Cyrano de Bergerac

Plot synopsis:
In a Paris theater in 1640, a play begins before a fairly full house. After a few painfully dull lines are delivered by principal actor Montfleury (Arthur Blake), a boisterous heckler in a box disrupts the proceedings. The heckler is Cyrano de Bergerac (José Ferrer), poet and supreme swordsman, who says he cannot endure the actor's bombastic style. He gives Montfleury a slow count of three to disappear before coming at him, and the actor runs away. Eventually Cyrano confronts the playwright and theater manager, insisting that the play be closed. When the manager complains that he can't afford to refund money to the audience, Cyrano throws him a bag of gold coins.Watching from another box in the theater are Cyrano's distant cousin, the beautiful Roxane (Mala Powers), with her attendant (Virginia Farmer); the Comte de Guiche (Ralph Clanton), who is Roxane's suitor; and the Vicomte de Valvert (Albert Cavens), an arrogant aristocrat who is so annoyed he insults Cyrano with snide but clichéd comments about his enormous nose. This can only lead to a duel.Cyrano first mocks the vicomte's lack of wit, improvising numerous inventive ways in which Valvert might have phrased references to the giant nose, much to the amusement of the audience. Cyrano then announces he will compose a poem and recite it during the duel, which he does -- thus showing off simultaneously his skills as poet and swordsman. With the last line, he stabs his opponent, and the audience leaves.Cyrano's friend Le Bret (Morris Carnovsky), captain of the Gascony guards, warns him he has made powerful enemies, but Cyrano is unconcerned.When Le Bret presses him as to why he hates Montfleury, Cyrano admits that he became jealous when he saw the actor making advances towards Roxane. He confesses that he is in love with her, but harbors no hope of being loved in return because of his deformity, his huge nose. Le Bret suggests they go out to eat, but Cyrano says he has no money left, as all he had was in the bag he threw at the theater manager -- a costly grand gesture that he does not regret.A beautiful fruit seller (Elena Verdugo) overhears Cyrano, offers him food and wine from a buffet prepared for the theater patrons, and mentions her admiration for his poetry and bravery. But he refuses charity food, accepting only a grape, a sip of water and half a macaroon. This is his way of acknowledging her regard while emphasizing his disdain for money.Le Bret points out to Cyrano that the girl's admiration indicates he has real possibilities of being loved despite his nose. He also tells him that Roxane watched his duel with an excited fascination that surely was encouraging.Roxane's servant reenters to arrange a meeting between Roxane and Cyrano the next morning after church. Cyrano, becoming bold, says he will wait at the pastry shop run by his friend Ragueneau (Lloyd Corrigan).At this point, pastry chef and fellow poet Ragueneau approaches Cyrano for help. Ragueneau has been warned that De Guiche, whom Ragueneau has mocked in published poetry, has hired a hundred ruffians to give him a beating that night, and he asks to sleep at Cyrano's. Cyrano scoffs at the threat, promising Ragueneau he will escort him safely home. The mob of ruffians appears as Cyrano walks with Ragueneau on a dark and deserted street and Cyrano alone routs them, wounding many and killing eight.The next day at the pastry shop, before he can tell Roxane of his feelings, she informs him that she has fallen in love with a handsome guardsman, Christian de Neuvillette (William Prince). She has never even spoken to Christian, but wants Cyrano to protect him. Cyrano hides his devastation and promises to help.At a gathering of the regiment, rookie recruit Christian de Neuvillette is being made fun of by the others. Christian asks the captain how he can establish himself, and the captain answers he must not accept mocking and must somehow demonstrate his valor. Christian is also advised never to mention the word nose or anything related to noses when Cyrano is present, or face the consequences. Moments later, Cyrano arrives to tell about his routing of the hundred ruffians hired to beat up Ragueneau. Christian, from the sidelines, interrupts the telling by adding the word nose whenever he can work it into the story, as in "It was so dark you couldn't see . . . BEYOND YOUR NOSE."At the first such interruption, Cyrano stops and menacingly asks who that new face might be, and he is told the young man's name is Christian de Neuvillette. Cyrano reins in his increasing anger through repeated interruptions, finally ordering everyone in the regiment out while he talks to Christian.Cyrano reveals that he knows that Christian is in love with Roxane, that he is Roxane's cousin, and that he talks