Scaramouche
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Movie Reviews of Scaramouche
Movie Review: "You may turn your back on Scaramouche, my lord, but surely you will not run away from Andre Moreau?... Stewart Granger"
Summary: 5 Stars
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) presents "SCARAMOUCHE" (1952) (115 min/Color) -- Starring Stewart Granger, Eleanor Parker, Janet Leigh, Mel Ferrer, Henry Wilcoxon, Nina Foch, Richard Anderson, Robert Coote, Lewis Stone & Elisabeth Risdon
Directed by George Sidney
Who ever thought director George Sidney known for his musicals would be directing two of my favorite swashbuckling films. George Sidney with "The 3 Musketeers," and "Scaramouche" from Rafael Sabatini have superb direction. Both films have the quickness of light grace and the rhythm to match some of the most amazing choreographic swordplay ever filmed.
Stewart Granger and Mel Ferrer are both excellent. The entire cast presents the film while avoiding any slip into comedy and parody. The highly improbable story is presented seriously and here lies the beauty of this film. I must admit being a little biased as I have always been a Stewart Granger fan.
Victor Young's colorful score is a beautiful mixture of various themes, punctuating the proceedings with the required dash and eloquence. If swashbuckling romantic adventures are the kind of action films you admire, you'll have a grand time with this one. Grade A production values from top to bottom and directed at a fast clip despite its two hour running time.
"Scaramouches" is probably the best fencing movie ever made. Only "Don Juan" with Errol Flynn comes close, because of the fencing school sequences. Here it is the training of Andre (Granger) as he prepares to destroy the Marquis (Ferrer), especially in scenes with John Dehner as his first trainer. But if it was solely for the fencing it probably would not be as popular as it is today
BIOS:
1. George Sidney [Director]
Date of Birth: 4 October 1916 - Long Island City, New York
Date of Death: 5 May 2002 - Las Vegas, Nevada
2. Stewart Granger [aka: James Lablanche Stewart]
Date of Birth: 6 May 1913 - Kensington, London, England, UK
Date of Death: 16 August 1993 - Santa Monica, California
3. Eleanor Parker [aka: Eleanor Jean Parker]
Date of Birth: 26 June 1922 - Cedarville, Ohio
Date of Death: Still Living
4. Janet Leigh [aka: Jeanette Helen Morrison]
Date of Birth: 6 July 1927 - Merced, California
Date of Death: 3 October 2004 - Beverly Hills, California
5. Mel Ferrer [aka: Melchor Gaston Ferrer]
Date of Birth: 25 August 1917 - Elberon, New Jersey
Date of Death: 2 June 2008 - Santa Barbara, California
Mr. Jim's Ratings:
Quality of Picture & Sound: 5 Stars
Performance: 5 Stars
Story & Screenplay: 5 Stars
Overall: 5 Stars [Original Music, Cinematography & Film Editing]
Total Time: 115 min on DVD ~ Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) ~ (07/01/2003)
Movie Review: 'He was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad.'
Summary: 5 Stars
Although Stewart Granger constantly frustrated MGM's attempts to cast him in swashbucklers and costume pictures (both Ivanhoe and Quo Vadis were intended as star vehicles for him before going on to revive Robert Taylor's flagging career), he was enthusiastic enough about the studio's lavish 1952 remake of Scaramouche to make it a condition of signing up to a long-term contract with the studio that he play the part. Directed with real flair by the undervalued George Sidney, it improves over the previous 1923 version in almost every way, not least with a much more satisfying storyline. Stewart Granger's the orphan from the wrong side of the blanket who learns to become a master swordsman to avenge the death of a friend while disguised as the deformed clown Scaramouche in pre-Revolutionary France, along the way fending off his feelings for Janet Leigh - well, she does seem to be his half-sister - and Eleanor Powell's actress. The result is a perfect entertainment, in turn exciting, romantic and funny, and in Granger it has a Scaramouche who truly does seem to have been born with the gift of laughter and the sense that the world is mad.
It benefits immensely from all the resources that only the studio system at its peak could provide - not merely a top cast and crew but also magnificent backlots and sets leftover from earlier pictures (such as MGM's French village set that did service in Sidney's 1948 Three Musketeers and Minnelli's Madame Bovary). This really pays off in the very grand finale, the famed six-minute sword fight that takes in the whole of a palace theatre, starting in the circle, working its way through the corridors, stairs, lobby and stalls before coming full circle to the stage itself, something that was apparently almost an afterthought - the duel was originally scheduled to take place in an exterior location until it was decided to make more dramatic use of one of the studio's previous sets. Granger and Mel Ferrer are well matched, the latter's training as a dancer put to good use in the particularly energetic swordfight, and Fred Cavens' fight choreography is smart enough to show the shift in the balance of power in pleasingly dramatic fashion. Throw in a fine score from Victor Young, gorgeous Technicolor photography from Charles Rosher and a small role for Lewis Stone, the villain from the 1922 version here on the side of the angels, (not to mention supporting villainy from former De Mille leading man Henry Wilcoxen) and it's all rather perfect.
The US Region 1 NTSC DVD only has trailers as an extra, but the French two-disc DVD is well worth seeking out - it also includes the lavish 1923 silent version with original English subtitles and a sadly unsubtitled French documentary on the film as well as a George Sidney trailer gallery.
