You may have noticed that posts have been few and far between these days. There are a number of reasons for that, mostly real-world stuff I won’t get into here. But one of those reasons is worth sharing with all of you: I made a film!
I’ve spent the better part of the last year co-directing and editing “Test Room D”, a short film based on a play I was lucky to direct a few years back. It was quite the experience trying to direct a film after spending the last six years watching some of the greatest movies of all time, but I’m happy with the results. Take a look if you want to know if I can truly practice what I preach, and to see the talented group of creatives I surrounded myself with.
Written by Carl Foreman. Based on the play by Edmond Rostand. English translation by Brian Hooker.
Class of 2022
The Plot: José Ferrer is Cyrano de Bergerac, the 17th century Frenchman as famous for his cunning wit and expert swordsmanship as for his unusually large nose. Despite his outwardly confident personality, his nose causes him a lot of self doubt, especially in his desire to woo his cousin, the beautiful Roxane (Mala Powers). When Roxane confides in Cyrano that she has a crush on his fellow cadet, the handsome Christian de Neuvillette (William Prince), Cyrano is secretly devastated but promises to protect him. While Christian is mutally attracted to Roxane, he lacks the poetry of words needed to woo her, and Cyrano begrudgingly agrees to help. As Christian and Roxane fall in love, the cadets are called to fight in the Thirty Years’ War. One of literature’s most famous love triangles is brought to the big screen, with only one side of that triangle truly delivering.
Why It Matters: Although the NFR admits that the film suffers from “appearing too much [like] a stage production”, they praise Ferrer’s “star-making” turn as Cyrano, and give the film’s Oscar stats. The second half of their write-up is a shoutout to UCLA alum Myra Teitelbaum Reinhard, who funded this film’s restoration.
But Does It Really?: Hmmm…I don’t know. The NFR is big on this film’s status as the first English language film adaptation of the Rostand play, as well as José Ferrer’s barrier-breaking Oscar win (more on that later). That being said, I don’t think that’s enough to warrant NFR induction. The film itself lives and dies on Ferrer’s performance. His Cyrano is worth the price of admission, but the rest of the film just sits there, with no other elements rising to Ferrer’s level. I first saw this version of “Cyrano de Bergerac” in my freshman English class, and while I found the film more entertaining on this rewatch, its induction into the NFR is a bit of a head-scratcher.
Title Track: Shout out to the real life Cyrano de Bergerac who, like his fictionalized counterpart, was a playwright and duelist who served in the 1640 Siege of Arras. To the best of my knowledge, he didn’t have any romantic feelings for his cousin, though according to a portrait drawn by his contemporary Zacharie Heince, he did have a larger-than-average nose.
Seriously, Oscars?: Despite mixed reception from critics and audiences, “Cyrano de Bergerac” received one Oscar nomination for José Ferrer’s performance. Facing such competition as William Holden in “Sunset Boulevard“, Spencer Tracy in “Father of the Bride”, and James Stewart in “Harvey”, Ferrer won the prize, becoming the first Hispanic and Puerto-Rican born actor to win the Best Actor Oscar. Ferrer was in the midst of being subpoenaed by HUAC during his Oscar campaigning, something he alludes to in his acceptance speech, calling this win “a vote of confidence and an act of faith”. Shortly after Ferrer’s win, he was cleared of any ties to Communism and avoided the blacklist.
Other notes
Upon its debut in Paris in December 1897, Edmond Rostand’s play “Cyrano de Bergerac” was an immediate success and became a staple of theater troupes around the world. In 1923, American actor Walter Hampden commissioned playwright Brian Hooker to pen a new English translation of the play, with their subsequent production still holding the record for the show’s longest Broadway run. The Hooker translation was revived on Broadway in 1946, with José Ferrer playing Cyrano and winning the very first Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play. The film rights to the Hooker adaptation were initially owned by Sir Alexander Korda, who wanted to make a film version with Orson Welles, but at some point Korda sold the rights to producer Stanley Kramer for $40,000. Kramer was unsure of the film’s box office potential, so he purposefully kept the costs down; the script was condensed to run under two hours, and the whole film was shot on a Hollywood soundstage (giving the film its “stagy” aesthetic).
