Camille (1936)

Director:

George Cukor

Writers:

Alexandre Dumas fils (novel)
Zoe Akins (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

1 January 1937 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

You who are so young--where can you have learned all you know about women like me?

Plot:

A Parisian courtesan must choose between the young man who loves her and the callous baron who wants her, even as her own health begins to fail.

Plot Keywords:

Love | Courtesan | Terminal Illness | 1800s | Foreign Language Adaptation

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win

Cast

Greta Garbo	...	Marguerite Gautier
Robert Taylor	...	Armand Duval
Lionel Barrymore	...	Monsieur Duval
Elizabeth Allan	...	Nichette, the Bride
Jessie Ralph	...	Nanine, Marguerite's Maid
Henry Daniell	...	Baron de Varville
Lenore Ulric	...	Olympe
Laura Hope Crews	...	Prudence Duvernoy
Rex O'Malley	...	Gaston
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mariska Aldrich	...	Friend of Camille (uncredited)
Marion Ballou	...	Corinne (uncredited)
Phyllis Barry	...	(uncredited)
May Beatty	...	Second Doorman (uncredited)
Daisy Belmore	...	Saleswoman (uncredited)
Wilson Benge	...	Attendant (uncredited)
John Bryan	...	Alfred de Musset (uncredited)
Georgia Caine	...	Streetwalker (uncredited)
Lita Chevret	...	Woman in Theater Box (uncredited)
E.E. Clive	...	Saint Gaudens (uncredited)
Mabel Colcord	...	Madame Barjon, the Florist (uncredited)
Chappell Dossett	...	Priest (uncredited)
Elspeth Dudgeon	...	Fireplace Attendant (uncredited)
Effie Ellsler	...	Grandma Duval (uncredited)
Elsie Esmond	...	Madame Duval (uncredited)
Rex Evans	...	Charles, Pianist at Party (uncredited)
Dorothy Granger	...	Woman in Theater Box (uncredited)
Russell Hardie	...	Gustave, the Bridegoom (uncredited)
Sam Harris	...	Armand's Friend (uncredited)
Sibyl Harris	...	George Sand (uncredited)
Maude Hume	...	Aunt Henriette (uncredited)
Olaf Hytten	...	Baccarat Croupier (uncredited)
Eugene King	...	Gypsy Leader (uncredited)
Fritz Leiber Jr.	...	Valentin (uncredited)
Joan Leslie	...	Marie Jeanette (uncredited)
Gwendolyn Logan	...	Governess (uncredited)
Eily Malyon	...	Therese, Maid in Country House (uncredited)
Adrienne Matzenauer	...	Soprano (uncredited)
Edwin Maxwell	...	Doctor (uncredited)
Ferdinand Munier	...	Priest at Wedding (uncredited)
Barry Norton	...	Emile (uncredited)
Lionel Pape	...	General (uncredited)
John Picorri	...	Orchestra Leader (uncredited)
Guy Bates Post	...	Auctioneer (uncredited)
Frank Reicher	...	Creditor Agent (uncredited)
Yorke Sherwood	...	Butcher (uncredited)
Zeffie Tilbury	...	Old Duchess Bidding 3750 Francs (uncredited)
Douglas Walton	...	Henri (uncredited)
June Wilkins	...	Louise, Armand's Sister (uncredited)
Howard Wilson	...	Armand's Friend (uncredited)
William Worthington	...	Extra in Casino (uncredited)

Directed by
George Cukor

Writing credits
Alexandre Dumas fils		(novel and play "La dame aux camélias") (as Alexandre Dumas Fils)
Zoe Akins		(screenplay) &
Frances Marion		(screenplay) and
James Hilton		(screenplay)

Produced by
David Lewis	....	associate producer
Bernard H. Hyman	....	producer (uncredited)
Irving Thalberg	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Herbert Stothart

Cinematography by
William H. Daniels		(as William Daniels)
Karl Freund

Film Editing by
Margaret Booth

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons

Set Decoration by
Henry Grace		(uncredited)
Jack D. Moore		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Adrian		(gowns)

Makeup Department
Harry Thomas	....	assistant makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Ulric Busch	....	unit manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
E. Mason Hopper	....	director: mob scene (uncredited)
Edward Woehler	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Fredric Hope	....	associate art director
Edwin B. Willis	....	associate art director
Harry Edwards	....	props (uncredited)
George E. Lee	....	property manager (uncredited)

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director

Camera and Electrical Department
William Grimes	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Music Department
Milton Benjamin	....	composer: theme music
Milton Benjamin	....	lyrics
Wayne Allen	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Paul Marquardt	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Charles Maxwell	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Leonid Raab	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Edward Ward	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)

Other crew
Val Raset	....	dance stager
Nathalie Bucknall	....	researcher (uncredited)
Eugene Joseff	....	jeweller (uncredited)
Joan Joseff	....	jeweller (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (controlled by Loew's Inc.)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1936) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1937) (France) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1937) (UK) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1937) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Avo Film Edizioni (????) (Italy) (VHS)
• Azzura Home VIDEO (????) (Italy) (VHS)
• MGM Home Entertainment (????) (Italy) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Mondadori Video (????) (Italy) (VHS)
• Panarecord (????) (Italy) (VHS)
• Reserva Especial (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Versátil Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (2005) (Brazil) (DVD)

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #2825)

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The play originally opened in Paris on 2 February 1852. Alexandre Dumas fils based the character Marguerite on a woman with whom he had an affair for 11 months. She died when she was 23. The movie inspired Milton Benjamin to write and publish a song in 1936 called "I'll Love Like Robert Taylor, Be My Greta Garbo".

Goofs:

Continuity: In the final scene, in closeup, as Armand helps the dying Marguerite from her bed, she has a woolen bed jacket around her shoulders. When the scene cuts to the long shot as she stands up, it has vanished and she is just wearing her nightgown.

Quotes:

Armand: I know I don't mean anything to you. I don't count. But someone ought to look after you. And I could if you'd let me.
Marguerite: Too much wine has made you sentimental.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Irving Thalberg: Prince of Hollywood (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

I'll Love Like Robert Taylor Be My Greta Garbo

Subtle, sublime studio fare

This film further proves that the assembly-line system of Hollywood studios back then should also be taken seriously in terms of artistry. Just because movies were produced run-of-the-mill doesn't mean that they weren't paid critical attention to by their makers. The usual impression on studio-era Hollywood is: take a formulaic narrative style, maybe adapt a stage play for the screen, blend in a handful of stars from the stable and the films rake in the profit at the box office. Not quite, that's the easy perception. George Cukor, another of those versatile directors, made it apparent with Camille that filmmaking as an art may still flourish despite (and even within) certain parameters. Camille is beautiful, in so many respects. And it's not just because of Greta Garbo.

Sure, the acting is amazing, the casting is perfect. Garbo is luminous, mysterious, cruel, and weak at the same time. Robert Taylor surrenders himself to be the heartbreakingly young and vulnerable Armand. Henry Daniell's coldness and sadism is utterly human and familiar. The others are just plain wonderful. The writing contains so much wit and humor, devotion and pain - but it never overstates anything. The rapport and tensions between lovers, friends, and enemies are palpable and consistent. The actions flow so naturally, just like every scene, that checking for historical inconsistencies seem far beside the point.

There is so much that I love about Camille that it's hard to enumerate them all, but with every little discovery comes the realization that this is "but" a studio production, so it makes the experience more exquisite. Camille is a gentle, poignant romantic movie that, like Garbo, takes its place delicately and self-effacingly in the history of American cinema, but makes itself indelible in the heart and mind of the lovelorn individual viewer.