to her often, whereupon Christian profusely apologizes for his recent insults. Cyrano decides to help in Christian's wooing of Roxane after Christian admits that while he is not shy or tongue-tied when talking to men, he becomes hopelessly inept when he tries to talk to Roxane. Cyrano knows words of love and starts to coach Christian systematically.Meantime, De Guiche consults his uncle, Cardinal Richelieu (Edgar Barrier), as to how to punish Cyrano for duels and fighting, which had been forbidden by Richelieu. The cardinal tells him that when a man is as talented as Cyrano with both words and sword, exceptions should be made so his talents can serve the state. De Guiche accepts the advice.Cyrano composes love letters to Roxane, which are sent and read as though they were from Christian. She finds them irresistible. Christian talks to Roxane using memorized and practiced phrases supplied by Cyrano, and she falls ever more deeply in love. Cyrano continues his own visits to Roxane, during which they talk mostly about her love for Christian. De Guiche, meantime, has not given up his suit for Roxane's hand, and is much annoyed at meeting Cyrano at Roxane's, although he follows Richelieu's advice and makes no trouble.Later, Christian decides he wants no more help and tries to speak to Roxane on his own, in her garden. Roxane rebuffs him in short order and reenters her house. Cyrano, who had been watching from behind some bushes, comes to his rescue, whispering words to him that Christian speaks loudly to her from beneath her window. When she admires his newly found words but is puzzled by how hesitantly he speaks, Cyrano takes over completely, able to pull off the deceit because of the darkness and because he is beneath the balcony. At the point that Roxane is totally won over by Cyrano's eloquence, a friar (Francis Pierlot) arrives bearing a letter from De Guiche for Roxane. De Guiche insists on marrying her that night, as his regiment is ordered to join the siege at Arras and must leave the next morning. He will be arriving soon after the friar.Roxane reads the sealed letter aloud but changes its content, telling the friar he is sent to immediately perform a rite marrying her to Christian, and as this is somewhat irregular, one hundred and twenty gold coins will be given to his monastery.Cyrano stays in the garden to delay De Guiche until the marriage ceremony is over. Cyrano intercepts de Guiche as he arrives and pretends, in a long conversation with detailed technical explanations, that he has just fallen from the moon. Furious at finding Roxane married, De Guiche, who is Christian's commander, orders him to join his unit immediately for the siege against the Spanish armies. Roxane begs Cyrano to get Christian to write her a letter every day, and he promises.The siege becomes complicated, as the besieging French are in turn encircled by Spaniards. It is Cyrano who writes letters to the fair Roxane, but in Christian's name. De Guiche's heroism in battle wins the admiration of Cyrano, who had previously despised him, so the enmity between these two evolves into respect. To send the letters every day, Cyrano must risk his life to cross the no-man's-land between the opposing armies.Learning that a convoy will carry food and supplies through the battle zone to the besieged French forces, Roxane in disguise stows away on a wagon and thus arrives to visit her husband in the camp. They embrace joyfully, and she thanks him profusely for the daily letters that she has received from him, telling him that she is now more than ever in love with the great soul she knows from the words he writes.Christian did not know about the letters, so he realizes she has fallen in love with Cyrano's words. He pretends to be concerned about what might happen if he were to become seriously wounded in the upcoming battle -- crippled, perhaps; disfigured, maybe. What if he were to become ugly? She radiantly proclaims none of that would make any difference.Christian leaves Roxane for a moment and goes to talk with Cyrano, reporting Roxane's proclamations of love despite ugliness or physical disfigurement. He gets his rival to promise to tell Roxane the truth about the words and letters, and let her decide between them.Before the opportunity arises, an attack begins, a major battle ensues, Christian volunteers for a dangerous mission and is brought back fatally wounded. Cyrano deceives Roxane, so Roxane tells Christian that she knows everything, and as he dies in her arms, Christian thinks he is the chosen one. Roxane finds a last unsent letter in his pocket and decides to carry it forever in a locket near her heart.Fourteen years pass. Roxane has entered a life of seclusion in a convent. Cyrano visits her once a week, at three o'clock on Saturdays, telling her news