Lust for Life (film)

Lust for Life 1956 is a MGM Metrocolor biographical film about the life of the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, based on the 1934 novel of the same name by Irving Stone and adapted by Norman Corwin.

Vincent van Goghs obsessive devotion to his art engulfs, consumes, and finally destroys him. The apostate religious leaders do not like his zeal for God and they frown on his social activism and care for the poor in a coal mining town. He returns home to his fathers house where he is rejected by a woman he obsessively loves, takes up with a prostitute who leaves because he is too poor, and discovers painting, which he pursues while agonizing that his vision exceeds his ability to execute. His brother, Theo van Gogh, provides financial and moral support, while Vincent lives off and on with the critical Paul Gauguin. Vincent begins experiencing hallucinations and seizures and voluntarily commits himself to a mental institution. He signs himself out, and with Theos help, returns to a rural area to paint, where he ultimately shoots himself in despair of never being able to put what he sees on canvas.The film was based on the 1934 novel by Irving Stone and adapted by Norman Corwin. Vincent Minnelli directed the film, while John Houseman produced it. 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. ........

Source: Wikipedia