Cyrano de Bergerac (1950)

August 21, 2022 4:29 PM

France, 1640: Cyrano, the charismatic swordsman-poet with the absurd nose, hopelessly loves the beauteous Roxane; she, in turn, confesses to Cyrano her love for the handsome but tongue-tied Christian. The chivalrous Cyrano sets up with Christian an innocent deception, with tragic results.
posted by johnofjack (7 comments total)

I love José Ferrer. I need to check this out.

JustWatch listing shows it's on a ton of services.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 5:26 PM on August 21, 2022 [1 favorite]

He is brilliant in this. I think this is my favorite film version.
posted by Catblack at 5:28 PM on August 21, 2022 [2 favorites]

They showed this to us in high school. It's pretty faithful to the play, IIRC, with a few punch-ups by an uncredited Orson Welles. Ferrer was indeed great in the role, and won a well-deserved Oscar. I hadn't know until just now that there was apparently a sequel of sorts in the 60s, directed by Abel Gance many years after his glory days in silent film. The review on Wikipedia makes it sound pretty dire.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 5:29 PM on August 21, 2022 [1 favorite]

[added "JoseFerrer" as a tag. Had it there with the accent, but apparently the system balks at accents in tags and just silently axes the tag rather than offering a warning.]

Thanks for adding the JustWatch listing, DirtyOldTown, and the additional context, Ursula Hitler.

Catblack, I haven't seen other versions but intend to watch them. The 90s version is also held in high regard, and I admit to some curiosity in seeing Steve Martin's adaptation of it into a comedy.
posted by johnofjack at 5:35 PM on August 21, 2022 [1 favorite]

Oh! Roxanne, the Steve Martin modernization & romantic comedy adaptation, is a real treat. Deserves a watch*.

But this, the José Ferrar performance, is certainly my go-to as a classic or even definitive film version of the play.

*as does his non-comedic adaptation of George Eliot's novel Silas Marner, titled A Simple Twist of Fate.
posted by bartleby at 9:04 PM on August 21, 2022 [1 favorite]

I liked the Gerard Depardieu version as well. Depardieu is, after all, a giant ham, and this is role is chewier than any curtain.
posted by acrasis at 3:21 PM on August 23, 2022 [3 favorites]

I love the scene where de Guiche is on an urgent mission.... but wait, this strange man has multiple ideas for how to get to the moon? more than one? better stick around and listen!
posted by one for the books at 5:09 PM on November 10, 2022