about the world outside and the gossip of the court, but never mentioning his feelings. De Guiche, who has also continued to visit her, has overheard a courtier plotting against Cyrano because he has continued to write satirical articles mocking the nobility. He warns Roxane that Cyrano's life may be in danger.One night, Cyrano is lured into an ambush and run down by a speeding wagon. Near death, acting against the doctor's orders, he hides his injuries and goes the next afternoon to keep his weekly appointment with Roxane.As he is received into the courtyard, he banters with Sister Marthe (Virginia Christine). When he gives her permission to pray for him, she says she did not wait for his permission.He is injured and weak, stumbling a bit, but he refuses all help, and just sits to visit, first making a few jokes about trivial events at court. He asks Roxane to let him read Christian's last letter, and she hands it to him, apologizing that it is wrinkled and faded and blurred with a few tears. He pretends to read, but he actually recites the letter from memory, as it is a farewell to her from someone who might be dying shortly.Listening to his voice and words, she first feels a special thrill at how eloquently he reads, but then recognizes the voice as the one she heard from her balcony many years before. As she turns to look, Roxane realizes that he is reciting from memory a letter that supposedly he has never seen before. It dawns on her it was Cyrano all the time: all the letters, all the words. She says, "It was you!"But it is too late. Cyrano slips into delirium and gets up with a last bit of energy. Refusing to die sitting down, he takes his sword in hand for the upcoming battle against Death, challenging Death with his final words, which sum up his life: "my white plume."Cyrano falls dead, and Roxane is left to mourn the death of a great love for the second time.

Tags: romantic, action

Review:
Jose Ferrer first performed "Cyrano de Bergerac" on Broadway in 1946, where it achieved a very successful run (for a revival).
This was in 1950, in a Stanley Kramer-produced film for which Ferrer won the Best Actor Oscar, beating out such actors as James Stewart in "Harvey", William Holden in "Sunset Blvd.", and Spencer Tracy in the original "Father of the Bride".Until the 1990 Gerard Depardieu Technicolor spectacular in French, Ferrer's version of "Cyrano" was considered the one to see.
Cowardly studio executives who were afraid that a film in blank verse would fail at the box office refused to give this film the kind of budget that Laurence Olivier had enjoyed in his 1940's Shakespeare films, or the kind of budget that was used in films like the 1936 M-G-M version of "Romeo and Juliet" and the 1935 "A Midsummer Night's Dream".And so, this "Cyrano" looks more like a cheap B-movie than a worthy film version of a classic play.
José Ferrer, an often maligned actor accused of hamminess and overemphasis, gives the performance of his life as Cyrano.
Unlike Depardieu, who speaks the beautiful French verse as rapidly as if he were firing a machine gun (as do the others in the French film), Ferrer allows us to appreciate the rich poetry in Brian Hooker's translation, long considered the greatest verse translation of a play into English.
Depardieu's supporting cast was excellent, but here Mala Powers is disappointingly ordinary and one-note, though beautiful, as Roxane, and William Prince is quite good as Christian, but Ralph Clanton as De Guiche is rather cartoonish, an ordinary hissable villain until the last half-hour or so.
Michael Gordon's direction is excellent, and the duel at the theatre, while not allowed to roam all over the location, as in Depardieu's version, is well done and more faithful in staging to author Edmond Rostand's intentions.This "Cyrano", however, definitely should not be allowed to fade away in obscurity, relegated to late-night TV, where it is now often mutilated for commercial breaks.
"Cyrano de Bergerac" is based on the play by Edmond Rostand about a swordsman and poet with a long nose who helps another man to win the woman he loves.
The film's story is an abridged version of the play based on the famous English translation from Brian Hooker.José Ferrer is excellent in the title role as Cyrano de Bergerac.
"Cyrano de Bergerac" is a solid adaptation of Rostand's play best known for a striking performance from José Ferrer..
I saw it three times in 1950, and watch at least twice a year since I bought the video.Jose Ferrer covers all the possible emotions an actor can in his role.
This is the best job of acting that I have ever witnessed in the thousands of movies I have seen.I must confess that although I give the supporting cast a B+ , I would have chosen different actors for most of the roles, including Roxanne.
