Volpone

I feel so luck to have caught this rare film at CINEFEST the annual early & rare film festival in Syracuse, NY - March 2003. More film buffs should support these festivals and share their discoveries on the IMDB so other film fans can track these old titles down. VOLPONE (1941, Sirilzky Pictures, in French w/English subtitles. D: Maurice Tourneur) A cynical, unscrupulous merchant played by Harry Baur, named Volpone (aka "the fox") schemes with his servant to con his greedy `friends' out of their money by pretending to be ill and dying, knowing they will give him gifts in hopes of being listed in his will. He then sits back to enjoy the fireworks but his plan inevitably backfires, setting the stage for an ironic denouement.

'Beast fables' have been around since Aesop and Ben Jonson's Jacobean masterpiece depicts his beasts in human form. It is both satire and morality play but Jules Romains' adaptation, despite being hugely enjoyable, has somewhat blunted the satirical edge and with the exception of sly Fox Volpone's comeuppance, we are not shown the punishments meted out in Jonson's original to the other four members of the beastly quintet, namely the parasitical flesh-fly Mosca, the avaricious Raven, the greedy Crow and the lawyer appropriately named Vulture.

It requires actors of great presence and theatrical skill to bring these characters to life and here we have the magnificent Harry Baur in the title role, one of the very few actors able to hold his own against inveterate scene stealer Louis Jouvet who is in his element here as Mosca. It is however the brilliantly observed characterisation by Charles Dullin as the wonderfully wily Corbaccio that practically hobbles away with the film whilst another of France's finest, Fernand Ledoux, plays the unctuous Corvino. Jean Témerson alas is not in the same league as this quartet but looks suitably well-fed as the lawyer who gets Volpone acquitted of a charge of attempted rape. The object of Volpone's lust is the suitably named Colomba played by the exquisite Jacqueline Delubac whilst the woman who requires no encouragement at all is the courtesan Canina of the excellent Marion Dorian.

Most of the cast from Jacques de Baroncelli's earlier aborted attempt have reappeared and although some scenes from that remain in the final print Maurice Tourneur receives sole credit as director. That being said this is certainly one of Monsieur Tourneur's most interesting projects from the sound era and his renowned compositional skill together with the lush sets of André Barsacq and the peerless performances make this a film to savour.

The print I saw was of very poor quality, but that doesn't appear to matter. This is a filmed play, with totally uninteresting cinematography. The idea of actors acting, with all the pranks and scheming is promising, but not here. This isn't funny. If there was supposed to be some satire, it is lost.

I suppose it is not uncommon, but this film, "Volpone", directed by Maurice Tourneur bares no resemblance to the films of his made three or so decades ago. In the 1910s into the 1920s, Tourneur was a pioneer the new art form in the states. His films were interestingly photographed for the times. "The Wishing Ring: An Idyll of Old England" (1914) referenced theatre, but in a rather cinematic way. "Volpone" is just one of the films he made in France, but it seems antagonistic to a filmmaker who was forging an identity for cinema more independent of theatre.

Maurice Tourneur's "war years" ,with the exception of "Mam'zelle Bonaparte " one of the few duds featuring Edwige Feuillère ,were a good time for him:"Péchés De Jeunesse" and "le Val D'Enfer" were pure Petainist moral but are still watchable for all that ;"Cecile Est Morte" was a good Simenon story;"La Main Du Diable" is his absolute masterpiece ,one of the rare attempts at a fantasy and horror movie which brilliantly succeeds in this country;its influence was strong on his son Jack's "Curse of the demon" (check the titles).

And then there's "Volpone" .With a cast as stellar as this one ,how could a director be wrong?Some movies are protected by their own actors. Watching Harry Baur and Louis Jouvet together is just a joy .Add Fernand Ledoux and Jacqueline Delubac,Guitry's wife (for a while)and you've got one of the best casts of the Occupation days.Ben Johnson's work was adapted by a genuine French writer ,Jules Romains ,whose novels were often transferred to the screen,and the lines are often witty ,even nasty ,with lots of black humor.Tourneur's directing is one of his best for its disposable funds were probably not that much high at the time and he successfully recreated Venice in the studio with talent and skill.We've never the feeling we're watching a filmed stage production .And anyway Harry Baur,using a falsetto voice when he is dying,and taking from his neighbors everything he can steal with a little help from his good friend Mosca (Jouvet) who is even foxier than the fox ,portrayed a memorable Volpone.

"Volpone" can grab today's audience:its subject is money ,money ,money,lust for wealth .The lure of gain drive people to selling their wives or sons or daughters .How many lines featuring the word "sequin"?"Volpone" could be updated and remade in 2010 and the plot wouldn't have to be modified much.Anyway,Joseph L.Mankiewicz did it in 1967 where Cecil Fox ,helped by MacFly (check the names),was pretending he was about to die to lure his former lovers into a trap with promises of fortune .Frederick Knott replaced Jules Romains and the movie would have deserved a better fate .

After a lot of brilliant movies (notably by the great Duvivier) ,Harry Baur ended his career on a high note: "Volpone" and "L"assassinat Du Père Noel" were splendid Swansongs.I have not seen yet his final (German) performance in "Symphonie Eines Lebens" .He was given away to the sinister Gestapo (they supposed he was a Jew;his late wife was but he wasn't.He was tortured and when he was released he weighed less than 40 kg (88 pounds)and died soon afterward.He was only 63.It was a major loss for the French cinema and stage.

Virtually none of Maurice Tourneur's work is generally available in the late twentieth English speaking world.This has been thus far posterity's loss. The present writer, after extensive efforts,has only been able to view three of his films scattered over a twenty-five year period.It is enough to state there is a treasure trove awaiting excavation out there.His son Jacques is justly admired for what he could do with often seemingly intractable material and actors of ordinarily limited interpretive ability.Obviously he learned most every trick in the book for his adroit father but rarely had as literate materials as the senior Tourneur.The son's massive fan following should be fighting to see more of the father's work. M.Tourneur worked many years in Hollywood silents. The two available to me(both literary adaptations)show an incredible awareness of the auditory riches the audience cannot share and the duty of the director to convey as much of this in another media as humanly possible.When he later chose to shoot "Volpone" for a French audience, he was somewhat equipped for a herculean task.The script is by the best Elizabethan writer,apart from Shakespeare(whoever he was);but iit is a play which is more admired than loved and rarely performed, even on the English stage. Tourneur romps through it. Two of the best acors of their time,Harry Baur and Louis Jouvet,perform as if the play were originally written for Frechmen.The costuming and the photography in glorious black-and-white is what the word style is all about.But why go on?Ignore author Ben Jonson's advice and look on the picture,not the book.Then demand a Maurice Tourneur festival from somebody out there.