The Golden Coach (1952)

Director:

Jean Renoir

Writers:

Jean Renoir (story) and
Jack Kirkland (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

5 January 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

A small town of Central America in the eighteenth century. Camilla, the star of a theater company, hesitates between three men...

Plot Keywords:

Indians | Theater | Viceroy | Acting | Latin America

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Anna Magnani	...	Camilla
Odoardo Spadaro	...	Don Antonio
Nada Fiorelli	...	Isabella
Dante	...	Arlequin
Duncan Lamont	...	Ferdinand, Le Viceroy
George Higgins	...	Martinez
Ralph Truman	...	Duc de Castro
Gisella Mathews	...	Marquise Irene Altamirano
Raf De La Torre	...	Le Procureur
Elena Altieri	...	Duchesse de Castro
Paul Campbell	...	Felipe
Riccardo Rioli	...	Ramon, le Toreador
William Tubbs	...	Aubergiste (as William C. Tubbs)
Jean Debucourt	...	Eveque de Carmol (de Comédie-Française)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Renato Chiantoni	...	Capitaine Fracasse (uncredited)
Fedo Keeling	...	Vicomte (uncredited)
Alfredo Kolner	...	Florindo (uncredited)
Lina Marengo	...	Vieille Comedienne (uncredited)
Cecil Mathews	...	Le Baron (uncredited)
Alfredo Medini	...	Polichinelle (uncredited)
Maja Niles	...	Peruvian Noble (uncredited)
John Pasetti	...	Capitaine des gardes (uncredited)
Juan Pérez	...	(uncredited)
Rino	...	Docteur Balanzon (uncredited)
Giulio Tedeschi	...	Balthazar, le barbier (uncredited)

Directed by
Jean Renoir

Writing credits
Jean Renoir		(story and screenplay) and
Jack Kirkland		(story and screenplay) and
Renzo Avanzo		(story and screenplay) and
Giulio Macchi		(story and screenplay) and
Ginette Doynel		(story and screenplay)
Prosper Mérimée		(inspired by "Le Carrosse du Saint-Sacrement")

Produced by
Francesco Alliata	....	producer
Renzo Avanzo	....	associate producer

Cinematography by
Claude Renoir
Ronald Hill		(uncredited)

Film Editing by
David Hawkins

Production Design by
Mario Chiari

Set Decoration by
Gino Brosio

Costume Design by
Maria De Matteis

Production Management
Giuseppe Bordogni	....	production manager (as G. Bordogni)
Valentino Brosio	....	production manager (as V. Brosio)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Giulio Macchi	....	second assistant director
Marc Maurette	....	second assistant director
Vito Pandolfi	....	assistant director
Jean-Claude Sée	....	assistant director

Art Department
Italo Tomassi	....	construction department head (uncredited)

Sound Department
Joseph de Bretagne	....	sound
Ovidio Del Grande	....	sound assistant

Camera and Electrical Department
Joe D'Amato	....	still photographer (as Aristide Massaccesi)
Rodolfo Lombardi	....	camera operator

Music Department
Gino Marinuzzi Jr.	....	conductor
Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma	....	orchestra
Antonio Vivaldi	....	music: musical score selected from the works of

Other crew
Joan Bridge	....	technicolor color consultant
Lee Kresel	....	dialogue director (English version)
Enzo Musumeci Greco	....	master of arms (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Delphinus (presents)
• Hoche Productions (presents)
• Panaria Film

Distributors

• D.C.N. (1952) (Italy) (theatrical) (Italian version)
• Les Films Corona (1953) (France) (theatrical) (French version)
• I.F.E. Releasing Corporation (1954) (USA) (theatrical) (English version)
• Favorit-Filmverleih (1956) (Austria) (theatrical)
• Criterion Collection, The (1993) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Homescreen (2010) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Kinokuniya (2007) (Japan) (DVD) (English version) (French version)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2008) (Germany) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Technicolor  colour by
• Costumi d'Arte Peruzzi  costumes (as Casa d'Arte Peruzzi) (as Peruzzi)
• Ditta Maggi  wigs
• Cinecittà  studio
• Cinémathèque Française  restoration: in 1988 (French version)
• Fondation GAN pour le Cinéma  restoration: in 1988 (French version)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

103 min | West Germany:94 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved | Australia:G | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | West Germany:12 (f)

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Delphinus

Quotes:

Camilla:At the end of the second act, when Colombine goes, driven away by her masters, there is a tradition you seem not to know. The comedians bow to her.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Histoire(s) du cinéma: Toutes les histoires (1988) (V)

I liked it surprisingly a lot.

I was afraid that this movie would turn out to be a case of style over substance because of the movie its visual splendor. But I should had known better really, since this movie had Jean Renoir at the helm, a man who really knew how to always tell a story, in the combination with some impressing visuals.

I liked the movie definitely better than expected and I enjoyed it from basically start till finish. It's being a bit of an odd movie, since its a comedy but set in this very serious upper-class world. The movie becomes often an absurd one but not in the way that it's ever ridicules. It's a delightful movie, that has great characters, some nice universal and timeless themes and some great dialog that really all make the movie, fore there is not much else within this movie really. It's definitely not really a movie for 'todays' audience, so to speak.

The movie got shot in color, from which it definitely benefits. It's visuals are still what impresses the most about this movie, no matter how great everything else in it is. It has some great sets and costumes in it, that help to give the movie a certain atmosphere, consistent with the time period it got set in. It doesn't ever feel though as if the movie got set in a small town of Central America, that is a Spanish colony. The movie for all that matter could had just as well been set in France or England for instance but than of course we wouldn't had had a bull fighter as one of the movie its main characters.

It's a movie that as well handles some social themes are all of all times it seems. The corruption of money, power and love all come by here. It keeps the movie going and intriguing to watch throughout, mainly because it's also all being so well written and timed within the movie. The movie got also written by Jean Renoir himself, who often always wrote his own movies, though this movie got based on a play by Prosper Mérimée, who also wrote the novel "Carmen".

A movie that I simply enjoyed watching from start till finish!

9/10

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