Sep 271950
 

This film works on José Ferrer’s Oscar-winning performance, and on the poetic dialog—taken from Brian Hooker’s translation of the French play. The low budget is obvious, but Ferrer projects the honor and love in the story so well that it makes up for any flaws.

Directed by: Michael Gordon
Written by: Carl Foreman (from Brian Hooker’s translation of the play by Edmond Rostand)
Produced by: Stanley Kramer
Stanley Kramer Productions/United Artists, 1950
Runtime: 112 Min
Cast: José Ferrer (Cyrano de Bergerac), Mala Powers (Roxane), William Prince (Christian de Neuvillette), Morris Carnovsky (Le Bret), Ralph Clanton (Antoine Comte de Guiche), Lloyd Corrigan (Ragueneau), Virginia Farmer (Duenna), Edgar Barrier (Cardinal Richelieu), Albert Cavens (Vicomte de Valvert)
A Few Thoughts

While I cannot say that each of the Swashbucklers I chose as important changed the genre, I can claim that each is a signpost in the genre’s development (or in some cases, its stability).  But Cyrano de Bergerac is an exception. It is not on that road; it is a detour.  It is different than its predecessors and no other Swashbucklers  followed its style.  But that doesn’t mean it isn’t an important and enjoyable dead-end.

Cyrano de Bergerac is a play that just happens to be recorded on film.  Due to budgetary restraints and artistic inclination, the production does not take advantage of the capabilities of motion pictures, rather it takes its cue from the stage.  And that isn’t a bad thing.  Movement isn’t important for Cyrano de Bergerac, nor is lighting, nor camera angles, nor innovative cuts.  Dialog, and the expressions that go with the dialog are everything.

My French is far too weak (far, far) for me to enjoy the original Edmond Rostand play.  Luckily Brian Hooker did what so few translators are capable of and created a poetic English interpretation.  The film leans heavily on that translation.  Most of the lines come straight from the play; the few that don’t come from Hooker’s work lack his melodic quality and sound out of place.

José Ferrer plays Cyrano de Bergerac, the greatest swordsman in France.  He also is very sensitive about his enormous nose.  He is in love with his cousin Roxane (Mala Powers), but can’t bring himself to tell her.  She has fallen for the good looking but dim Christian (William Prince).  Cyrano finds himself first the younger mans protector, and then, as Christian is incapable of romantic conversation, his voice.  Cyrano writes beautiful letters and speeches for Christian, and Roxane finds herself deeply in love, but not with the empty, handsome man that is really Christian, but with the man who wrote those words.  Unfortunately, she doesn’t know that Cyrano is the author, and so a comedy of mistaken identities turns into a tragedy.

This is the story of Cyrano.  The other characters pale in comparison.  It’s about a man who appears to be a master of all things, but is insecure and frightened in those areas that are most important in life.  He is loyal, caring, capable of deep love, and sometimes stupid.  Three lives are ruined by an over use of virtue.

While the lyrical dialog gives the movie a great start, it really works due to José Ferrer’s Oscar-winning performance.   I’ve pointed out before that great performances belong to actors with great voices and Ferrer has the requirement.  It’s a joy just to listen to him.

The rest of the production doesn’t fare so well.  William Prince’s Christian lacks life or sympathy.  Certainly the character lacks the depth of Cyrano, but it felt like he was reading his lines.  Mala Powers is quite attractive, but there is no spark in her performance to mark how Roxane called forth such love from Cyrano.  The cast isn’t poor, they just aren’t at Ferrer’s level, or the level of a great film.  With regard to the sets and lighting, the low budget is obvious, but Ferrer projects the honor and love in the story so well that it makes up for any flaws.  This is a great film that could have been more.

The DVD

Cyrano de Bergerac has had several less than stunning DVD releases.  Now Marengo Films has released a new disk, cleaning up the image and repairing the sound.  As an extra, they put an entire additional film on the disk, 1940’s The Son of Monte Cristo.  If you can ignore the Monte Cristo connection, which is fairly easy to do as the film has a completely different feel, you’ll find that this extra is one of the better Swashbucklers.  Originally, I had listed it as one of my “honorable mentions,” but removed it because it is of no importance to the development of the genre; it is very good, if unoriginal.  It’s yet another take on the fop/masked avenger story, with Louis Hayward taking the role of the titled hero.  The best action/adventure films have great villains.  Ranking these films only on the villain, and the actors playing them, would give a reasonable ordering.  The Prisoner of Zenda has Raymond Massey and Douglas Fairbanks Jr.  The Adventures of Robin Hood has Basil Rathbone and Claude Rains.  The Son of Monte Cristo has the always excellent George Sanders.  Sanders has the voice, the intensity, and that bit of humor behind his eyes that make him a perfect villain.  The DVD would be well worth buying just for The Son of Monte Cristo so the combo with Cyrano de Bergerac makes for a pretty desirable disk.