The Guardsman (1931)

Director:

Sidney Franklin

Writers:

Ferenc Molnár (play)
Ernest Vajda (screenplay)

Release Date:

7 November 1931 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

An acclaimed actor and his equally acclaimed actress wife, who have been married for less than a year...

Plot Keywords:

Vienna Austria | Shakespeare's Othello | Shakespeare's Hamlet | Actor | Actress

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

Cast

Alfred Lunt	...	The Actor
Lynn Fontanne	...	The Actress
Roland Young	...	Bernhardt the Critic
Zasu Pitts	...	Liesl, the Maid
Maude Eburne	...	Mama
Herman Bing	...	A Creditor

Runtime:

82 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #1972-R, 17 January 1936 for re-release) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The play from which a scene is shown at the beginning of the film is Maxwell Anderson's "Elizabeth the Queen", in which we see Lynn Fontanne and Alfred Lunt recreating the roles of Queen Elizabeth I and Lord Essex, which they had played on Broadway in the actual original production of "Elizabeth the Queen" the year before.

Quotes:

[the Creditor has seen through the Actor's disguise]
A Creditor: Your own mother might not know you. Your own wife might not know you. And you might put on all the uniforms and all the whiskers and all the wigs in the world. But, as long as you owe me money, I would know you.

Movie Connections:

Remake of Gardeoffizier, Der (1925)

A Total Delight

Alfred Lunt and Lynne Fontanne won Oscar nominations for their roles as bickering theater stars in this sly film. In their only starring film together, Lunt and Fontanne are superb. He masquerades as a Russian count and woos her to see if she is a faithful wife. Maybe show knows and maybe she does not. It's all part of the game. Fontanne (who was 44) coos and smiles as the Actress, while Lunt (39) plays the dolt who never knows if his wife his faithful. Great fun. Stylish. But maybe a tad stagy. Lunt lost the Oscar to a tie between Wallace Beery and Fredric March, while Fontanne lost to Helen Hayes (Marie Dressler was also nominated). Zasu Pitts is fun as the dim maid; Herman Bing is good as the creditor. Roland Young shines as the friend and Maude Eburne is super as "mama." Terrific acting and "chemistry" between the biggest theater stars of the early 20th century: Lunt and Fontanne. Both had done a few silent films, this one starring vehicle, and a a guest appearance in "Stage Door Canteen" in 1943. What a pity. They were greats stars and terrific actors. And "The Guardsman" is a must for any film buff.