''Monsieur Beaucaire'' is a 1924 American
silent romantic historical drama film
A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romances, adventure films, and sw ...
starring
Rudolph Valentino in the title role,
Bebe Daniels
Phyllis Virginia "Bebe" Daniels (January 14, 1901 – March 16, 1971) was an American actress, singer, dancer, writer, and producer.
She began her career in Hollywood during the silent film era as a child actress, became a star in musicals such ...
, and
Lois Wilson. Produced and directed by
Sidney Olcott
Sidney Olcott (born John Sidney Allcott, September 20, 1872 – December 16, 1949) was a Canadian-born film producer, director, actor and screenwriter.
Biography
Born John Sidney Allcott in Toronto, he became one of the first great direc ...
, the film is based on
Booth Tarkington
Newton Booth Tarkington (July 29, 1869 – May 19, 1946) was an American novelist and dramatist best known for his novels '' The Magnificent Ambersons'' (1918) and '' Alice Adams'' (1921). He is one of only four novelists to win the Pulitz ...
's
1900 novel of the same name and the 1904 play of the same name by Tarkington and
Evelyn Greenleaf Sutherland.
Plot
The Duke of
Chartres is in love with Princess Henriette, but she seemingly wants nothing to do with him. Eventually he grows tired of her insults and flees to
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
when
Louis XV
Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached ...
insists that the two marry. He goes undercover as Monsieur Beaucaire, the barber of the French Ambassador, and finds that he enjoys the freedom of a commoner’s life. After catching the Duke of Winterset cheating at cards, he forces him to introduce him as a nobleman to Lady Mary, with whom he has become infatuated. When Lady Mary is led to believe that the Duke of Chartres is merely a
barber
A barber is a person whose occupation is mainly to cut, dress, groom, style and shave men's and boys' hair or beards. A barber's place of work is known as a "barbershop" or a "barber's". Barbershops are also places of social interaction and publi ...
she loses interest in him. She eventually learns that he is a nobleman after all and tries to win him back, but the Duke of Chartres opts to return to
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
and Princess Henriette who now returns his affection.
Cast
Production notes
''Monsieur Beaucaire'' was produced by
Famous Players-Lasky
Famous Players-Lasky Corporation was an American motion picture and distribution company formed on June 28, 1916, from the merger of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company—originally formed by Zukor as Famous Players in Famous Plays—and ...
, directed by
Sidney Olcott
Sidney Olcott (born John Sidney Allcott, September 20, 1872 – December 16, 1949) was a Canadian-born film producer, director, actor and screenwriter.
Biography
Born John Sidney Allcott in Toronto, he became one of the first great direc ...
, and distributed by
Paramount Pictures. It was filmed at
Kaufman Astoria Studios
The Kaufman Astoria Studios is a film studio located in the Astoria section of the New York City borough of Queens. The studio was constructed for Famous Players-Lasky in 1920, since it was close to Manhattan's Broadway theater district. The pr ...
in New York City.
For this film, whose action is set at the court of King Louis XV of France, the atmosphere is resolutely French and French-speaking. It is French dancer
Paulette Duval's second American picture; the Belgian
André Daven, playing the brother of Valentino's character, was hired for his resemblance to the Latin lover; the
Nantes-based
Georges Barbier designed the 350 costumes. The film's dialogues were written in French for more realism. Valentino speaks French, as do
Bebe Daniels
Phyllis Virginia "Bebe" Daniels (January 14, 1901 – March 16, 1971) was an American actress, singer, dancer, writer, and producer.
She began her career in Hollywood during the silent film era as a child actress, became a star in musicals such ...
,
Lowell Sherman
Lowell J. Sherman (October 11, 1888 – December 28, 1934) was an American actor and film director. In an unusual practice for the time, he served as both actor and director on several films in the early 1930s. He later turned exclusively to d ...
and
Sidney Olcott
Sidney Olcott (born John Sidney Allcott, September 20, 1872 – December 16, 1949) was a Canadian-born film producer, director, actor and screenwriter.
Biography
Born John Sidney Allcott in Toronto, he became one of the first great direc ...
.