(Perhaps, at the time, the producers didn't know what a classic they were creating and, therefore, didn't give as much thought to the casting as they might have otherwise.)It is a shame that Ferrer never again approached the level of excellence he displayed in Cyrano.
But this does not detract from the honor I pay this actor who gave a 15 year-old boy an example to follow: a REAL man.The best scene in the film is when Cyrano is dying in the court-yard at the nunnery, and the best line in the film is when Cyrano challenges Death with his final words which sum up his life, ` and that is,  my  white  plume.'.
Back years ago in high school studying Cyrano de Bergerac, with a textbook having pictures from this film, one of the other students asked simply why didn't he just get a nose job?
Jose Ferrer puts everyone else in the cast to shame with his performance of Cyrano.To be sure Cyrano de Bergerac is a one man play.
He's a swashbuckler to be sure, but you certainly couldn't cast any of the normal movie swashbucklers in that part.I don't know if the MTV generation will feel like my classmate of years ago, but if they turn away from music videos and watch this, they will be treated to a once in a lifetime acting performance..
But when an "oeuvre d'art" deserves it, why not?In this film all is fine tuned, well gauged, perfectly synchronized.I shall in particular emphasize the unforgettable José Ferrer's play of Cyrano's fathomless sorrow.If Hollywood could remember that there was a long time ago, in a far away galaxy, that thing named "The American Cinema"....
I suppose the character of Cyrano appeals to me so because he is a man of substance, not image (unlike so many contemporary heroes).`True.I carry my adornments only on my soul, decked with deeds instead of ribbons, mantled in my good name and crowned with the white plume of freedom!'Wow, what a line!There will never again be another Cyrano, as there will never be another actor capable of playing him so well as Jose Ferrer..
Michael Gordon directed the screen version that became a favorite of people who were delighted to make concessions to a man that was far from being endowed with any physical attributes.The enjoyment of the picture is due to the amazing tour de force by that wonderful actor, Jose Ferrer, a man whose friendship we cherished because he enriched our life with his honesty, frankness and charisma.
Mr. Ferrer's contribution to the stage and screen can be best sampled as we watch him become Cyrano, a man in love with his cousin Roxanne, whose great fear is the possible rejection of the beautiful young woman in favor of the handsome, and younger, Christian.This beloved theater play by Edmond Rostand had been translated by Brian Hooker, in what became the most familiar way American audiences met the illustrious French author.
The screen play by Carl Foreman clarifies the text in ways that the movie going public of that era could relate to this man whose wit and charm outweighed his appearance, which was dominated by a big nose that rendered him an unattractive man.
Morris Carnovsky, another great stage actor, appears as Le Bret and Ralph Clanton makes his contribution with his take of Guiche."Cyrano de Bergerac" is recommended to movie fans of all ages to watch the magnificent Jose Ferrer at his best..
Exceptional performance from Oscar winner Ferrer says it all in this adaptation of the famous Rostand classic love story.
In one of the greatest characters in dramatic literature, Cyrano is the poet with the long nose who writes tender love letters to a beautiful lady for his friend.
The english translation is great, sometimes word-for-word with the French but other times getting the spirit of it just right--as when Christian is making nose jokes at Cyrano.
But, as others have rightly pointed out, the production values are poor (to say the least), and the problem is only exacerbated by the poor quality of most video tapes currently available.But don't be scared, go rent this, the French version, and for fun, Steve Martin's Roxanne, and have a great time with this classic story.
Having posted a comment on the Depardieu version of this some time ago I finally found a (albeit less than technically perfect) DVD in France with French subtitles of the earlier version in which Puerto Rican-born Jose Ferrer tries on the role for size.
This leaves us with a movie that stands or falls on its central performance and on balance it not only stands but towers; Ferrer was born to play this role and so good is he that one can close one's eyes and bask in that magnificent timbre, as good in its way as that of Richard Burton or Orson Welles.
It IS, it has to be said, a one-role play and although both Mala Powers (Roxanne) and William Prince (Christian) went on to enjoy long careers they never appeared in anything half as memorable as this (a similar fate seems, it's still too soon to tell, to have befallen Depardieu's Roxanne, Ann Brochet and Christian, Vincent Perez).