Shoutout to George Glass: this film’s associate producer, Stanley Kramer’s longtime collaborator, and Jan Brady’s imaginary boyfriend.
Yeah, this movie belongs to José Ferrer and no one else. His Cyrano has the flourish and panache you would expect on the stage, but Ferrer can reign it in for the camera when the more dramatic scenes call for it. It’s the last stand for the kind of theatrical screen acting that “The Method” would deem extinct within a few years. I also love the cadence of his voice (the superlative “sonorous” crops up in a lot of reviews), and these fun little gesticulations he does with his hands; it’s like Cyrano is conducting the world around him.
But of course, I can’t praise Ferrer’s performance without acknowledging his prosthetic attribute. Shoutout to makeup creators Gustaf & Josef Norin for their work on The Nose. It’s just large enough to be conspicuous but not enough to be unrealistic. Plus, the blending job holds up on an HD screen! Take that, Nicole Kidman in “The Hours”! Kramer and his company allegedly spent $1500 on the nose, roughly $19,000 today, and it’s worth every penny.
Cyrano’s introduction by disrupting a stage performance is proof that theater audiences have always been the worst. But hey, at least he’s not singing along to “The Bodyguard”. Side Note: The vendor that offers Cyrano food in this scene is Elena Verdugo, about 20 years away from her memorable work as Consuelo Lopez on “Marcus Welby, M.D.”.
Oh right, Roxane is Cyrano’s cousin, although later on he backpedals a bit and says she’s a “distant” cousin. Today on “Weird Things I Research for this Blog”, I learned that relationships between first cousins are still acceptable throughout Europe. In fact, the USA is the one of the few countries with laws that prohibit cousins from marrying, and even then that’s on a state-by-state basis. You can still marry your cousin in 26 states including…California? Really? Yikes, maybe we’re too liberal out here.
Clearly Cyrano and his friends all live in the French province of Sans Accent Francais.
I’m sorry but…this movie does not have a lot going for it, at least not as much as I expect from an NFR movie. If they only preserved Ferrer’s first few monologues, maybe I would understand the inclusion, but on the whole this movie is a slog. If you’re going to adapt a very text-heavy play to film, you have to have strong visuals and/or compelling actors, and outside of Ferrer this film is lacking on both fronts. No offense to Mala Powers, one of your standard ’50s ingenues, but her Roxane is not something to write home about. Hell, Roxanne from “A Goofy Movie” had more personality.
And here we get the second most famous balcony scene in all of world literature, with Cyrano feeding Christian lines to say as he woos Roxane. I always forget that Cyrano takes over at one point, which makes Roxane look really dumb for not noticing the switch. He doesn’t even try to change his voice!
William Prince kinda looks like Robert Vaughn if you squint a little. Also, as you can imagine, trying to do an internet search for “William Prince” can be a bit challenging if you’re looking for the actor and not any infinitely more famous royalty with the inverted name.
[Spoilers] Wow, I really don’t have a lot to say about this movie. If you can get past the whole cousin thing I guess it’s kinda romantic, but even José Ferrer can’t save this thing. Though Cyrano does quite literally die trying.
Legacy
“Cyrano de Bergerac” opened in New York and Los Angeles in late 1950 to qualify for the Oscars, receiving a wider release after Ferrer won Best Actor. Stanley Kramer’s initial concerns proved correct, as “Cyrano” failed to make a profit at the box office. The film has continued to stick around in part due to lapsing into the public domain in the mid-1980s, therefore making it easier for video and streaming services to release the film.
Although Ferrer survived the blacklist, he still found difficulty working in Hollywood. After another Oscar-nominated turn in John Huston’s “Moulin Rouge”, Ferrer returned to the New York stage, at one point having four of his directing efforts playing on Broadway at the same time in May 1952!
