Waltz of the Toreadors (1962)

This is the end of a glorious military career: General Leo Fitzjohn retires to his Sussex manor where he will write his memoirs. Unfortunately, his private life is a disaster: a confirmed ... See full summary »

Director:

John Guillermin

Writers:

Jean Anouilh (play), Lucienne Hill (English translation),

Stars:

Peter Sellers, Dany Robin, Margaret Leighton

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Peter Sellers	...	Gen. Leo Fitzjohn
Dany Robin	...	Ghislaine
Margaret Leighton	...	Emily Fitzjohn
John Fraser	...	Lt. Robert Finch
Cyril Cusack	...	Dr. Grogan
Prunella Scales	...	Estella Fitzjohn
Denise Coffey	...	Sidonia Fitzjohn
Jean Anderson	...	Agnes
Raymond Huntley	...	Ackroyd, Court President
Cardew Robinson	...	Midgley the Undertaker
John Glyn-Jones	...	Jenkins the Innkeeper
John Le Mesurier	...	Rev. Grimsley
Vanda Godsell	...	Mrs. Emma Bulstrode, Dress Shop Proprietor
Catherine Feller	...	Rosemary, the young maid

Storyline

This is the end of a glorious military career: General Leo Fitzjohn retires to his Sussex manor where he will write his memoirs. Unfortunately, his private life is a disaster: a confirmed womanizer, Leo has infuriated his wife Emily, now a shrewish and hypochondriac woman, all the more bitter as she still loves him. The General has two plain-looking daughters he dislikes and an attractive French mistress, Ghislaine, with whom he has had a platonic affair for seventeen years. When Ghislaine resurfaces, determined to complete her love with him and to get rid of Emily, Leo is at a loss what to do...

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Plot Keywords:

foreign language adaptation | based on play | independent film

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 September 1962 (France)

Also Known As:

The Amorous General

Filming Locations:

Sussex, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Independent Artists, Julian Wintle/Leslie Parkyn Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The original Broadway production of "The Waltz of the Toreadors" by Jean Anouilh opened at the Coronet Theater in New York on January 17, 1957, ran for 132 performances and was nominated for the 1957 Tony Award for the Best Play.

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Quotes

Lt. Robert Finch: I want to give you much more than my cold, Ghislaine, honest.

User Reviews

Sufficient wit at the expense of imagination.

Based quite loosely upon a play of the same name by Jean Anouilh, this film has been designed not merely as a showcase for the oversize comedic talent of Peter Sellers, but also, due to excessive producer interference, as a sex farce where character predominates over language, after the manner of a well-wrought and linear work of theatre. A droll script by Wolf Mankowitz transposes the action from post World War II France to early 20th century Sussex, arranging the characters in the story-propelled manner of the playwright, whose intensive exploration of the spirit becomes increasingly prominent as the work runs its course, greatly assisted by sensitive performances from Sellers, as the libidinous General Leo Fitzjohn, and by Margaret Leighton as Emily, his suffering wife. The plot spirals about the freshly retired General Fitzjohn and his longwhile Gallic inamorata, Ghislaine (Dany Robin) who have, as seen in a series of flashbacks, never been able to complete their love, but who are apparently finally going to be able to do so; that is, if a series of latter-day obstacles might be overcome. The picture is directed smoothly by John Guillermin, and there are excellent performances from Cyril Cusack as Dr. Grogan, the General's best friend, and John Fraser as a naive subaltern assigned to Fitzjohn, while a magnificent score is contributed by Richard Addinsell, one of his best for the screen, notable for its unreserved use of a minor key to accompany romantic and comic events. Unlike his Absurdist contemporaries, Anouilh never abandoned a sense of existential despair throughout his dramas, and this production succeeds in creating tension between Fitzjohn's sense of loss of place and his ability to forge forward after his natural urges, as evidenced by the delicious ending.