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Overview

User Rating:
6.8/10   110 votes
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Up 7% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.

Director:

Sidney Franklin

Writers:

Ferenc Molnár (play)
Ernest Vajda (screenplay)
(more)

Contact:

View company contact information for The Guardsman on IMDbPro.

Release Date:

7 November 1931 (USA) more

Genre:

Comedy | Drama more

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

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Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. more

User Comments:

A Classic in Every Regard more (6 total)


Cast

  (in credits order) (verified as complete)
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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ann Dvorak ... Fan Saying 'There He Is' (uncredited)
Michael Mark ... The Actor's Valet (uncredited)
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Directed by
Sidney Franklin 
 
Writing credits
(in alphabetical order)
Maxwell Anderson  excerpt from play "Elizabeth the Queen" (uncredited)
Ferenc Molnár  play "A testör" (as Ferenc Molnar)
Ernest Vajda  screenplay
Claudine West  continuity

Produced by
Albert Lewin .... producer (uncredited)
Irving Thalberg .... producer (uncredited)
 
Cinematography by
Norbert Brodine 
 
Film Editing by
Conrad A. Nervig 
 
Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons 
 
Costume Design by
Adrian (gowns)
 
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Harold S. Bucquet .... assistant director (uncredited)
 
Sound Department
Douglas Shearer .... recording director
 
Other crew
Albert Lewin .... supervisor (uncredited)
 
Crew believed to be complete


Production CompaniesDistributorsOther Companies
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Additional Details

Runtime:

82 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

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)


Fun Stuff

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. more

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.
more

Movie Connections:

Remake of Der Gardeoffizier (1925) more


FAQ

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5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful.
A Classic in Every Regard, 24 May 2004
10/10
Author: EightyProof45 from New Jersey

Many people seem to regard this film as important simply because it is a living testament to Alfred Lunt and Lynne Fontaine's acting. After all, it is the only preserved sound performance in which they have starring roles. In reality, however, the film is not only historically important because of the legends in it; it is one of the most fresh and funny films to emerge from the pre-Code period. The story is irresistible: a vain acting couple constantly insult and tease one another. In order to test his wife's fidelity after a bout, the Actor (Lunt) disguises himself as a foreign guardsman, goes out of his way to meet his wife in disguise, and furthermore goes on to try and seduce her. After he succeeds, he reveals himself, furious at her perfidious attitude. The Actress (Fontaine) begins laughing, claiming that she knew all along. At first dubious, the Actor is eventually convinced that his wife was playing along with him, and the two romantically embrace. The Actress looks at the camera and gives the most priceless look, letting the audience know that she may not have really known all along... Lunt and Fontanne make this film come to life. There dominating presence creates a satirical and realistic portrait of what an egomaniacal acting couple's life might really be like.

In addition, there are some priceless supporting roles: Maude Ebourne as a sarcastic maid, Zasu Pitts as a strange (to say the least) servant, Roland Young, and always-reliable Herman Bing as "a creditor." Sidney Franklin, perhaps the most unjustly forgotten of all screen directors (his classics include Private Lives, Smilin' Through, The Good Earth, The Barretts of Wimpole Street, and The Dark Angel), adroitly guides the ensemble, allowing the acting to take center-stage but never neglecting the details so important to cinema. In all, this short, fast-paced romp with two bona fide legends of American stage history is an essential lesson in screen comedy and romance. Although the Lunts, when asked to do later film work, replied "We can be bought but we can't be bored!" there is absolutely no sign of unenthusiasm on screen here. Each earned an Oscar nomination for their performance in The Guardsman, and they left their indelible stamp, albeit only for a short eighty some-odd minutes, on American motion picture history.

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