The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1944)

The Bridge of San Luis Rey is a 1944 drama film made by Benedict Bogeaus Productions and released by United Artists. It was produced and directed by Rowland V. Lee with Benedict Bogeaus as co-producer. The screenplay by Howard Estabrook and Herman Weissman was adapted from the novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder. The music score was by Dimitri Tiomkin and the cinematography by John W. Boyle and an uncredited John J. Mescall.

The film stars Lynn Bari, Francis Lederer, Akim Tamiroff, Alla Nazimova and Louis Calhern.

Despite a low budget and several notable deviations from the Thornton Wilder novel, the film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score (Dimitri Tiomkin).

Synopsis

In the year of 1774, a hundred-year old bridge leading to the chapel of San Luis Rey in Peru, plunges into the deep chasm it spans, killing the five people who are crossing it. Brother Juniper (Donald Woods) is one of the chapel monks, whose faith is rocked by the unfortunate incident. He travels to Lima to seek answers to his questions why these five were chosen by God to die this violent death.

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