The Black Rose

The Black Rose

Poster
Directed by Henry Hathaway
Produced by Louis D. Lighton
Written by Thomas B. Costain (novel)
Screenplay by Talbot Jennings
Based on The Black Rose (novel)
Starring Tyrone Power
Orson Welles
Cécile Aubry
Jack Hawkins
Music by Richard Addinsell
Cinematography Jack Cardiff
Edited by Manuel del Campo
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date
  • September 1, 1950 (1950-09-01)
Running time
 120 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $2.65 million (US rentals)[1][2]

The Black Rose is a 1950 20th Century Fox Technicolor film starring Tyrone Power and Orson Welles, loosely based on Thomas B. Costain's book. It was filmed partly on location in England and Morocco[3] which substitutes for the Gobi Desert of China. The film was partly conceived as a follow-up to the movie Prince of Foxes,[4] and reunited the earlier film's two stars.

Talbot Jennings' screenplay was based on a popular novel of the same name by Canadian author Thomas B. Costain, published in 1945, introducing an anachronistic Saxon rebellion against the Norman aristocracy as a vehicle for launching the protagonists on their journey to the Orient.

It was nominated for Best Costumes-Color at the 23rd Academy Awards (Michael Whittaker). [5]

Plot

Tyrone Power and Cécile Aubry

The story takes place in England two centuries after the Norman Conquest (about 1300ce). Saxon scholar Walter of Gurnie is the illegitimate son of the Earl of Lessford and has been dispossessed of his inheritance by his father's Norman widow. After joining a group of Saxons who free hostages held by Lessford, Walter is forced into exile when he is recognized.

Walter flees England, accompanied by his friend Tristram Griffen, a Saxon archer, and sets out to make his fortune in Cathay during the times of Pax Mongolica. Walter seeks the patronage of Mongol warlord General Bayan of the Hundred Eyes and agrees to fight for him.

The "Black Rose" of the title is the beauteous Maryam, a half-English, half-Mongol girl who has escaped from the harem Bayan is escorting to China. Disguised as a servant boy, she travels with Walter and Tristram in the caravan. Maryam loves Walter but he is too interested in his adventure to pay her any attention. Tristram doesn't like all the killing and decides to get away. He takes Maryam with him, because she wants to go to England.

Bayan sends Walter on a mission to see the Yuan Empress of China. When he arrives he is told that he must stay in China as their 'guest' for the rest of his life. Then he finds Tristram and Maryam were also captured and imprisoned. During this time, Walter realizes he loves Maryam. The three of them decide to escape. Tristram dies. The small boat in which Maryam is waiting for Walter in drifts away before Walter can catch her. Walter returns to England alone.

Walter is welcomed back by the Norman King Edward because of all the cultural and scientific knowledge (including gunpowder) he has brought back from China. The king knights Walter and grants him a coat of arms. Two Mongol emissaries from Bayan show up. They have brought The Black Rose to England to join Walter there.

Cast

Reception

Trade papers called the film a "notable box office attraction" in British cinemas in 1950.[6]

Controversy

There are stories regarding a 40 second scene in the movie where two hanged real bodies of two Moroccan peasants can be seen hanging from a tree. The two bodies were said to be offered to the movie director by a French colonel called Louis Morin (or Moran) due to his admiration for actor Orson Welles. The movie was shot in Morocco, which was colonized by French troops at the time.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 'The Top Box Office Hits of 1950', Variety, January 3, 1951
  2. ↑ Aubrey Solomon, Twentieth Century-Fox: A Corporate and Financial History Rowman & Littlefield, 2002 p 223
  3. ↑ "The Black Rose (1950)". Rotten tomatoes. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  4. ↑ "The Black Rose(1950)". Yahoo movies. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  5. ↑ "The 23rd Academy Awards (1951) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved April 3, 2014.
  6. ↑ Robert Murphy, Realism and Tinsel: Cinema and Society in Britain 1939-48 2003 p213
  7. ↑
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