Scaramouche (1923)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Scaramouche |
| Original title | Scaramouche |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1923 |
| length | 124 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Rex Ingram |
| script |
Willis Goldbeck based on the novel of the same name (1921) by Rafael Sabatini |
| production | Rex Ingram for Metro Pictures |
| camera | John F. Seitz |
| cut | Grant Whytock |
| occupation | |
| |
Scaramouche is an American silent film from 1923 with Ramón Novarro in the title role.
action
France in 1789, on the eve of the revolution . André Moreau is studying law when the popular soul is cooking. His sympathies belong to the disenfranchised and oppressed, who the conditions under the absolute monarch Louis XVI. want to change radically. One day there is a heated argument with the powerful, stubborn and arrogant Marquis de la Tour d'Azyr, who vehemently defends the prevailing situation and does not want to allow any changes to royalism. When the Marquis Andrés friend Philippe de Vilmorin, a fighter for the renewal, kills in the Degenduell, André swears revenge for the bloody act, especially since the state authorities refuse to help him arrest the Marquis. The nobleman André also stands in the way privately. While he fell in love with the beautiful Aline de Kercadiou, she prefers to orientate herself towards the Marquis, who offers her greater social recognition and economic security.
André then joins a circus troupe, learns the art of fencing and hides behind a mask from then on. In this masquerade he calls himself Scaramouche - a clown who uses a pointed tongue to verbally deal with the authorities. His bold verbal power and dashing style of fencing quickly attract attention. Scaramouche becomes the intimate enemy of the rulers, but above all he messes with the Marquis, who seems to be cheating on Aline. In any case, Aline discovers him fussing in a carriage with the pretty Climène. She is not only the daughter of the traveling circus director, for whom André-Louis makes his biting jokes as the clown Scaramouche, but also his fiancée. Because of his commitment, André is also appointed as a member of the Estates General and takes on the representatives of the nobility there.
Aline, who has so far resisted Andrés advances, leaves her obviously unfaithful Marquis and turns to Scaramouche. They both fall in love. Against the background of the fall of Louis XVI. on August 10, 1792, and the revolutionary uprisings that followed in the streets of Paris, Moreau and the Marquis begin to cross their blades. Scaramouche is superior to de la Tour in his fencing skills and wounds him. Under dramatic circumstances, André, who had never met his father before, had to learn that the Marquis of all people was his father. When de la Tour faces the rebellious mob on the streets, he dies. André, his mother and Aline leave Paris in general chaos.
production
Scaramouche started in the USA on September 15, 1923. The German premiere was at the beginning of 1925, the Austrian on March 27, 1925. The version shown in Vienna was approximately 100 minutes long.
The cost of production was an estimated $ 853,723
criticism
Wiens Neue Freie Presse reported in its edition of February 3, 1925: "At the higher level of a number of other such revolutionary films is“ Scaramouche ”, the manuscript of which already goes beyond the usual love story and whose direction is worth unreserved praise. The main interest focuses on André Moreau, for whose portrayal Ramon Novarro not only brings his youthful, noble and beautiful appearance; he is also capable of convincing and powerful play. (...) On the other hand, Lewis Stone is a good portraitist of the Marquis de la Tour, a representative of the unscrupulous high-spirited Ancien régime. "
Paimann's film lists summed up: "The most outstanding thing is the generous presentation of this picture, its imposing mass scenes and also the excellent representation of all roles by a carefully chosen ensemble. The subject is dramatically effective and worked excitingly to the end. The photography lingers in every respect remarkable height. "
Web links
- Scaramouche in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ "Scaramouche". In: Neue Freie Presse , March 31, 1925, p. 11 (online at ANNO ).
- ^ Scaramouche in Paimann's film lists
