romantic drama film directed by Richard Wallace and starring John Wayne, Laraine Day and Cedric Hardwicke. It was produced and distributed by RKO Pictures. It is based on the 1934 novel of the same name by Charles Elbert Scoggins.

Plot

Johnny Munroe (John Wayne) travels to South America to build a mountain railroad tunnel for Frederick Alexander (Sir Cedric Hardwicke), a wealthy industrialist. Complications arise when Alexander insists upon a shorter, more dangerous passage and when his daughter Maura (Laraine Day) develops a romantic interest with Johnny.

Cast

John Wayne as Johnny Munroe
Laraine Day as Maura Alexander Munroe
Cedric Hardwicke as Frederick Alexander
Judith Anderson as Miss Braithwaite
James Gleason as Pop Mathews
Anthony Quinn as Ricky Vegas
Grant Withers as Fog Harris
Paul Fix as Joe
Fernando Alvarado as Chico
Harry Woods as Holden
Michael Harvey as Curly Messenger
Charles Trowbridge as Señor Tobar
Martin Garralaga as Chávez

Production

Maureen O'Hara was originally cast as Wayne's leading lady, but RKO put her in Sinbad the Sailor instead.^[3] Set in the Andes, the film was originally intended to be filmed at RKO's Estudios Churubusco in Mexico City but at the last minute production was shifted to Lone Pine, California.^[3]

Reception

Though successful, the film did not earn back its huge production costs of RKO's most expensive production up to that time.^[4]^{[self-published source]} It ended up losing $1,035,000.^[5]

References

^ Richard Jewell & Vernon Harbin, The RKO Story. New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House, 1982. p225
^ "Top Grossers of 1948", Variety 5 January 1949 p 46
^ ^a ^b p.287 Roberts, Randy & Olson, James Stuart John Wayne, American 1997 University of Kentucky Press
^ p.131 Reid, John Howard Popular Pictures of the 1940s 2004 Lulu.com
^ Richard Jewel, 'RKO Film Grosses: 1931-1951', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 14 No 1, 1994 p46

External links

Tycoon at IMDb
Tycoon at the TCM Movie Database
Tycoon at AllMovie
Tycoon at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films

[rko-1] Richard Jewell & Vernon Harbin, The RKO Story. New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House, 1982. p225

[2] "Top Grossers of 1948", Variety 5 January 1949 p 46

[JWA-3] .287 Roberts, Randy & Olson, James Stuart John Wayne, American 1997 University of Kentucky Press

[4] .131 Reid, John Howard Popular Pictures of the 1940s 2004 Lulu.com

[rkoone-5] Richard Jewel, 'RKO Film Grosses: 1931-1951', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 14 No 1, 1994 p46

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