Cyrano de Bergerac (1950 film)
| Cyrano de Bergerac | |
|---|---|
DVD cover (Synergy edition)
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| Directed by | Michael Gordon |
| Produced by | Stanley Kramer |
| Written by |
Carl Foreman Brian Hooker (Translation) Orson Welles (uncredited) |
| Based on |
Cyrano de Bergerac 1897 play by Edmond Rostand |
| Starring |
José Ferrer Mala Powers William Prince |
| Music by | Dimitri Tiomkin |
| Cinematography | Franz Planer |
| Edited by | Harry W. Gerstad |
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Production
company |
Stanley Kramer Productions
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| Distributed by | United Artists |
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Release date
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Running time
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112 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1.1 million |
| Box office | $1.9 million (US rentals) |
Cyrano de Bergerac is a 1950 drama romance film based on the 1897 French Alexandrine verse drama Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand. It uses poet Brian Hooker's 1923 English blank verse translation as the basis for its screenplay. The film was the first motion picture version in English of Rostand's play, though there were several earlier adaptations in different languages.
The 1950 film was produced by Stanley Kramer and directed by Michael Gordon. José Ferrer received the Academy Award for Best Actor for his starring performance as Cyrano de Bergerac. Mala Powers played Roxane, and William Prince portrayed Christian de Neuvillette.
The film lapsed into the public domain in the mid-1980s, and is available in both Blu-ray and DVD formats.
In seventeenth-century Paris, poet and supreme swordsman Cyrano de Bergerac (José Ferrer) stops a play from being shown because he ostensibly cannot stand the bombastic style of the principal actor, Montfleury (Arthur Blake). An annoyed aristocratic fop, the Vicomte de Valvert (Albert Cavens), provokes him into a duel by tritely insulting Cyrano's enormous nose. Cyrano first mocks his lack of wit, improvising numerous inventive ways in which Valvert could have phrased it (much to the amusement of the audience). He then composes a ballade for the occasion on the spot and recites it during the sword fight. With the last line, he stabs his opponent.
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Wikipedia