Two hundred enlarged colour photos were used representing Vincent’s completed canvases these were in addition to copies that were executed by an American art teacher, Robert Parker. Principal photography started in August and ended in December 1955 and it was shot on location in France, Belgium and the Netherlands. In 1954, Douglas secured the filming rights to Van Gogh's biography and intended to star and produce it through his own film production company, Bryna Productions, with Jean Negulesco directing and financial distribution backing from United Artists. They worked with Douglas on the 1952 melodrama The Bad and the Beautiful, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. Vincente Minnelli directed the film, while John Houseman produced it. The film was based on the 1934 novel by Irving Stone and adapted by Norman Corwin. Production Kirk Douglas as Vincent van Gogh in Lust for Life Toni Gerry as Johanna ( Johanna van Gogh-Bonger).Jeanette Sterke as Kay (Cornelia 'Kee' Vos-Stricker), cousin of Vincent and Theo.Noel Purcell as Anton Mauve, established painter and cousin of Vincent and Theo.Madge Kennedy as Anna Cornelia van Gogh, mother of Vincent and Theo.

Henry Daniell as Theodorus van Gogh, father of Vincent and Theo.Pamela Brown as Christine, Vincent's lover, based on Sien.James Donald as Theo van Gogh, Vincent's brother.Anthony Quinn as Paul Gauguin, painter and friend of Vincent's.Kirk Douglas as Vincent van Gogh, struggling painter.While painting cornfields, he is frustrated by the crows and, despairing at never being able to put what he sees on canvas, pulls out a revolver to shoot himself. He signs himself out, and with Theo's help returns to a rural area to resume painting. Vincent begins experiencing seizures and voluntarily commits himself to a mental institution, where he is allowed to paint. However, Vincent is too obsessive even for Gauguin's tastes and they argue, prompting the latter's departure, after which Vincent cuts off his own ear. Paul Gauguin (whom he met in Paris) joins him there, and for a while life is good. Theo cannot bear living with him and Vincent leaves for sunny Arles, France. His passion then turns fully to painting, which he pursues while agonizing that he is unable to paint precisely what he sees.Īfter his father's death, he goes to Paris with Theo, where he discovers impressionists. Vincent takes up with a prostitute who eventually also leaves because he is too poor. His brother, Theo van Gogh, provides financial and moral support. His cousin Anton Mauve gives him paint and art materials and encourages him to paint. The infatuated Vincent follows her to her family home, where he holds his hand over a candle flame to prove his devotion, only to learn that she has said she is disgusted by him and doesn't want to see him again. Here a woman he obsessively loves (his cousin) rejects Van Gogh because of his inability to support himself financially. The religious leaders do not like his approach, and they frown on his social activism and care for the poor. Here he becomes deeply absorbed in the miners' plight and begins sketching their daily life. He pleads with them to be allowed some position and they place him in a very poor mining community. Vincent has trained to be a minister, like his father, but the church authorities find him unsuitable.

Douglas won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor for his performance, while Quinn won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The film stars Kirk Douglas as Van Gogh, James Donald as his brother Theo, with Pamela Brown, Everett Sloane, and Anthony Quinn. It was directed by Vincente Minnelli and produced by John Houseman. Lust for Life is a 1956 American biographical film about the life of the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, based on the 1934 novel of the same title by Irving Stone which was adapted for the screen by Norman Corwin.

Who sings lust for life