The Guardsman
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The Guardsman |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1931 |
| length | 82 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Sidney Franklin |
| script |
Ernest Vajda Claudine West |
| production |
Albert Lewin Irving Thalberg |
| camera | Norbert Brodine |
| cut | Conrad A. Annoying |
| occupation | |
| |
The Guardsman is an American comedy film from 1931. The script is based on the play A testör by Ferenc Molnár .
action
The main actors in the play Elizabeth the Queen , which is being staged at the Burgtheater in Vienna , have been married for six months . There is an argument between the two. She, married for the seventh time, is tired of her husband. He accuses her of infidelity because he has noticed that she is already looking for a new husband. He tells his friend, the critic Bernhardt, that their Chopin piano playing is a sure sign of their infidelity.
The actor wants to test his wife, who finds men in uniform irresistible, and disguises himself as a Russian guardsman. He sends her flowers and waits for her reaction to be able to accuse her of infidelity. Indeed, the disguise has misled the actress. She sends the supposed guardsman a message in which she agrees to a meeting. Her husband deceives her by claiming he will have to travel to a performance of Hamlet the next day. When the actor says goodbye that evening, his wife dresses for the meeting. The actor returns disguised as a guardsman and engages her in a conversation about her husband. She tells him her husband is intelligent and attractive. Besides, he's out of the house. She asks her beau to stay the night. Her disguised husband tries to seduce her with brutal means so that she calls on her maid Liesl for help. He is delighted with her resistance and her assurance that she loves her husband. But before she sends him away, she arranges a new meeting that same evening at the opera.
At the opera, the still disguised husband visits his wife in her box. You watch the performance, then he brings you home. She kisses him and tells him that she doesn't want to see him again. He is happy about his wife's loyalty, but then he notices how she drops the house keys. He takes the keys and follows her into the house. There his wife tells him to leave because she is afraid that her jealous husband will return home. The guardsman leaves the house, changes clothes and comes home as a husband. He took the disguise and puts it on while telling his wife about the performance. Dressed as a guard again, he threatens his wife with a knife, but she laughs at him and tells him that she recognized him as her husband from the very first moment. She looks at Bernhardt with a smile.
criticism
Mordaunt Hall of the New York Times found the occasional close-up and excellent recording made it possible to enjoy the adaptation of Molnar's work in all its glory.
Awards
In 1932 Alfred Lunt was nominated for an Oscar in the category of Best Actor and Lynn Fontanne in the category of Best Actress .
background
The world premiere took place on November 7, 1931. For the production of MGM were Cedric Gibbons for the equipment, Adrian for the costumes and Douglas Shearer for sound responsible. The two main actors, who made their debut in a sound film, were also married in real life. It is also the only sound film they made. It wasn't until the 1950s that both of them made some appearances in TV films and series.
Ferenc Molnar's play was premiered in Budapest in 1911. In 1913 it was played in New York under the title Where Ignorance Is Bliss . The most famous adaptation was by Philip Moeller and premiered in 1924 with the title The Guardsman . Here again Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne played the main roles. The play shown in the film Elizabeth the Queen was by Maxwell Anderson . This play was performed on Broadway a year earlier. The two main actors of the film also played here. In 1941, Roy Del Ruth turned a partial remake with Nelson Eddy and Risë Stevens in the lead roles under the title The Chocolate Soldier .
Web links
- The Guardsman in the Internet Movie Database (English)