Marie Antoinette (1938 film)

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Marie Antoinette

DVD Cover
Directed by W. S. Van Dyke
Produced by Hunt Stromberg
Written by Donald Ogden Stewart
Ernest Vajda
Claudine West
Stefan Zweig (Biography)
Starring Norma Shearer
Tyrone Power
John Barrymore
Music by Herbert Stothart
Cinematography William H. Daniels
Editing by Robert Kern
Distributed by MGM
Release date(s) July 8, 1938 (USA)
Running time 149 min., original run 160 min. with intro and exit music
Language English
IMDb profile

Marie Antoinette was a 1938 film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

It was directed by W. S. Van Dyke and starred Norma Shearer as Marie Antoinette, Tyrone Power, John Barrymore, Robert Morley, Anita Louise, Joseph Schildkraut and Gladys George. It was based upon the 1933 biography of the queen by the Austrian writer, Stefan Zweig.

The film was the last project of Irving Thalberg who died in 1936 while it was in the planning stage. His widow Norma Shearer remained committed to the project even while her enthusiasm for her film career in general was waning following his death.

With a budget close to 2 million dollars, it was one of the most expensive films of the 1930s but also one of the biggest successes. Apart from the opulent Hollywood sets, it featured scenes filmed on location at the Palace of Versailles, near Paris, France, and this was reported to have been the first time a film crew had been allowed to film in the grounds of the palace.

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The story began in Vienna where a 15-year-old Marie-Antoinette was informed by her mother that she is to marry the future king of France. Most of the film's introduction is concerned with the young princess's attempt to navigate the treacherous environment of the court at Versailles. The film progresses to follow her life as queen - dealing with her transformation into a charitable, humanitarian but somewhat out-of-touch queen. The final part of the movie follows Zweig's theory that Marie Antoinette "achieved greatness" in the final years of her life, with an emotionally gut-wrenching scene showing the final supper of the royal family before King Louis's execution, the separation of the queen from her young son and the savage murder of her closest friend. The final scene shows Marie Antoinette going to the guillotine, where the audience hears the voice of the sweet-natured young princess who was so excited to be going to France. Shearer refused any complimentary make-up for this scene, and chose to look as haggard and exhausted as the real queen had in her final moments.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Background

Norma Shearer was the wife of studio head at MGM Irving Thalberg when this project was greenlit sometime before his death in 1936. The film had a huge budget, lavish sets, and gargantuan costumes that made even the most over the top MGM spectacle look anemic. They did this movie on a huge scale, and it was the Titanic of the day in terms of going over budget and promising a romance pasted over historical events.

This is Norma Shearer's defining role, and the actress was nominated for a 1938 Best Actress Academy Award. She eventually lost to Bette Davis in Jezebel. Also nominated was supporting actor Robert Morley who made his movie debut as King Louis XVI. Art direction and the score also garnered recognition from Oscar, but no gold statues went home for people involved in the production.[1]

[edit] Costumes and Set Designs

The movie had thousands of costumes and lavish set designs. Gilbert Adrian visited France and Austria in 1937 researching the period. He studied the paintings of Marie Antoinette, even using a microscope on them so that the embroidery and fabric could be identical. Fabrics were specially woven and embroidered with stitches sometimes too fine to be seen with the naked eye. The attention to detail was extreme, from the framework to hair. Some gowns became extremely heavy due to the embroidery, flounces and precious stones used. Ms. Shearer's gowns alone had the combined weight of over 1,768 pounds, the heaviest being the wedding dress. Originally slated to be shot in color many of the gowns were specially dyed. The fur trim on one of Ms. Shearer's capes was sent out to be dyed the exact shade of her eyes. [2] The ballroom at Versailles was built to be twice as large as the original. The budget was a then preposterous 2.9 million dollars, and plans to render it in color were scrapped because of concerns it would cost even more to add Technicolor.[1]

[edit] DVD release

Sofia Coppola recently unleashed her vision of the famous queen, so Warner Brothers released their 1938 vault version of Marie Antoinette on DVD at the same time. Extras are sparse with only two vintage shorts included on the disc. "Hollywood Goes to Town" gives us a glimpse of the elaborate premiere for the movie. Also included is a trailer.[1]

[edit] Cast

[edit] Trivia

  • Originally to be directed by Sidney Franklin, but given to W.S. Van Dyke.
  • This was Irving Thalberg's last project while head of production at MGM. At the time of his death in 1936, the film was in the planning stages, but his widow, Norma Shearer, took special interest in the film and stuck with it to its completion in 1938.
  • Irving Thalberg originally planned for Charles Laughton to play the role of Louis XVI. Laughton, after lengthy deliberations, finally declined.
  • The few lines of Swedish spoken by the Swedish count Axel von Fersen are genuine, although Tyrone Power speaks them with a very thick accent.
  • The role of Marie Antoinette was reportedly Norma Shearer's favorite of her roles.[4]

[edit] Awards

The film was nominated for Academy Awards in the following categories:

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/marieantoinette1938.php
  2. ^ http://www.freewebs.com/dregae/1938normashearer.htm
  3. ^ http://imdb.com/title/tt0030418/fullcredits
  4. ^ http://imdb.com/title/tt0030418/trivia

[edit] External link

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