The Affairs of Cellini (1934)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Gregory La Cava

Writers:

Edwin Justus Mayer (play)
Bess Meredyth (screenplay)

Release Date:

24 August 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | History

Plot:

The 16th-century sculptor woos the Duchess of Florence despite the duke. |

Plot Keywords:

Sculptor | Jealousy | Medicis | Sword Fight | Nobility

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars.

Cast

Constance Bennett	...	Duchess of Florence
Fredric March	...	Benvenuto Cellini
Frank Morgan	...	Alessandro - Duke of Florence
Fay Wray	...	Angela
Vince Barnett	...	Ascanio
Jessie Ralph	...	Beatrice
Louis Calhern	...	Ottaviano
Jay Eaton	...	Polverino
Paul Harvey	...	Emissary
Jack Rutherford	...	Captain of the Guards (as John Rutherford)
Irene Ware	...	Daughter of the Royal House of Bocci

Also Known As:

The Firebrand

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | USA:Approved

Company:

20th Century Pictures

Trivia:

The play, "The Firebrand," opened on Broadway in New York City, New York, USA on 15 October 1924 and closed in May 1925 after 261 performances. The opening night cast included Nana Bryant as the Duchess, Frank Morgan as Allessandro (same role as in the movie), Edward G. Robinson as Ottaviano and Joseph Schildkraut as Cellini.

Quotes:

Duchess of Florence: Jelly - how like the men of our times.

One of hundreds of gems waiting to be treasured....

Stumbling across a neat little 80-minute gem like 1934's The Affairs of Cellini is reason enough to lease satellite TV (or a really good cable service, a contradiction in terms if ever there was one). Viewing it almost nearly 70 years after its premiere allows even the neophyte cineaste a neat precis of the progress (or lack of same) that film has made since then, plus primers in ace character acting and deft characterization by the writers.

The film centers on 16th-century Florence, a hotbed of wealth and intrigue run by a family you might of heard of (the Medicis), and one of its leading artisans, the goldsmith Benvenuto Cellini. Cellini (about whom Hector Berlioz wrote an opera and numerous poems and stories have been penned) is sort of a hybrid of Robin Hood and the Scarlet Pimpernel, with a dash of Don Juan thrown in for fun. Played by the very young, unabashedly gorgeous and surprisingly athletic Fredric March (seen many years later in such classics as Inherit the Wind, The Bridges at Toko-Ri and The Best Years of Our Lives), Cellini's a stiffnecked anti-aristocrat that the Duke of Florence (played hilariously by The Wizard of Oz himself, Frank Morgan) and his lethal-seductress wife (Fox's big star of the mid-'30s, Constance Bennett) can't seem to do without, so skilled at goldsmithing and seduction is he.

Toss in Fay Wray (the year after making Kong go ape), Fox stalwart Louis Calhern in the Basil Rathbone role and the VERY young Lucille Ball in a supporting role, oodles of classic B&W cinematography, snappy directorial pace (by Fox veteran Gregory La Cava) and quasi-operatic sets and decoration, and you've got the kind of lunchtime matinee that 24-hour classic movie channels like Turner Classic and Fox Movies (where this can be seen at least twice a month) were meant to provide.