Gershwin

In 1959 werd onder regie van Otto Preminger een filmversie gemaakt (Porgy and Bess), met in de hoofdrollen Sidney Poitier en Sammy Davis jr. Die versie neigt meer naar een musical – wat de muzikale uitvoering betreft – dan naar een opera. In 1972 stelden de erfgenamen van Gershwin, Ira en zijn vrouw Leonore, vast dat de film niet voldeed aan de voorschriften van de componist. Ze verboden iedere verdere vertoning. Daardoor is de film vrijwel nergens meer verkrijgbaar. Er bestaan echter wel bootlegs. ********Op YouTube staat gelukkig deze -  - Engelse ondertiteling instelbaar.

Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1959) Porgy and Bess is a 1959 American musical film directed by Otto Preminger, and starring Sidney Poitier and Dorothy Dandridge in the titular roles. It is based on the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin, DuBose Heyward and Ira Gershwin, in turn based on Heyward's 1925 novel Porgy, as well as Heyward's subsequent 1927 non-musical stage adaptation, co-written with his wife Dorothy. The film's screenplay, which turned the operatic recitatives into spoken dialogue, was very closely based on the opera and was written by N. Richard Nash. The movie's soundtrack album won the Grammy Award for Best Sound Track Album or Recording of Original Cast From a Motion Picture or Television. The project was the last for Samuel Goldwyn. Due to its controversial subject matter, the film was shown only briefly following its initial reserved seat engagements in major cities, where it drew mixed reviews from critics. Two months after its release, Goldwyn grudgingly conceded "No one is waiting breathlessly for my next picture." The film is unavailable on home video, and it is unknown if a quality print still exists, prompting it to be considered one of the more prestigious and expensively produced "lost films." In 2011, the film was chosen for inclusion in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. -- Wikipedia