Several other members of the “Cyrano” team ended up getting blacklisted, notably screenwriter Carl Foreman, director Michael Gordon, and actor Morris Carnovsky. Thankfully these three all lived long enough to survive the blacklist and continued to find work. Michael Gordon has one of his post-blacklist films on the NFR: 1959’s “Pillow Talk“.
Ferrer returned to the role of Cyrano a few more times, including a TV adaptation in 1955 (earning an Emmy nomination), the 1964 action mash-up “Cyrano and d’Artagnan”, and a 1974 animated “ABC Afterschool Specials” episode. His best remembered non-Cyrano work includes his pivotal cameo in “Lawrence of Arabia“, and playing the Emperor of the Universe in David Lynch’s “Dune”.
Other notable film Cyranos include a 1990 French version with Gerard Depardieu (also getting an Oscar nod for his performance), Steve Martin’s 1987 update “Roxanne”, and most recently a musical adaptation starring Peter Dinklage.
Fun Fact: Director Michael Gordon is the grandfather of actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt! Equally Fun Fact: José is the father of actor Miguel Ferrer and the uncle of George Clooney (via his marriage to George’s Aunt Rosemary).
Bonus Clip: Because I love it so much, here’s Steve Martin’s version of the Nose monologue from “Roxanne”.
Listen to This: José Ferrer pops up on the National Recording Registry thanks to a recording of the 1943 Broadway production of “Othello”, playing Iago to Paul Robeson’s Othello, with Ferrer’s then-wife Uta Hagen as Desdemona. Apparently Cary O’Dell had the day off, because Lindsay R. Swindell Ph.D. has the honor of writing the NRR’s “Othello” essay.
As always, it’s quite the eclectic bunch, including several that I can’t believe hadn’t made the cut yet (“Imagine”? “Stairway to Heaven”? Where have you been?). Especially noteworthy is the Super Mario Bros. theme, further proof that the NRR is less stingy about the “National” qualification than the NFR (though the argument can be made that Super Mario has made a large enough impact on American pop culture). And shoutout to Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, who I mentioned back in my “Woodstock” post hadn’t made the NRR yet. We did it!
Thanks for reading. Next post coming soon. Very soon. Like, right now.
The Plot: San Francisco liberals Matt & Christina Drayton (Spencer Tracy & Katharine Hepburn) are surprised when their adult daughter Joanna (Katharine Houghton) returns home unannounced. There’s an even bigger surprise when she brings home her fiancé, African-American doctor John Wade Prentice (Sidney Poitier). Despite their outspoken support of Civil Rights, Matt & Christina must now acknowledge their hypocritical discomfort with their daughter’s interracial relationship. An invitation to dinner is extended to not only John, but also his parents visiting from Los Angeles (Roy Glenn & Beah Richards) and family friend Monsignor Ryan (Cecil Kellaway). Looks like the appetizer for this meal is an extended dialogue on racial tolerance.
Why It Matters: The NFR mentions the film’s “movie milestones” as well as its “then-novel plot”, but the only superlatives go to Sidney Poitier for “his customary on-screen charisma, fire and grace.”
But Does It Really?: Like most of Stanley Kramer’s filmography, “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” is an Important Movie of its time. While the premise was controversial in 1967, the film has become almost quaint, and not without its own insensitive viewpoints. Regardless, “Dinner” is a time capsule of an important issue in the ’60s political landscape, as well as the final pairing of Tracy & Hepburn before Tracy’s passing. “Dinner” is worthy of NFR recognition, but if you’re looking for a more relevant representation of ’60s race relations, stick with “In the Heat of the Night“.
Everybody Gets One: After a string of New York theater productions, Katharine Houghton landed the role of Joanna Drayton thanks to her aunt: Katharine Hepburn (Houghton’s mother is Kate’s sister Marion). Although her film career never took off, Houghton still works as an actor and playwright, and often reflects on “Dinner” and her aunt in interviews.
