I’ve seen the film Cyrano de Bergerac (1950) many times over the years, and it is a long time favorite when it comes to classic films. Anyone who has seen it will understand why, and it is a film I can highly recommend watching. Last night my Bonnie Bride and I watched it with a couple of close friends. Saturday nights at our place is frequently a celebration of good food and good movies, and last night was no different as we started out with South Carolina pulled pork sandwiches, fresh off the grill.
Cyrano de Bergerac (1950) poster - IMDB
Jose Ferrer plays the title role, and does so marvelously. His take on Cyrano is convincing with top notch dialogue, as he makes fun of an actor who is trying to perform a play, chasing the fellow off the stage with some delightful banter, then makes sport of a nobleman who insulted him, creating a poem as the two fight a duel. IMDB notes that Ferrer won the Academy Award for Best Actor, and, in my opinion deservedly so. There is a considerable amount of good dialogue throughout this opening scene in the theater as we meet Cyrano and are introduced to a variety of the main characters in the film.
Keeping in mind how the film flows like a play reminiscent of Shakespeare, Marlow, and their contemporaries, I did a little research, easy to do, and found that the screenplay was adapated from the 1897 play of the same name by Edmond Rostrand. The script written by Brian Hooker, who originally translated Rostrand’s play into English, and Carl Foreman. That the original source material was theatrical in nature explains way the film felt, in some ways, like watching a stage play. Previous to the filming of Cyrano de Bergerac, both Jose Ferrer and Ralph Clanton as the Comte de Guiche, both performed in the Broadway version a few years before this film was made. ( check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrano_de_Bergerac_(1950_film) for more information.)
Jose Ferrer and Mala Powers - IMDB
However Ferrer and Clanton are not the only actors of note performing in Cyrano, at there are also Mala Powers as Roxane, Cyrano’s love interest and distant cousin, as well as William Prince as Christian, Roxane’s love interest, whom Cyrano is asked to befriend and protect, resulting in Cyrano’s aiding Christian in his courtship of Roxane. Add to that Morris Carnovsky as Le Bret, Cyrano’s friend and Captain of the Gascony Guards, who is able to convince Cyrano that there are women who could, and would, fall in love with him despite the size of his very manly and handsome nose, along with Lloyd Corrigan as Ragueneau, pastry chef and good friend of Cyrano.
Jose Ferrer and William Prince - IMDB
Another aspect of Cyrano de Bergerac that I felt is well done are the various fight scenes, beginning with the “Duel in Verse” during the opening scenes, where, after being baited into a duel with the foppish Viscount de Valvert (Albert Cavens) who was unable to make an insult about Cyrano’s nose more intelligible than “it is rather large”, Cyrano mocks the feeble attempt of being insulting, and then challenges the Viscount to a duel, which ends with “and when I end the refrain, thrust home!”, ending a rather elaborate and well choreographed fight scene. For those who have never pursued it, fencing is a wonderful sport, and used to be a common skill for actors, as so many period pieces required knowledge of swordplay. It was one of the sports of choice for me in my youth and I was pretty good at both Foil and Saber, as well as having trained in armored combat at various times, and archery. Pretty good, I was, great, I was not.
The duel with the Vicomte - IMDB
The fight scene in the theater was followed by a street brawl where Cyrano was engaged in combat with a varying number of assailants while escorting is friend, Ragueneau to his home. Cyrano took delight in the challenge of fighting what was supposed to be a hundred ruffians hired to bushwhacke Regueneau, and, after beating off the dozen or so attackers, proclaimed disappointment that there were so few villains to fight.
There is a lot more to this film that makes it a delight to watch, from Cyrano courting Roxane for Christian, and playing a bit of a fool, preventing de Guiche from intruding on Roxane and Christian. Pretending to have just arrived from a trip to the Moon, Cyrano has de Guiche intrigued by his supposed trip, until he finally reveals himself to be Cyrano. This is one of the funniest bits in a film that is otherwise full of drama and battle.
There is a lot to like about Cyrano de Bergerac, and I have enjoyed watching it many times over the years because of its humor, drama, and fight scenes. And I have no doubt that I will enoy watching again in the future.
PS – this is the first installment in what will be a series of several posts, the next in the series will be Roxanne (1987).
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