Scaramouche
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Movie Reviews of Scaramouche
Movie Review: Not as good as the book but good viewing.
Summary: 4 Stars
Hollywood really pruned the original story down to almost a pot-boiler. Saving the day was the acting and enough of the Sabatini story to keep it worth the effort. The final sword fight is one of the best.Movie Review: SWORD PLAY AND SWASHBUCKLING - MGM STYLE
Summary: 3 Stars
"Scaramouche" is the somewhat convoluted tale of a womanizing rogue, Andrea Moreau (Stewart Granger) who courts a gypsy player, Lenore (Eleanor Parker) but ultimately falls for the purity and grace of courtesan, Aline de Gavrillac de Bourbon (Janet Leigh). Mel Ferrer appears as the villain, Noel, the Marquis de Maynes. Andrea?s heart is set upon revenge after Noel brutally assassinates his best friend in a dual. But the Marquis has powerful friends who attempt to hunt down Andrea. Masquerading as Scaramouche, the bit player of a traveling theatrical troupe, Andrea draws himself nearer to Noel?s confidence, all the while falling in love with Aline, who is at first erroneously mistaken to be Andrea?s sister. The swashbuckling climaxes with a death-defying dual inside an opera house (actually an MGM set). Both Granger and Ferrer do their own sword play and stunt work, often teetering three stories above the gathered crowd on the edge of their balconies. There's plenty of sword play, excitement and thrills in this lavishly produced spectacle from MGM which, quite frankly, beats most like-minded contemporary fluff by about a mile and a half. Warner Home Video has given us an adequate transfer. Even though no attempt has been made to minimize or clean up the age related artifacts that are present throughout, this transfer has held up remarkably well over time. Colors are fully saturated, bold and, at times, incredibly life like. However, there is an inconsistency in the color balancing, not even from scene to scene, but shot to shot. The entire image has a decidedly "warm" look to it which is in keeping with the lushness of its original photography, but several scenes suffer from a mis-registration problem that creates ghostly halos. Nevertheless, pixelization, edge enhancement, aliasing and shimmering are all absent, making for a smooth visual presentation. During the darker scenes, black levels, though deep and rich, tend to lose fine detail, but once again, for a bare bones restoration effort, the visual quality holds up remarkably well. The audio is mono but nicely balanced.
Extras include Mel Ferrer recollecting the making of the film. You also get the film's theatrical trailer. I recommend "Scaramouche" as a swashbuckling highlight of the 1950's. Though nobody did this sort of picture better than perhaps Errol Flynn, Stewart Granger is an ample successor and the production values associated with this film set it apart from anything seen on the screen - before or since.
Movie Review: Not bad.......not great
Summary: 3 Stars
A bit talky for an adventure story. More of a period costume piece. Not so great for kids or those looking for lots of action. Performances are broad. Great color. Much has been written about the closing sword fight and it is long, 8 minutes as I recall. But to these eyes, not terribly engrossing, almost tedious, almost. Not a terrible film by any means, but difficult to recommend.Movie Review: Older movie
Summary: 3 Stars
This now my favorite. I felt it was a little slow, but if I had watched it 20 years ago it would have seem more up to date. My husband enjoyed it.Movie Review: Sorry, even the swordfight was bland
Summary: 2 Stars
I had read how this was built up as one of the best six minute swordfights on film, so I thought it would be interesting. In my husband's words, "these guys couldn't TOUCH Basil Rathbone and Danny Kaye." Watch the "Court Jester" if you want that. Then, let's get to the story. Hero is a classic smarmy rake who likes to shovel the flowery composte as the women swoon. Elenor Parker's character was great, and the fact that the rake uses her unrepentantly before he decides to marry the perfect little virgin (Janet Leigh) in the end made me want to barf. Especially unbelievable was this woman scorned gleefully waving to the married couple in the end as if to say, 'ah, go, be happy for I am not good enough for him." In what universe would that happen? More than likely little Janet would have found some deadly night shade in her wine as the acting troupes wagons slipped out of town. Still it is classic MGM swashbuckling, great costumed film with some witty dialogue. Thus the two stars.