See Jose Ferrer in Cyrano de Bergerac, and George C Scott in Patton.I mostly watch just the long opening scene of Cyrano, which has two sensational pieces.
I don't know what actor played Ferrer's fencing opponent in this scene, but he was good at swordplay.
An excellent film with Jose Ferrer's finest performance.
Being a big fan of the Gerard Depardieu version, I was all for seeing this film from 1950 with Jose Ferrer.
Jose Ferrer became probably the most UN-deserved recipient of an Oscar in film history when he was presented with an Academy Award for 'best actor' in this drab filming of Edmond Rostand's wonderful play, 'Cyrano de Bergerac'.Ferrer's bombastically loud voice and tediously self-conscious acting destroys this little undertaking as soon as it gets started.
Mala Powers plays Roxanne with a bit more subtlety, but she fails to impress in any way.There are some rather clueless people out there who feel that Ferrer's performance was "brilliant".
Many, many years after I'd first seen the classic B&W film on television, I had the honor of working with the then much older Ferrer on the set of the TV series, "The Love Boat," the veritable graveyard of old and forgotten actors.
Cyrano de Bergerac (José Ferrer, in an award winning role) happens to be the finest swordsman in France, however, although courageous enough to challenge an army, his shy nature, reluctantly prevents him from voicing his Love for Roxane (Mala Powers) the woman he loves.
Enjoyed this great 1950 performance by Jose Ferrer who won an Academy Award for Best Actor for this role and he sure put his heart and soul into his role.
Cyrano De Bergerac was a very smart man with great talent in fighting with a sword, a poet, actor and a man who desperately need a woman to love and marry.
I think about all the classical music and plays that gave such meaning to people in the past and this movie shows us why it is so loved.
Saw this in a high school English class, remembered that mostly everybody enjoyed the movie, based on the novel about a charismatic swordsman-poet, who helps another guy woo the woman he loves.It's full of humor, drama, and tearful moments - a somewhat entertaining movie back in the day and definitely a classic and well-acted take to the novel.Grade B.
I haven't read Edmond Rostand's original novel - apparently a fictionalized account of Cyrano de Bergerac's life - but Michael Gordon's* screen adaptation is a fine romp.
And damned if Mala Powers isn't a babe!The only other adaptation that I've seen is 1987's "Roxanne", starring Steve Martin as a long-nosed fire chief wooing a young student.
Jose Ferrer won an Oscar as Best Actor for this, probably because the Hollywood of the day noticed he was doing a lot of 'acting' and because the film was based on a 'classic', and a French one at that, it must be a prestigious production.
Of course, Ferrer was flavour of the month, (he was already carving out something of a career for himself on Broadway), and while he was not a bad actor he was never a great one.The movie is a dumbing down of Edmond Rostand's original, made light enough for a commercial audience and it's not unenjoyable in a banal sort of way, but it doesn't shake you up and has none of the pleasures that Steve Martin afforded us in Fred Schepisi's wonderful modern version "Roxanne".
Michael Gordon's "Cyrano de Bergerac" was a pleasant experience as long as it was carried by the flamboyant eloquence and thunderous voice of actor Jose Ferrer, which means a good portion of the film.
But Edmond Rostand's iconic play isn't just the tale of a poet and a fighter, it is also an iconic romance, the story of a magnificent love triangle, where the looks of a man, and the wits of another create the perfect suitor for the heart of Roxane who's not a bland heroine either.But Jose Ferrer, who won the Oscar for that role (and it was the only nomination) was good, too good, so good he made any role thankless.
Young but witless Christian (William Prince) and the beautiful Roxane (Mala Powers) are unfortunately no match for Ferrer who owns the show whenever he appears.
And reality joined fiction at the Oscar ceremony.Ferrer wasn't even present at the ceremony but his voice was enough, you could tell it was Cyrano winning, and it's only fair that the other iconic performance of Cyrano de Bergerac, by Gérard Depardieu, won a similar award.