Reception
''Monsieur Beaucaire'' was part of a series of box office and critical disappointments that plagued Valentino mid-career. Although the film did fairly well in big cities, it flopped in smaller locales, and could not exceed the expensive budget Olcott put into the film's production. Historians
Kevin Brownlow
Kevin Brownlow (born Robert Kevin Brownlow; 2 June 1938) is a British film historian, television documentary-maker, filmmaker, author, and film editor. He is best known for his work documenting the history of the silent era, having become inter ...
and
John Kobal suggested that the film's shortcomings stemmed more from Olcott's "pedestrian" direction.
Many viewers and critics, perhaps expecting the more virile Valentino of his earlier films, felt that his onscreen persona with its heavy makeup, frilled attire, and arch mannerisms (particularly in the first half) was overly feminized in ''Monsieur Beaucaire'': a somewhat unfair accusation, considering that much of the film satirizes the excesses of the court of Louis XV.
Much of the blame for the film's alleged shortcomings was assigned to Valentino's wife
Natacha Rambova
Natacha Rambova (born Winifred Kimball Shaughnessy; January 19, 1897 – June 5, 1966) was an American film costume designer, set designer, and occasional actress who was active in Hollywood in the 1920s. In her later life, she abandoned design ...
who was felt by many of Valentino's colleagues to have had an undue influence on the costumes, set and direction of the film. Alicia Annas wrote that audiences were most likely alienated by the general design of the film which, while historically accurate, was not tailored to 1920s American filmgoers' tastes. The
Stan Laurel parody ''
Monsieur Don't Care
''Monsieur Don't Care'' is a 1924 American silent comedy film starring Stan Laurel as "Rhubarb Vaselino". The film is a parody of the Rudolph Valentino film '' Monsieur Beaucaire'' (1924).
Cast
* Stan Laurel as Rhubarb Vaselino
* Melba Brow ...
'' (1924) reflected the general public attitude toward ''Monsieur Beaucaire''.
Adaptations
The novel ''Monsieur Beaucaire'' was adapted into a musical film, ''
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...
'' (1930), directed by
Ernst Lubitsch
Ernst Lubitsch (; January 29, 1892November 30, 1947) was a German-born American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His urbane comedies of manners gave him the reputation of being Hollywood's most elegant and sophisticated director; as ...
. The story was filmed again as a comedy, directed by
George Marshall
George Catlett Marshall Jr. (December 31, 1880 – October 16, 1959) was an American army officer and statesman. He rose through the United States Army to become Chief of Staff of the United States Army, Chief of Staff of the US Army under Pre ...
and starring
Bob Hope
Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in Bob Hope filmography, more than 70 short and ...
and
Joan Caulfield
Beatrice Joan Caulfield (June 1, 1922 – June 18, 1991) was an American actress and model. After being discovered by Broadway producers, she began a stage career in 1943 that eventually led to signing as an actress with Paramount Pictures. In th ...
, also called ''
Monsieur Beaucaire'' (1946).
The 1951 biopic ''
Valentino'', produced by Columbia Pictures, directed by Lewis Allen with Anthony Dexter, includes a sequence dedicated to ''Monsieur Beaucaire''.
A long sequence dedicated to ''Monsieur Beaucaire'' appears in the 1977 film ''
Valentino'' (1977), directed by
Ken Russell, with
Rudolf Nureyev
Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev ( ; Tatar/ Bashkir: Рудольф Хәмит улы Нуриев; rus, Рудо́льф Хаме́тович Нуре́ев, p=rʊˈdolʲf xɐˈmʲetəvʲɪtɕ nʊˈrʲejɪf; 17 March 19386 January 1993) was a Soviet ...
in the title role and
John Justin in the role of Sidney Olcott.
References
External links
*
*
''Monsieur Beaucaire''web site dedicated to Sidney Olcott
at silenthollywood.com
*
{{Authority control
1924 films
1924 romantic drama films
1920s historical romance films
American black-and-white films
American romantic drama films
American silent feature films
Famous Players-Lasky films
Films based on works by Booth Tarkington
Films directed by Sidney Olcott
Films set in England
Films set in France
Films set in the 18th century
Films shot in New York City
Cultural depictions of Louis XV
Cultural depictions of Madame de Pompadour
American historical romance films
Films shot at Astoria Studios
Surviving American silent films
1920s American films
Silent romantic drama films
Silent American drama films
1920s English-language films