IMDb > Scaramouche (1952)
Scaramouche
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Scaramouche (1952) More at IMDbPro »

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Scaramouche (1952) -- Trailer for this historical drama

Overview

User Rating:
7.7/10   2,027 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 18% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Rafael Sabatini (novel)
Ronald Millar (screenplay) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for Scaramouche on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
27 June 1952 (USA) more
Plot:
Andre-Louis Moreau is a nobleman's bastard in the days of the French revolution. Noel, the Marquis de Mayne... more | add synopsis
Awards:
1 nomination more
NewsDesk:
User Comments:
One of MGM's Greatest adaptations. more (33 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
Stewart Granger ... Andre Moreau
Eleanor Parker ... Lenore

Janet Leigh ... Aline de Gavrillac de Bourbon
Mel Ferrer ... Noel, Marquis de Maynes

Henry Wilcoxon ... Chevalier de Chabrillaine

Nina Foch ... Marie Antoinette

Richard Anderson ... Philippe de Valmorin (Marcus Brutus)
Robert Coote ... Gaston Binet
Lewis Stone ... Georges de Valmorin
Elisabeth Risdon ... Isabelle de Valmorin
Howard Freeman ... Michael Vanneau
Curtis Cooksey ... Lawyer Fabian
John Dehner ... Doutreval of Dijon
John Litel ... Dr. Dubuque
Jonathan Cott ... Sergeant
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Additional Details

Runtime:
115 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Certification:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Fernand Gravet was announced for this film by MGM in 1938, but the film was not made. more
Goofs:
Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Early in the film, Andre criticizes Phillippe's letter on its grammar, citing a split infinitive. Andre then tells Philippe to "boldly go outside", thus committing a split infinite himself. more
Quotes:
Andre Moreau: Why? Why? Before all the saints in heaven, why? more
Movie Connections:

FAQ

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20 out of 24 people found the following comment useful.
One of MGM's Greatest adaptations., 22 May 2004
Author: Scaramouche2004 from Coventry, England

This is a movie milestone in my life.

I have chosen this handle and this film to be my first review on this site because it was the very first film I ever watched.

However my enjoyment was limited due to the fact that I was five days old at the time. This resulted in a rather poor grasp of the plot and an overall lack of excitement from beginning to end. The story goes that the day my twin brother and I were taken home from hospital after our birth, Scaramouche was the evening film on the BBC and we were given our baths completely oblivious to the movie gem we were being treated to on our first night in our new home.

I personally do not remember this but I have been reliably informed that this is so.

Over the years however, I have acquired a great passion for the films of the golden age and Scaramouche, although not the best of films, is definitely a classic.

Stewart Granger plays Andre Moroe a free spirit, who's life has amounted to nothing more than his constant pursuit of fun and wealthy ladies in 17th Century France. However the murder of his closest friend, a revolutionist in the making, turns him into a man driven by revenge. However there is one tiny drawback as the man on whom he seeks vengeance is the best swordsman in France and Andre has never held a sword in his life. But he is determined to learn it's ways in order to meter out his terrible revenge.

Immediately taking up lessons he wastes no time in becoming an expert fencer........about half an hour in fact.

This however is for me the most entertaining part of the film as the student out-fences the teachers in a series of montage images. It also contains one of the best uses of the English Language I have ever seen on film....or maybe I'm just easily pleased.

'if i can no longer be taught by the man who taught my enemy, then what is more fitting in a mad world,than to be taught by the man who taught the man who taught my enemy' Catchy eh?

However all this time Moroe is evading the villain's men by hiding out in a circus of sorts where he has adopted the role of the masked Scaramouche.....the clown.

It is at one of his performances where Moroe comes face to face with his friends killer and in true Hollywood fashion, they duel in and out of the shocked spectators hanging over perilous ledges and high theatre balconies and of course up and down grand staircases.

Mel Ferrer is wonderful as the evil Demain and gives his role an almost Bond villain presence with his charm ans sophistication, and for love interest we have both Eleanor Parker and Janet Leigh (before she started taking showers) Yet for once Hollywood decided to put romance on the back burner and these two beauties, although great in the roles, have nothing more to do than parade around in cleavage inducing bodices, although that's fine with me. If this film is your cup of tea or not, it's worth watching for that alone.

There are other aspects of the plot which I need not go into here except that they amount to the "he was my father which makes you my sister" scenario and when the unknown brother is revealed, you will be forgiven in thinking you had tuned into a period edition of EastEnders but despite all this is definitely worth the watch.

Incidentally the final sword fight was the longest sword fight in movie history until Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta Jones fenced their way into the record books in The Mask of Zorro. They may now have the longest but Scaramouche still has the best.

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Scaramouche, Scaramouche? rikkirat
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Sabatini would not be happy. fayefetish
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