Ferrer does a magnificent job but even his performance can't make up for the rather, bland theatrical look, more apparent at the beginning, but the blurry black and white cinematography gives it the look of the TV movies we watched in little side.The sword fights choreographs are actually very convincing and you could really hear the crossing of irons, but there are moments though that betrayed some low budget aspect and it doesn't really help to enhance the enjoyment of the story.
Film industry should go back and see..go back to school..back to basics..This movie is a cornerstone..a piece of art..In all aspects..Thank you Jose Ferrer..You will always be remembered and honored..!!!!.
The charismatic swordsman-poet (Jose Ferrer) helps another woo the woman he loves (Mala Powers) in this straightforward version of the play.So, this is a "straightforward" version of the play.
Made on a skimpy budget with largely second-rate actors, this movie very seldom rises to the magnificence of one of the truly great masterpieces of French theater.Except when José Ferrer is playing Cyrano.
Had the adaptation of the play been better, i.e., had Cyrano been given more of his lines and in a better translation, I'm sure that Ferrer would have shone even more.
Much cut from the play, but dialogue not rewritten.This is a very good movie but for me it pales compared to the version with Depardieu.He has a way with the character that no one can touch..
Th original play, a fictionalized biography of Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmund Rostand, from which the film was drawn, is one of the chief ornaments of the nineteenth century's literature.
He is in love with his cousin Roxane, the most beautiful woman at the French court; but he consents to write love letters to her for his handsome, courageous but ungifted friend, perhaps to prove to himself that his creative talents might have won the love of the world's fairest ornament, so long as she did not know he were the unattractive source of such beautiful utterance.When the beautiful young man is killed in the wars, during which Cyrano becomes a popular hero, he continues the deception.
Only at the tale end of the play, when it is too late, does the truth dawn on Roxane.In 1947 Jose Ferrer was appearing on Broadway in Cyrano de Bergerac.
But it is the central role that makes this play and film, and in the capable hands of Ferrer it was done well.
Two years before Laurence Olivier won an "Oscar" as best actor for his HAMLET - really the first time a classic play role got the honor from the Academy.
In 1950 the Academy gave the best actor "Oscar" to Ferrer, for the second classic play role on film, as well as the first Puerto Rican actor so honored..
A great performance by Jose Ferrer highlighted by his receiving of the Academy Award for best actor of 1950 in this film based on the Edmund Rostand novel.A story of tragic love, Mala Powers played Roxane, the girl who admits at film's end that she has lost 2 loves.Set in the 1600's, the film tells the tragic tale of Cyrano, a poet playwright, philosopher, and swordsman who loves Roxane but feels rejection because of the size of his nose.When she professes love for Christian, he guides him through the words in expressing his love for the lady.There is politics in this film.
Most people will recognise the Gérard Depardieu version better, or even the Steve Martin comedy Roxanne that it is based on, but this was the first film adaptation of the play by Edmond Rostand, and I wanted to see if the leading actor deserved the accolades he got, directed by Michael Gordon (Pillow Talk).
Basically in the 17th century, the year 1640, in Paris, France, the charismatic Cyrano de Bergerac (Oscar and Golden Globe winning José Ferrer) is a talented poet and supremely skilled swordsman, but he is ridiculed and preventing himself from expressing his feelings, because of his large nose.
Cyrano is hopelessly in love with his beautiful cousin Roxane (Golden Globe nominated Mala Powers), but is sure that will reject him for his oversized hooter, meanwhile she confesses to him that she has fallen for handsome guardsman Christian de Neuvillette (William Prince).
Ferrer, who had played the part on Broadway, certainly gives a dignified and moving performance, I can see why he won the Oscar, and there is good support from Prince and Powers, the politics and stuff isn't really worth mentioning, there are some engaging fight sequences, but it is definitely all about the love story, you feel sympathy for the hero with the big conk, an interesting period romantic drama.
Production Designer Rudolph Stenard Starring Jose Ferrer, Mala Powers, William Prince.
The play is wonderful, the Film magic and Mr. Jose Ferrer is superb.
Cyrano (Jose Ferrer) looks okay except that he has this long, pointed Pinocchio nose which "marches on before me by a quarter of an hour." He is desperately in love with his distant cousin Roxanne (Mala Powers) but believes she could never love such an ugly person.