Keeper of the Flame (film)

Keeper of the Flame
Release poster
Directed by	George Cukor
Screenplay by	Donald Ogden Stewart
Based on	Keeper of the Flame by I. A. R. Wylie
Produced by	Victor Saville
Starring	Spencer Tracy Katharine Hepburn Richard Whorf Margaret Wycherly Forrest Tucker Darryl Hickman
Cinematography	William H. Daniels
Edited by	James E. Newcom
Music by	Bronisław Kaper
Production company	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributed by	Loew's Inc.
Release date	December 1942 (1942-12) [1]
Running time	100 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1.17 million[2]
Box office	$3.2 million[2]

Keeper of the Flame is a 1942 American drama film directed by George Cukor, and starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). The screenplay by Donald Ogden Stewart is adapted from the 1942 novel Keeper of the Flame by I. A. R. Wylie. Hepburn plays the widow of a famous civic leader who has died in an accident. Tracy portrays a former war correspondent who intends to write a flattering biography of the dead man, only to find that his death is shrouded in mystery. Screenwriter Stewart considered the script the finest moment of his career, feeling vindicated by the assignment as he believed that Hollywood had punished him for years for his political views. Principal filming began in the last week of August 1942, four months after the release of the novel, published by Random House. The picture was filmed on a sound stage, with no location shooting. Hepburn had already begun a relationship with Tracy, and his heavy drinking led her to become his vigilant guardian during the filming.

The film was screened for the Office of War Information's Bureau of Motion Pictures on December 2, 1942, where it was disapproved of by the Bureau's chief, Lowell Mellett. Keeper of the Flame premiered to a poor reception at Radio City Music Hall on Thursday, March 18, 1943. MGM head Louis B. Mayer stormed out of the cinema, enraged by his having encouraged the making of a film that equated wealth with fascism. Republican members of Congress complained about the film's leftist politics and demanded that Will H. Hays, president of the Motion Picture Production Code, establish motion picture industry guidelines for propaganda. Cukor was dissatisfied with the film and considered it one of his poorest efforts.