Scaramouche (1952)
Scaramouche (1952)
DVD9 | VIDEO_TS | PAL 4:3 | 01:50:01 | 6,97 Gb
Audio: English, French - AC3 2.0 @ 192 Kbps (each) | Subs: French
Genre: Adventure, Romance, Classics
DVD9 | VIDEO_TS | PAL 4:3 | 01:50:01 | 6,97 Gb
Audio: English, French - AC3 2.0 @ 192 Kbps (each) | Subs: French
Genre: Adventure, Romance, Classics
Andre-Louis Moreau is a nobleman's bastard in the days of the French revolution. Noel, the Marquis de Mayne, a nobleman in love with the Queen, is ordered to seek the hand of a young ingenue, Aline, in marriage. Andre also meets Aline, and forms an interest in her. But when the marquis kills his best friend Andre declares himself the Marquis's enemy and vows to avenge his friend. He hides out, a wanted man, as an actor in a commedia troupe, and spends his days learning how to handle a sword. When de Maynes becomes a spadassinicide, challenging opposing National Assembly members to duels they have no hope of winning, Andre becomes a politician to protect the third estate (and hopefully ventilate de Maynes).
IMDB
Wikipedia
Of all the swashbuckling novels written by Rafael Sabatini, Scaramouche is probably his best and most enduring work. Set in the years just prior to the French Revolution, the book follows the trials and tribulations of Andre-Louis Moreau, an idealistic lawyer who dedicates his life to revenge after his best friend is killed in a duel by the Marquis de la Tour d'Azyr, a master swordsman. Forced into hiding by his archenemy, Moreau joins a traveling theatre group where he becomes the star comedian known as Scaramouche.
Scaramouche (1952)
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Ramon Novarro played the title role in the silent 1923 version with Lewis Stone as his archrival. It faithfully followed the novel and made a huge impression on future swashbuckler Stewart Granger who saw it as a child. When Granger was later offered a contract by MGM, one of his stipulations was a guarantee that Scaramouche (1952) would be developed as a project for him and not as a musical for Gene Kelly as originally planned.
Scaramouche (1952)
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Granger got his wish and the resulting film established him as MGM's resident swashbuckler. Originally, Granger was going to play both the hero and his archrival with Elizabeth Taylor in the role of Aline and Ava Gardner as Lenore. That concept was scrapped and Janet Leigh was hired to play Aline (she had to learn to ride sidesaddle for the part) and Eleanor Parker, in her first film as a MGM contract player, got to wear a flaming red wig as the fiery Lenore.
Scaramouche (1952)
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In preparing for his role in Scaramouche, Granger took fencing lessons from Jean Heremans, the European champion, and performed most of the stunts himself. The justly famous eight-minute climactic duel in the theatre between Granger and Mel Ferrer (as Noel, the Marquis de Maynes) required eight weeks of training in which both stars had to memorize eighty-seven individual sword passes and perform twenty-eight stunts. As a result of filming this sequence Granger suffered several injuries like a wrenched knee, a damaged shoulder, and an injured back. There were other mishaps along the way: an iron chandelier that snapped its chain and obliterated a mattress where Granger was supposed to be lying, a fencing sequence where trainer Heremans almost lost an eye, and an incident where Granger's wife, Jean Simmons, was visiting the set and almost received a flying sword in the face.
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In spite of the physical challenges that faced the cast and crew of Scaramouche, the completed film succeeds as a grand, witty and colorful entertainment and a definite bright spot in the careers of Stewart Granger, Eleanor Parker, Janet Leigh, Mel Ferrer, cinematographer Charles Rosher, and director George Sidney.
Scaramouche (1952)
"He was born with the gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad." - Sabatini
So begins the novel and 1952 film version of the swashbuckling classic SCARAMOUCHE. I've been in absolute love with this film since I first saw it at least a dozen years ago. I could spend A LOT of time gushing over it but my time is pressed and like a lot of movies that I love more than most, I'll be brief.
Scaramouche (1952)
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The script by Ronald Millar, George Froeschel and Talbot Jennings is dynamite, but then so is the Rafael Sabatini novel. The words are pure poetry and their delivery by the principal players, particularly Granger, Parker, Leigh and Ferrer, become songs that you want to sing as soon as the picture is over. It's like as a kid when you see STAR WARS (1977), RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981) or a James Bond movie and immediately afterward you're in the backyard recreating your favorite scenes with your friends. That's how I feel about the witty repartee in this picture. Just give me a rapier and I'll run the bad guys through and win his girl over after the duel. It's that simple.
Scaramouche (1952)
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The performances are stellar. From what I've seen, this is Stewart Granger's finest performance. He's delightful. The same can be said for Mel Ferrer. Though he's the villain, he's one of the most charming bad guys I've ever come across. Ah, and then there's the scrummy Eleanor Parker. She's feisty, playful and witty…and scrummy enough to have my babies. I'd also invite Janet Leigh to have my babies but then I know she's going to die partway through PSYCHO (1960) (SPOILERS!!!) and I couldn't bear to leave our children motherless. Well, without their biological mother, anyway. They'd still have a plethora of beautiful actress mothers to fill the void.
Scaramouche (1952)
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Then there are the OUTSTANDING sword fights. This is the finest example of swordplay on film I've ever seen. And that goes for every fight in the film and there are plenty. SCARAMOUCHE has the distinction of having the longest movie sword fight at 7+ minutes and it's one splendid duel indeed - possibly the best. It's nothing short of spectacular. As I watched this for the umteenth time I could help but feel that something like this wouldn't get made these days with the short movie-goer's attention spans and all. Not to mention you wouldn't see most of the fight as it would just be a flurry of images flashing on the screen with lots of loud noise and unnecessary music.
Scaramouche (1952)
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But let's not forget what SCARAMOUCHE also brings to the table, romance. Yeah, it's Holloywoodized period piece romance but the difference is this one is extremely well acted, performed and directed. SCARAMOUCHE is a movie that has everything - a massive amount of excellent swordplay, a vast array of choice dialogue and wit, a wonderfully rousing score by Victor Young filled with adventure and romance, a driving revenge plot and a romance with a few surprises. It's a perfect film in my book. There's not a frame I would alter nor a note I would change. I love this picture and encourage anyone with a taste for this type of film to give it a shot.
Scaramouche (1952)
Special Features:
- Retrospective of Mel Ferrer (in English with French subs, 07:19)
- Trailer
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