ElMaruecan82 Michael Gordon's "Cyrano de Bergerac" was a pleasant experience as long as it was carried by the flamboyant eloquence and thunderous voice of actor Jose Ferrer, which means a good portion of the film. But Edmond Rostand's iconic play isn't just the tale of a poet and a fighter, it is also an iconic romance, the story of a magnificent love triangle, where the looks of a man, and the wits of another create the perfect suitor for the heart of Roxane who's not a bland heroine either.But Jose Ferrer, who won the Oscar for that role (and it was the only nomination) was good, too good, so good he made any role thankless. Young but witless Christian (William Prince) and the beautiful Roxane (Mala Powers) are unfortunately no match for Ferrer who owns the show whenever he appears. It's all natural when it comes to Cyrano who is a larger-than-life character (let alone the scenery) but the irony of the story lies on the way Cyrano must keep a low profile, to allow the romance between Roxanne and Christian to blossom.Cyrano provides the good lines to Christian and consoles himself by the way she's truly conquered by the power of her love, it's as if she still loved a part of her doomed cousin. This is love by proxy, but the power is left intact and you can tell from the emotional involvement of Cyrano that he's accept his fate as half a doom, half a blessing. But Jose Ferrer is such a presence that the film's level of excitement inevitable fades where he's not there. His "nose" is so big it overshadows any other flaws. And reality joined fiction at the Oscar ceremony.Ferrer wasn't even present at the ceremony but his voice was enough, you could tell it was Cyrano winning, and it's only fair that the other iconic performance of Cyrano de Bergerac, by Gérard Depardieu, won a similar award. Cyrano de Bergerac is just a daydream of any actor but not any actor can pull such powerful, over-the-top yet exhilarating performances. Ferrer does a magnificent job but even his performance can't make up for the rather, bland theatrical look, more apparent at the beginning, but the blurry black and white cinematography gives it the look of the TV movies we watched in little side.The sword fights choreographs are actually very convincing and you could really hear the crossing of irons, but there are moments though that betrayed some low budget aspect and it doesn't really help to enhance the enjoyment of the story. One could think that the French version, considered now as the classic one did the film a disservice, in fact, it didn't, one could watch it with more forgiving eyes. And it's a fair adaptation of Rostand's play but it needed a bigger budget and maybe a French version after all. The last line about the "panache" has been translated by "white plum", and I humbly believed it was a mistake, Cyrano has always been about a sword, a big nose, and a panache. But not in the meaning of a white plume.

arthursranch How fast can character development be accomplished without stereotypes? See Jose Ferrer in Cyrano de Bergerac, and George C Scott in Patton.I mostly watch just the long opening scene of Cyrano, which has two sensational pieces. The first is the listing of insults, all done in one cut. Compare this with Steve Martin's listing of insults in ROXANNE that had, as I counted, 37 cuts. How bad was that? Just this one piece set Jose Ferrer as top tier, later proved to me in SHIP OF FOOLS. The camera movement and staging of the "monologue of insults" demonstrates the skill of filmmakers of that era.The second piece of the opening scene is the fencing. I think it is the best and most exciting fencing scene in all of film. Fencing skills were a big asset to actors as Basil Rathbone's parts attest to. I don't know what actor played Ferrer's fencing opponent in this scene, but he was good at swordplay. Perhaps he was a fencer first and an actor second.Had Steve Martin been allowed to do a one-cutter, he also would have been sensational. What a good idea ROXANNE was, but what a bad execution!

Cristi_Ciopron It would be a facile and ultimately hollow enterprise, my dear dear readers, to vainly deploy the serviceable adjectives and epithets, o, too vain labels, on this classic adaptation's Cyrano.Cyrano, a fantasy role, a role of swordsman—like D'Artagnan, Pardaillan, Fracasse, etc.-- belongs to a special class—the roles of fancy and verve, of brio and superior nonchalance coupled with agility-–to which Ferrer brings a certain exquisiteness and deftness and even precision of touch. It was already understood, I hope, that the Frenchmen patented this rank of characters. And also not only does the role of Cyrano belong to the named class; it is also interestingly written, well devised. (Pardaillan is crap; D'Artagnan is almost crap; Fracasse is better, yet quite gloomy; Cyrano is indeed a literary achievement.) Such roles ask for craft and verve, and a sharp sense of fun; Ferrer had those.

John T. Ryan UNITED ARTISTS Corporation presents A Stanley Kramer ProductionCYRANO de BERGERAC From the play by Edmond Rostand. Adaptation by Brian Hooker (Translation) and Carl Foreman (additional dialog). Director Michael Gordon. Producer Stanley Kramer. Associate Producer George Glass. Film Editor Harry Gerstad. Original Musical Score by Dimitri Tiomkin. Cinematographer Frank Planer. Production Designer Rudolph Stenard Starring Jose Ferrer, Mala Powers, William Prince. with Morris Canovsky, Ralph Clanton, Lloyd Corrigan, Virginia Farmer, Edgar Barrier, Elena Verdugo, Albert Cavens, Arthur Blake, Don Beddoe, Percy Helton, Virginia Christine, Gil Warren, Phillip van Zandt, Eric Sinclair, Richaed Avonde, Paul Duboy, John Crawford, Jerry Paris, Robin Hughes, Francis Pierlot, John Harmon.The screen play opened up just about exactly as it was written by Monsieur Edmond Rostand in 1897. As the opening title cards and credits all roll by, we discover that we are in a theatre, Paris in 1640. The current play begins to open before a fairly full house. As the first few painfully dull lines of dialogue are spoken by the Parisian thespians, we are made aware of a boisterous heckler disrupting the dramatic proceedings.The gentleman doing the heckling turns out to be our story's main character and protagonist par excellence, Cyrano de Bergerac (Mr. Jose Ferrer). His verbal barbs continue, and he eventually confronts the playwright and theatre manager, insisting that the play be closed. Cyrano pays a generously large sum in order that the theatrical company be paid and the patrons refunded their Ticketmaster Costs.Upon his being questioned about blowing his whole bankroll in just one moment, he replies, "Yes, but what a moment!"He then is forced into a duel by another theatre patron who purposely insults him about his large nose. He composes a poem about the duel during the sword play and ends both the poem and the duel together at the precise same moment. Monsieur Cyrano, you see is a Master Swordsman and Professional Soldier, as well as a Poet. We learn of his love for the fair Roxanne (Mala Powers), a distant cousin. But he thinks that he dare not even approach her because of his grotesquely over-sized nose. Through a strange set of circumstances, he winds up schilling for one Christian de Neuvilette (William Prince), also a soldier and in Cyrano's unit.It turns out to be the same old Eternal Triangle, as Cyrano loves Roxanne, but she digs this Christian character, but so strong is Cyrano's love that he says nothing for his own interests. He instead coaches the young Christian in the poetic language of love. When the two soldiers are called to active duty at the front in wartime, it is Cyrano who writes letters to the fair Roxanne, but in Christian's name.When Christian is killed, Roxanne enters a lifetime of seclusion in a convent, but Cyrano remains mute on his own behalf; going to visit her almost daily and reading aloud "Christian's" letters to her. He maintains his secret almost to the end of his life, almost but no cigar!Just see the Film, and forget about what I've said here. The play is wonderful, the Film magic and Mr. Jose Ferrer is superb. NOTE: The cast listing shows Miss Elena Verdugo as "Orange Girl"; but the film was done in Black & White. So, how could we tell?