Daily Archives: August 27, 2015

Scaramouche
Directed by George Sidney
Written by Written by Ronald Millar and George Froeschel from the novel by Rafael Sabatini
1952/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Andre Moreau: Happy is the rascal, traveling life’s byways, to whom the gods say, here is an easy switch. You may have lost Diana on the highway, but look, there is Aphrodite in a ditch.[/box]

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a good swashbuckler and this qualifies.

It is France in the late 18th Century.  Andre Moreau (Stewart Granger) was raised in the de Valmorin family.  His parentage has been kept from him.  Philippe de Valmorin, who was a brother to him, has been engaging in subversive activities in support of revolution.  Now the authorities are after Philippe and the valiant Andre, although not politically inclined, agrees to help him escape.  To get money for their travels, Andre forces his solicitor to reveal the identity of his father.  He says he was Count de Gavrillac.  But before long, Phillipe is killed by the arrogant Marquis de Maynes (Mel Ferrer) in a one-sided fencing match.  Before he escapes, Andre vows to avenge his friend.

Before he was called in to assist his friend, Andre had been in the process of snatching his amie Lenore (Eleanor Parker) from her intended on the day of her wedding.  He was about to marry her himself when duty called.  Lenore promptly ran away and rejoined the comedia del arte company in which she had been an actress.  Andre is not disconsolate for long as he encounters a vision of loveliness whose carriage has broken down on the road.  He falls in love with Aline (Janet Leigh) at first sight.  She likes him too but he puts the brakes on when he discovers her last name is de Gavrillac as well, thus making her his half sister.

The rest of the story follows Andre’s many adventures en route to his climactic encounter with the Marquis de Maynes.  Andre reunites with Lenore and adopts the disguise of the masked comic character Scaramouche in the comedia del arte show.  While he is acting by night Andre studies sword fighting by day and becomes a formidable fencer.  With Nina Foche as Marie Antoinette.

I really enjoyed this.  The dialogue sparkles and the story is full of humor.  Eleanor Parker is so witty and sexy as Lenore one can’t understand how Andre could have eyes for anyone else.  There is a fantastic seven-minute swordfight at the end.  This has some of the most beautiful and lifelike color I have seen in a movie of the period.  I can’t see why it didn’t get several technical nominations at the Oscars.  Recommended if you are in the mood for a good adventure.

Trailer

Bwana Devil became the first 3-D sound film to be released. Paramount’s wrap-around, big-screen Cinerama format debuted . The technique required three cameras, three projectors, interlocking, semi-curved screens, and four-track stereo sound.  This Is Cinerama  was the first Cinerama film shown to the public. Cinerama was the first real widescreen feature film format.  The gimmicks were aimed at attracting TV watchers back to the movie theaters.  The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) negotiated the first contracts that granted performers-actors residuals paid by studios for feature films sold to television.

Charlie Chaplin released his last American film, Limelight. During post-production, he traveled to Europe for premieres of the film in London and Paris. His INS application for re-entry into the U.S. was revoked by Attorney General James McGranery, who called Chaplin an “unsavory character”. Although Chaplin promised to return and answer charges, he broke ties with the U.S. after his wife Oona returned to Los Angeles in early 1953 to get his assets out of the US. Chaplin resided in Switzerland until his death in late 1977.

After appearing and testifying before the House Un-American Activities Committee, where he was accused of being involved with the Communist Party and refused to name names, actor John Garfield was blacklisted. He died on May 21.  It is speculated that the 39 year-old actor, already suffering from long-term heart problems brought on by a childhood illness, suffered his fatal heart attack due to the resultant stress.

Charlie Chaplin on the set of Limelight

In Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, The U.S. Supreme Court limited the power of the President to seize private business after President Harry S. Truman nationalized all steel mills in the United States just before a steel strike began.

Dr. C. Walton Lillehei and Dr. F. John Lewis performed the first open-heart surgery at the University of Minnesota. The surgery was made possible by the first use of a mechanical heart developed by General Motors.   The Pulitzer Prize for Literature was awarded to The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk.  Billboard ranked “Blue Tango”, an instrumental performed by Leroy Anderson, as the number one hit of 1952.

15 Feb 1952, London, England, UK — London crowds line the route of the procession carrying the coffin of King George VI. The king reigned from 1936 until his death in February 1952. | Location: Edgeware Road, London, England, UK. — Image by © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS

The first British nuclear weapon was detonated in Australia making the United Kingdom the third nuclear weapons state  The Treaty of San Francisco went into effect formally ending the war between Japan and the Allies and simultaneously ending the occupation of the four main Japanese islands. Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl was published. The first successful sex reasignment surgery was performed in Copenhagen, letting George Jorgensen Jr. become Christine Jorgensen.

King George VI died at age 56 after a long illness. His daughter Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh (now Elizabeth II), was proclaimed queen shortly thereafter.  Her coronation did not take place until 1953, due to the traditional period of mourning for the late king.

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The list of the films I will select from is here.  I have previously reviewed the following 1952 films on this site:  Forbidden Games; The Narrow Margin; Kansas City Confidential; Scandal Sheet; Angel Face; and The Sniper.

1952 Oscar Winners – montage of stills