Wow, That’s Dated: We will discuss the film’s stance on miscegenation in ’60s America as we go. Among the other dated items are references to Governor Lurleen Wallace, the Watusi, “We Can Work It Out“, and Arnold Palmer (the golfer, not the drink).
Seriously, Oscars?: Second only to “The Graduate” at the box office, “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” received 10 Oscar nominations, tied with “Bonnie and Clyde” for the most nominations. “Dinner” screenwriter William Rose took home Original Screenplay, and Katharine Hepburn received her second Best Actress Oscar. Hepburn did not attend the ceremony out of respect for Louise Tracy, present in the event of a win for her late husband.
Other notes
By 1967, Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn had made eight films together, and had been romantically involved for over 25 years. Tracy’s health was in sharp decline, ailing from both hypertensive heart disease and type 2 diabetes. In order to make “Dinner”, Hepburn and Stanley Kramer put their salaries in escrow to cover Tracy’s insurance risk (Columbia wouldn’t insure him), and Tracy only filmed for three hours a day.
You’re all lucky Sidney Poitier is so damn charming. Poitier successfully balances John’s polite and respectful attitude towards Joanna’s parents with his steadfast personal convictions. It helps that Poitier was genuinely intimidated by Tracy and Hepburn, opting to perform his closeups to two empty chairs.
There is a 14 year age gap between John and Joanna, and an 18 year age gap between Poitier and Houghton! This is certainly the most progressive readout on the Michael Douglas Scale. I’m sure someone will bring up this concern in the movie. Any minute now…. Wait for it…
While Hepburn’s Oscar win may have been the result of sympathy for Tracy’s death, she is quite good in this. It’s fun to watch the openly progressive Kate play a woman forced to confront her inherent hypocrisy, and with Kate we see Christina’s inner struggle. Who knows if Hepburn’s performance is better than Anne Bancroft’s or Faye Dunaway’s, but it is certainly worthy of a trophy.
The film makes an effort to address every possible argument regarding interracial marriage, but no mention is made of the violent hate crimes against African-Americans throughout the ’60s. The film’s “love conquers all” thesis is optimistic and romantic, but given all that has transpired since (especially in recent years), it seems shallow to an almost dangerous degree. Keep in mind that this movie was directed and written by white people, which would no doubt be met with outcry today.
I’m enjoying Cecil Kellaway’s enthusiastic performance as Monsignor O’Stereotype. Fun Fact: Kellaway’s cousin was Edmund Gwenn, aka Kris Kringle from “Miracle on 34th Street“.
Christina telling her racist co-worker Hillary to “get permanently lost” is a highlight, though the moment has been repeated to death in every white savior movie of the last 50 years.
The Mel’s Drive-In that Tracy and Hepburn visit is still open! Side note: The man whose car Matt hits in the parking lot is played by D’Urville Martin, future “Dolemite” director.
Shoutout to Isabel Sanford, TV’s Louise Jefferson, as the Drayton’s maid Tillie. Sanford still has to play the stereotypical sassy domestic, but Tillie is a little more dimensional. Plus she gets that great monologue where she tells off John.
Despite this movie being an original script, it feels like an adaptation of a stage play. Kramer tries to spice it up with dolly shots and vistas of San Francisco, but it’s ultimately two hours of good actors talking on the same set.
The second half of the movie parallels “12 Angry Men” as various characters make their arguments and try to convince the others to “vote” their way. Good stuff, but it doesn’t help the “filmed play” vibe.
Roy Glenn and Beah Richards are just a tad too young to be Sidney Poitier’s parents, but they help elevate the material and bring some extra energy to the proceedings. Richards in particular nails her one monologue.
