Scaramouche
Short description
Set in eighteenth-century France, Scaramouche follows André Moreau, a carefree young man whose friend is killed in a duel by the Marquis de Maynes, the finest swordsman in the country. André swears to avenge him and, to survive and prepare, joins a travelling theatre company, performing behind the mask of the clown Scaramouche while he learns to fence well enough to face the marquis.
The film was directed by George Sidney, who had previously made The Three Musketeers and Show Boat, and produced by Carey Wilson from a screenplay by George Froeschel and Ronald Millar. Stewart Granger plays André, with Eleanor Parker as Lenore, Janet Leigh as Aline de Gavrillac de Bourbon, Mel Ferrer as the Marquis de Maynes, Henry Wilcoxon as the Chevalier de Chabrillaine and Nina Foch as Marie Antoinette, among a credited cast of twenty-nine. It was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in May 1952 and runs 110 minutes.
Made for a budget of four million dollars, it returned three million at the worldwide box office. On IMDb it holds a rating of 7.5 from around 6,800 votes, and on TMDB a rating of 7 from roughly 107 votes, indicating a solid reputation among the smaller audience that has rated it there.
What's left behind the scenes
- In the scene where the character played by Mel Ferrer challenges Stuart Granger's character to a duel at home, the latter is lying on the floor when a heavy iron chandelier falls from above. The script required it to fall just centimeters from the main character's face. Director George Sidney suggested Granger film the scene immediately without any rehearsals or checking the strength of the cables. The actor refused and demanded that the cables be checked first. During the very first 'run' of the scene, the cable broke, the chandelier crashed down and pierced the floor of the set. The scene had to be rewritten in the script and reshot as if Granger's character, falling, immediately rolls away. The sound of the swords seemed unsatisfactory to the sound engineer, and it was re-recorded using the sound of glass.
- Stewart Granger (who played André Moreau) wore special shoes on set to appear the same height as his slightly taller co-stars—Mel Ferrer, Henry Wilcoxon, and Richard Anderson.
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