Tonight's movie was "Marie Antoinette" (1938), starring Norma Shearer and Tyrone Power. Holy smokes, I hardly know where to start with this one. If you ever wanna understand why MGM was the greatest studio of the Golden Era, watch this film. You want Epic? You've got it, in grand style, 157 minutes of romance, history and tragedy, filmed on the MGM lot on some of the most glorious sets ever built, in this case to simulate the Palace of Versailles. You've also got Norma Shearer in the title role. There's a reason she was called The Queen of MGM, and why Meryl Streep has named her as an influence. My goodness, what a performance she turned in, and from what I read on IMDB, the movie was being filmed at the time that her husband Irving Thalberg, known as the Boy Wonder of MGM, was dying of a heart condition at the age of 37. I must interject to say that, for the three years I worked at the studio, I walked everyday past the Thalberg Building, and even ate lunch on it's steps. It is the main executive office building of the MGM lot, and even then, at age 19, I knew who Irving Thalberg was. Truly he was one of the founding fathers of the Golden Era, one of it's legendary producers, and his wife was Norma Shearer, an actress who has been unjustly forgotten by all but the most dedicated film fans.
I almost don't want to describe the plot so that you'll see the movie for yourself, and besides - it's not a plot, it's history. Marie Antoinette was born to Austrian nobility. As the movie opens, she has been contracted by her mother to marry the Dauphin of France, in order to form an alliance between the two countries. She is overjoyed to learn that someday she will become Queen of France. Once she meets the Dauphin, however, her joy is tempered. As played by the English actor Robert Morley, he is oafish and ineffectual, hardly a man for the Throne. He tells Marie right off the bat that he will not be able to produce an heir, the implication being, I suppose, that he is either sterile, homosexual or has ED. Ask the Hays Code, they would know. Marie doesn't dedicate herself to the marriage at first, because she was expecting a fairy-tale romance. She is impetuous, still in her teens, and because the Dauphin is stunted, she seeks out affection from a number of other men, which gains her a bad reputation and an enemy in the person of Madame du Barry (Gladys George), a consort of the Dauphin's grandfather, King Louis XV (played to the hilt by the legendary John Barrymore - do we have a cast here, or what?)
Madame du Barry thinks of Marie as a foreign interloper and a slut, and on the latter count the feeling is mutual.
Marie's refusal to kowtow to the Madame will lead to a confrontation, in the King's presence, that will result in her marriage being annulled. Now, she is to be sent back to Austria, but the Dauphin is incensed! Here, he finally shows some determination. When he learns that the King has deprived him of his wife, he explodes......in his unselfconfident way. But he is a large man, and his loss of temper frightens the enfeebled King. Soon there will be intrigue in the Palace. Leading the charge to replace the Dauphin as heir to the throne is the Duke d'Orleans (Joseph Schildkraut, another great actor). The Duke is a libertine who would love to steal Marie away, though she refers to him as "cousin".
Into this mess steps Tyrone Power as a Swedish Count, Axel de Fersen. He is in France on a diplomatic mission and happens to meet Marie. Because he is The Handsomest Man on Earth (which Power was), they fall madly in love, but Marie ultimately pushes him away after a whirlwind affair. She is too ashamed of her banishment from the Palace to enter into a permanent relationship with the Count. Before leaving for America (his next diplomatic stop), he swears Eternal Love for Marie. We will later see that he meant it. Meanwhile, the King - now bedridden - has yielded to the Dauphin's demands. He agrees to let him remarry Marie Antoinette. She is now torn between returning to her husband and the Palace, or waiting for the return of Tyrone Power.
Meanwhile, in the streets all hell is breaking loose. The people of Paris are starving. Talk of revolution is in the air. The Duke d'Orleans will use this to his advantage by helping to create a scandal that will implicate the Dauphin and Marie. A renowned jeweler has created for Marie a sparkling diamond necklace, for which he is asking one million Francs, a tremendous sum at the time (or even now). Marie rejects his offer, saying that it would be an extravagant and selfish purchase at a time when so many are living in poverty, but d'Orleans contacts the jeweler to tell him that Marie has changed her mind. He forges her signature to buy the necklace, then leaks the news to the public. This is how the historical image of Marie Antoinette, as a woman who mocked the poor, was created : through false premises.
I kept wondering when she was going to utter her most famous line : "Let them eat cake"! But she never did. It wasn't in the movie, so maybe she never said it in real life. The script shows her to be, once she grows up, a caring woman whose hands are tied by the machinations of d'Orleans and the other Counts who stage manage King Louis. Upon his death, she does become Queen as the Dauphin ascends to the throne, but by then it is too late for either of them to do anything. Their image as profligate is set in the eyes of the public. I must say, the more I learn about the French Revolution, the less I am impressed by their leaders, especially Robespierre, who seems to me just as bloodthirsty and merciless as other revolutionary leaders like Mao or Lenin. I don't want to reveal the events leading up to the ending of the film, but besides their heartless treatment of the powerless Dauphin and Marie, the French Revolutionaries have a policy concerning children that would make Trump proud.
I say "phooey on the French Revolution! Long live the King"! Yes, I know the conditions were horrible in France, and I say "phooey" partially in jest, but I do think it's a bad thing when we champion men like Robespierre simply because they overthrew a corrupt regime, when they in turn were just as bad or worse. Look at Russia or China for other examples.
But back to the film, this is one of the most Must-See of all the Must-See Movies I've told you that you absolutely Must See. This is what they mean when they say "They don't make 'em like that anymore". You've never seen such sets, such glamorous lighting, such beautiful black and white photography, such costuming, etc. As for the actors, there should have been Oscars all around, especially for Norma Shearer, who gives one of the greatest leading performances ever by an actress. Robert Morley also, as the Dauphin, is outstanding, creating a fully rounded character who is more than a pitiful cliche. Ty Power doesn't have much to do dramatically, but without him, there is no grand romance, which is at the heart of the story. Anyway, he should get an Oscar in every movie just for being Tyrone Power. Joseph Schildkraut and John Freaking Barrymore, too, are tremendous as d'Orleans and King Louis, respectively. And, the movie itself should've won Best Picture. Go over to IMDB to see what the fans think. One called it the greatest film that MGM ever produced, a high tribute indeed.
You know how much I love short movies and usually do not care for long ones, but every so often I see a film so tre-men-dous that running time becomes immaterial. In fact, you couldn't tell a story this gigantic in short format, so it benefits by extended length, and in this case it never lags.
Two Humongous Thumbs Up for "Marie Antoinette" (1938 version), and my Highest Possible Recommendation. ////
That's all for now. I'm gonna head back to Pearl's to watch the Impeachment Hearings. Let's hear more about those phone calls between Devin Nunes and Lev Parnas, Rudy Giuliani's bag man. Nunes is high on the list of Major League A-Holes, so it would be nice to watch him squirm, haha. See you tonight at the Usual Time.
Tons of love! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
No comments:
Post a Comment