Already dated by the time the film came out: Mr. Prentice mentions that interracial marriage is illegal “in 16 or 17 states”. While true during production, the Supreme Court deemed anti-miscegenation laws unconstitutional in the landmark case of “Loving v. Virginia” in June 1967. Kramer opted not to cut the line, though he did delete a joke about Martin Luther King following King’s assassination in April 1968.
Spencer Tracy’s climactic summation is worth the wait, though it is hard to separate Matt’s final speech from Tracy’s final performance. Katharine Hepburn is genuinely tearing up in the background.
Legacy
Seventeen days after filming was completed on “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”, Spencer Tracy died of a heart attack in his home at the age of 67. “Dinner”, his final film, would be released six months later.
“Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” was a hit across America, including the south, which prompted studios to reconsider how they market films with BIPOC leads.
“Dinner” is still referenced throughout pop culture, primarily for its title. At least seven sitcoms have named an episode “Guess Who’s NOT Coming to Dinner”, but the best variation goes to the 1973 adult film “Guess Who’s Coming”.
Why mention the 2005 Bernie Mac/Ashton Kutcher remake “Guess Who” when I could bring up Jordan Peele’s spiritual remake “Get Out” instead?
And finally, Carl Fredricksen from “Up” was partially modeled after Spencer Tracy from this movie, complete with glasses.
As a life-long Californian, I have yet to visit New Orleans or witness a Mardi Gras parade. While I had a lot of fun researching New Orleans’ Mardi Gras celebration, this post can only scratch the surface of my findings. For more information, I recommend the city’s Mardi Gras website, as well as Arthur Hardy’s annual Mardi Gras Guide (more about Mr. Hardy later).
The Plot: As the title suggests, “Mardi Gras Carnival” is footage from New Orleans’ annual Mardi Gras parade on February 22nd 1898, specifically the floats from local parade group (or “krewe”) the Rex Organization. In just under two minutes, the excitement and festivity of Mardi Gras is captured, as well as an appearance by Rex, the King of Carnival (Charles A. Farwell) atop his throne. “Mardi Gras Carnival” is not only the earliest known film of New Orleans’ annual celebration, but the earliest known film of New Orleans period.
Why It Matters: The NFR write-up is mostly an appreciation of the Eye Filmmuseum (who rediscovered the film) and their efforts to preserve silent movie over the years. The only film-specific description in the write-up is the mention of “dazzling floats, paraders and spectators (almost all wearing hats).”
But Does It Really?: No doubt about it, “Mardi Gras Carnival” is on this list because of its “lost-and-found” status (aka its “Belloq film” status, because I refuse to let that go). But in addition to its rediscovery, “Mardi Gras Carnival” is an important and rare document of its time, and a good excuse for people like me to do a deeper dive into this time-honored tradition. New Orleans’ Mardi Gras parade is a world-renowned event, and a registry of American film would be incomplete without it.
Nobody Gets One: “Mardi Gras” joins the elite group of NFR films lacking documentation of who actually filmed it. Someone’s kicking themselves right about now. What we do know is that it was filmed by American Mutoscope, later known as Biograph and makers of such NFR films as “Rip Van Winkle” and “A Corner in Wheat“. “Mardi Gras” was filmed on Mutoscope’s 68-millimeter film stock, which doesn’t have the sprocket holes of your typical film strips, and therefore can record a picture quality equivalent to an IMAX movie.
Wow, That’s Dated: In terms of Mardi Gras traditions, the big difference is the appearance of the Boeuf Gras (“Fatted Ox”). Representing the last meat you can eat before Lent, the Boeuf Gras is presented in this film as an actual bull on one of the parade’s floats (and looking none too happy about it). Although the Boeuf Gras is still a part of the Mardi Gras tradition, it is more humanely represented as a papier-maché.
