Cyrano de Bergerac (1950)
Director: Michael Gordon
Starring: Jose Ferrer, Mala Powers, William Prince
Honors:
Academy Award for Best Actor
If there was ever a motion picture that on the whole was not
particularly prodigious, but was saved completely by the performance of one
actor it would be Stanley Kramer’s 1950 production of Cyrano de Bergerac.
The cinematic adaption of the classic French play, the story is Shakespearian in
style with a mix of part comedy in its word play and part tragedy in its love
story assembled together on a scaled back production budget. Anchored by its
leading man Jose Ferrer in an Academy Award winning performance audiences
receive an iconic vision of the Cyrano character with his abnormally lengthened
nose and sharp wit so perfectly executed that it makes up for the the
production’s shortcomings.
Cyrano de Bergerac is an adventure drama about a
charming wordsmith and swordsman who helps another man woo the woman he loves.
Despite having an unusually elongated nose Cyrano de Bergerac (Jose Ferrer)
holds strong confidence and skill in many things including his swordplay and
poetic way with words. However, he finds himself lacking confidence in
approaching the woman of his affection, Roxane (Mala Powers), who asks of
Cyrano to introduce her to a man she admires, a far less eloquent fellow
guardsmen Christian (William Prince). See he has a lack of wooing the beautiful
Roxane Cyrano comes to aid Christian by delivering him the very words to say to
the fair lady, allowing Cyrano a secret outlet to express his love to her
through his romantic rival. After the two wed Christian is troubled that Roxane
loves Cyrano’s words and not truly him, but passes away in battle before
sharing the reality to his wife. In the years that follow Cyrano watches after
the mourning Roxane who only learns of the Cyrano’s role in the relationship while
dying from an injury as he is able to recite Christian’s love letters he had penned
without needed to read them. Overcome Roxane is overcome to realize she had
loved Cyrano the entire time and is now left to mourn her lover’s death a
second time.
From beginning to end this picture belongs to Jose Ferrer
with a performance that carries the film and by which all other aspects hinge
on. With a flare and eloquence of a Shakespearian play, the adventure of a swashbuckling
thriller, and the drama of a tragic romance Cyrano de Bergerac comes
away as if it were feature adapted from a stage play, lacking pf grandeur. A
black and white feature it is filled with wit and drama provided by its script
and lead actor delivering a suitable movie, but lesser than what it could be.
Outside of Ferrer the acting sadly falls off, but thankfully most of the
picture centers on the titular character and its captivating performance.
When a revival of “Cyrano de Bergerac” opened on Broadway in
1946 it was quick critical success of the 46/47 season, with its star Jose
Ferrer winning a Tony Award for his perfromance. This directly led independent
motion picture producer Stanley Kramer to the idea of a cinematic adaption with
Ferrer reprising the title role. However, second thoughts on whether the
production had enough drawing power the French play would draw in box office
number and the budget for the film was whittled back significantly. The first
English cinematic adaption of the tale was pushed forward under the direction
of Michael Gordon, a filmmaker of B-movies at Universal, with expectations of producing
the picture with a economical budget. Aside from paying Ferrer to reprise the
role in the Hollywood project and the need to rent space, since Kramer did not
own a studio, money had to spared where it could, either in casting or set
design.
It is clear that Jose Ferrer was the pillar by which all the
production hinged from as he brought with him the success of the Broadway production
and his Tony Award connection. Despite the costume period piece being shot in
black and white the audio was recorded in the new superior magnetic sound
recording system that would soon become commonplace in the industry, capturing
with great clarity the fantastic oratory of Ferrer as he masterfully uses his
words throughout the feature. Sadly, this does not help the other actors whose
performances so clearly are eclipsed by Ferrer.
Mala Powers’ portrayal of Roxane pales in sharp contrast to
her co-star. Notwithstanding a Golden Globe nomination as Roxane, her energy
and performance level come nowhere close to Ferrer, making difficult to believe
she ever could be the center of his affection as she simply fawns her female
infatuated towards Christina through the picture. William Prince’s performance
as Christian is admirable, albeit simple and fitting for the role the character
calls for. A lower rung movie actor in his career this would be one of Prince’s
best-known credits.
Overall production quality would be harmed by the low budget
of the picture. The period costumes appear in all their glory, albeit in black
and white, and the nose of Cyrano de Bergerac was well made and rumored to have
cost over a thousand dollars to produce, but this left little money for set
construction. Use of limited set pieces dressing left Gordon with a need to be
creative, usually leading to shooting from angles to hide the fact that the
background were very limited, moving walls and pieces to just fill the frame
and create the illusion there was more in the periphery. Shadows and darkened
spaces were used to mask the lack of background at times while Gordon also used
foreground pieces and angles that limited the need for background to limit the camera
frame. Shot with a lens that delivered an extreme depth of field Gordon utilized
it accentuate what limited space, delivering a more dramatical deep dimensional
effect. This play with depth of field would be particularly interesting with a
main character with an elongated nose and dramatic classical posing in his performance
delivering a near 3D effect.
As Cyrano de Bergerac opened it became evident that
the film failed to attract significant audiences and lost Stanley Kramer a near
$300,000. Jose Ferrer’s wonderful performance won him great attention and an
Academy Award and Golden Globe, making him the only man to win an Oscar and a
Tony for the same role. The film also received a Best Cinematography Award from
the Golden Globes while being named as one of the top films of the year by a
handful of critics in 1950. On the whole, the picture panned for inferior performances
from the supporting cast and an overall lacking considering the classic story.
Despite this the film carriers on its own as the ideal representation of the French
tale from Hollywood’s many interpretations.
It is amazing how one actor can carry an entire feature from a complete bomb into a classic. Cyrano de Bergerac was in all respects a failure as a feature, but its leading actor transcended the role to make the character come alive and deliver a critical success even when critics did not care for the feature as a whole. Ferrer would continue to work on both stage and screen in long and successful career for decades, but Cyrano would be the role he was best known for because he made his performance the ideal representation of the character and its story.
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