Movie Review: LONGEST AND BEST SWORD FIGHTING SCENE EVER, NOT TO MENTION DROP-DEAD GORGEOUS SETS
Summary: 5 Stars
Based on the historical novel by Raphael Sabatini, this romantic adventure set in pre-revolutionary France boasts the longest and best sword fight ever filmed, as well as some of the most drop-dead gorgeous sets ever created. For production values, it doesn't get any better than this. The set for the climactic sword fighting scene is a version of the Paris Opera House that makes the one in Phantom Of The Opera look like the clubhouse from Spanky And Our Gang. Yet, never has such an elaborate set been put to such good use.
Scaramouche, played perfectly by Stewart Granger, is a comedic stage character that revolutionary Andre Moreau uses as a cover for his real mission: to get himself into a position to right the wrongs done by the Marquis de Maynes, including the murder of his best friend. The Marquis is also portrayed perfectly by Mel Ferrer. In their final sword fight, Granger swings on a rope from the stage of the opera house up into the box occupied by Ferrer, thus beginning their famous duel. First, they fight from box to box above the heads of the gasping audience. Granger, dressed in his gorgeously graphic Scaramouche costume, is extremely interesting to watch, as he nimbly makes his way from one tight situation to the next. Then the two continue their fight into the balcony hallway, down a lavish staircase, descending by jumping onto a sofa below. Next, they make their way into the first floor gallery, leaping across rows of seats as the audience members do their best to get out of the way. Then they move onstage, then backstage, smashing and overturning props and set pieces as they go. When they finally finish, both men are exhausted - and for good reason! I don't know how long the sword fight lasts, but it is supremely entertaining throughout.
The film contains the typical studio stereotypes of the period, but it is so visually stunning, and the actors so interesting to watch, these flaws are easily overlooked. It's hard to believe Scaramouche didn't win a single Oscar in 1952, because everyone did such superb work. This film set a new standard for swordsmanship that has never been equaled, even by such films as Pirates Of The Caribbean, which seems impotent by comparison. The sequence of the two men fighting on the golden opera boxes set against the red décor of the opera house is one you'll never forget.
Waitsel Smith
Movie Review: En Garde! They Don't Make 'em Like THIS Anymore!
Summary: 5 Stars
WHAT A GLORIOUS MOVIE! I've loved it since I was a kid, and somewhere between 20-30 viewings haven't dimmed its lustre for me, especially in the sparkling DVD presentation - I never fail to have my spirits lifted by the end of this grand adventure. Eleanor Parker and Janet Leigh never looked lovelier than in Charles Rosher's glorious Technicolor photography, and Stewart Granger and Mel Ferrer make a fine sparring duo. This is one of Granger's best performances - he makes Andre Moreau eminently likeable, while Ferrer is properly smarmy as his noble nemesis. And boy, do sparks fly between Granger and Parker in their romantic scenes! Parker is wonderful throughout - this is some of her best screen work. Supporting performances by Robert Coote, Henry Wilcoxen and Lewis Stone are also excellent (Stone appeared in Rex Ingram's spectacular 1923 version, playing what was essentially the Ferrer role).
The film's climactic 7-minute sword fight is justly famous and spectacularly staged and photogaphed, but there is much else to enjoy - the Commedia dell'arte sketches are amusingly played, and throughout the film is one of Victor Young's most gorgeously melodious scores, with beautiful themes for the main characters and an incredibly beautiful 'revelation' theme which precedes and ends the famous sword-fight (which itself has no musical underscoring at all). That his magnificent SCARAMOUCHE score didn't even receive an Oscar NOMINATION is a gross oversight!
There's hardly a French accent in sight, and the story has been considerably simplified from the original Sabatini novel and Ingram's film, though the basic plot-line and character motivations remain the same - in fact, the French Revolution sub-plot has been dropped almost entirely, though the film's trailer and production shots in circulation hint that it was originally given more screen-time.
The DVD extra's (2 trailers, an interview with Ferrer) are good, but I really wanted more - perhaps interviews with the 2 leading ladies as well - but believe me, I'm not complaining - this film took forever to get to VHS video and, given the studios resistance to spending much $$$ to get older films in shape for DVD, we're lucky they've honored us with this one already!
This one's a DON'T-MISS!!!!!
Movie Review: Swashbuckling classic
Summary: 5 Stars
Stewart Granger is dashing in the title role in one of the greatest swordfighting adventure films ever made, "Scaramouche". Granger stars as Andre Moreau, illegitimate son of a French nobleman at the time of the French Revolution. Brought up and educated in the house of his surrogate father Georges de Valmorin played by Lewis Stone, Granger growns up with his son Phillippe played by Richard Anderson. Anderson, a clandestine leader of the Revolution is killed in a one sided sword duel by aristocratic Marquis de Maynes played by Mel Ferrer.
Outraged, Granger vows revenge, hiding out playing the clown and buffoon Scaramouche in a regional comedy troupe while taking swordfighting lessons for his inevitable showdown with Ferrer. Granger is having a relationship with fiery redhead Lenore another member of the troupe played by a fetching Eleanor Parker. He has a chance meeting and is smitten by Aline de Gavrillac played by an angelic Janet Leigh. He is horrified to learn that Leigh's father is the man he believes to be his own real life father.
Coincidences abound as Ferrer is commanded by the Queen to take in Leigh as his ward and he eventually falls in love with her but her heart belongs to Granger. Granger now quite accomplished as a swordsman is made a deputy in the legislature putting him at odds with the aristocratic arms of the same assembly.
The plot thickens as the love stories and confrontations between the rivals progress.
The film shot in beautiful technicolor, with a magnificent array of costumes and a talented cast serves as a shining example of the pageantry and extravaganza of a big studio Hollywood production of the 1950's.