Other notes
First and foremost, a super oversimplified history of Carnival/Mardi Gras. First observed in medieval Europe, Carnival is a period of debauchery through January and February leading up to Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent, the more repentant 40 day observance prior to Easter Sunday. The day before Ash Wednesday -Fat Tuesday (or in French, “Mardi Gras”)- is the apex of the Carnival season, when most of the major parades take place. Mardi Gras came stateside in 1699, when the Le Moyne brothers were sent by King Louis XIV to explore the Louisiana territory (still owned by France at this point). The first organized Mardi Gras celebration in the Louisiana territory was in Mobile, Alabama in 1703 by French settlers, with the celebration spreading throughout French Louisiana. Although the date of the first Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans (the then-capital of French Louisiana) is unknown, the first Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans was in 1857, organized by the Mistick Krewe of Comus. While there are many Mardi Gras parades across the United States, New Orleans’ is the most famous and most popular.
The Rex Organization was founded in 1872, initially as a way of honoring visiting royalty Grand Duke Alexei of Russia. To this day, the Rex Krewe continues to play a major role in Mardi Gras celebrations, and has held more parades than any other krewe in New Orleans history.
The Rex Krewe’s parade theme for 1898 was “Harvest Queens”, which I feel would take on a whole new meaning nowadays. Each float was a different crop, with “Mardi Gras Carnival” prominently featuring the Pineapple float, which includes several riders dressed as pineapples. …I guess you had to be there.
The silver bells that you see inbetween each float were meant to represent the 25th anniversary of the Rex Krewe (which was actually the year before but who cares?).
Funnily enough, in all my research I couldn’t find anything that could conclusively tell me which street this was filmed on. If the Rex Krewe took the same route in 1898 that they do today, it’s most likely that “Mardi Gras Carnival” was filmed from a spot on St. Charles Street, where the bulk of their route is. Any locals willing to verify this?
The climax of both parade and film is the King of the Carnival float, with Rex himself (as played by local Charles A. Farwell) waving his scepter at the crowd. Farwell’s granddaughter, Lynne Farwell White, was shown the film upon its discovery, and called seeing footage of her grandfather for the first time “a special moment”.
To the best of my knowledge, the only other NFR film that involves Mardi Gras is the last bit of “Easy Rider“. Very different approach, of course.
One major aspect of Mardi Gras that appears to be missing from the film is bead tossing. The tradition of throwing trinkets from parade floats is almost as old as the parade itself, with different krewes throwing different items from their floats as per their traditions, with beads and medallions being most well known. As for the other thing most outsiders (myself included) know about bead tossing: the official Mardi Gras website has a pretty thorough debunking of the common misconception that a woman needs to, ahem, show herself in order to get beads. That is not, nor has it ever been, a thing.
Legacy
After its production in 1898, “Mardi Gras Carnival” seems to have disappeared completely. Cut to the 1980s, when Arthur Hardy, the aforementioned Mardi Gras guide publisher, first learned of the film’s existence from a listing in a silent film catalog. Hardy’s attempts over the years to locate the film, including reaching out to various film archives like AMPAS and the Library of Congress, were unsuccessful. In anticipation of the Rex Krewe’s 150th anniversary in 2022, and its upcoming exhibition in New Orleans’ Louisiana State Museum, Hardy requested the museum try to find the film. The museum contacted lawyer and Rex Organization historian Will French, who in turn reached out to his friend Mackenzie Roberts Beasley, a film archivist at the Eye Filmmuseum in Amsterdam. In March 2022, “Mardi Gras Carnival” was discovered in the Eye Filmmuseum’s archives (though how it got all the way to Amsterdam is anyone’s guess). “Mardi Gras Carnival” was screened for the first time in June 2022, shortly thereafter becoming a permanent fixture in the Louisiana State Museum, and being inducted into the NFR six months later.
Mardi Gras is still going strong in New Orleans, as is the Rex Krewe, who will have 26 floats in this year’s parade. Incidentally, their theme for 2023 is “Palio Di Siena”, so I assume there will be lots of horses.
As for my own annual Mardi Gras traditions, I will be giving up the same thing I give up for Lent every year: Lent.
The Horse's Head 