bill-790
I can't argue with those who say that "Suez" shows us little if anything about the actual building of the canal of the same name. Still, I recommend this film to those who can put aside historical inaccuracies in order to enjoy a well made period film featuring some very good actors. In addition, the viewer will be treated to one of the great disaster sequences of American film. I refer to the giant sand storm which comes near the end of the film.Tyrone Power is very good in this film, and you have to keep reminding yourself that he was only in his early to mid twenties during production. Power is a clear case of a great movie star who was a much better actor than many give him credit for. Check out "Nightmare Alley" if you need further evidence.I will say this about the film with respect to the real Suez Canal project. "Suez" makes it clear how important such a canal was going to be and why various nations either favored or opposed its building.Again, if you want to know the complete history of the canal, go to an encyclopedia. If you want to enjoy a very glossy example of 1930s A-budget film making,"Suez" will not let you down.
bkoganbing
Probably one of the least accurate historical dramas done by the old Hollywood Studio System is Suez with Tyrone Power cast as Ferdinand DeLesseps, the builder of the Suez Canal. Any resemblance to the facts involving the canal and its construction are purely coincidental, in fact both English and French history gets badly skewered in Suez.Ferdinand DeLesseps should only have been as dashing and as handsome as Tyrone Power, he probably wishes he was. He was never involved in any romantic way with the Empress Eugene of France played by Loretta Young. As for the character that Annabella who was Mrs. Tyrone Power at the time plays, we've sure got no basis in fact for what she does to save Power and the canal itself. Take my word it's quite the sacrifice.The film has DeLesseps taking over the assignment his father had as consul general for France to Egypt. While there DeLesseps conceives the idea of rebuilding the ancient canal over the isthmus of Suez. And as the film's story unfolds he sacrifices everything to get it. Of course it's all fiction. The name of Benjamin Disraeli is as linked in history to the Suez Canal as DeLesseps. But how he got involved is also complete fiction. It took place after the canal was complete and while quite a coup for the British at the time, it was hardly anything heroic. Miles Mander plays Disraeli without quite the same flair as George Arliss did nor even Ian McShane in the acclaimed BBC series in the Seventies.But if you like historical romance than Suez is definitely the film for you.
Neil Doyle
SUEZ is a stodgy romantic drama, a highly fictionalized biographical account of the builder of the Suez canal. It's got some nice costuming (for Loretta Young especially), some decent performances (Tyrone Power does nicely in the leading role and Annabella has a certain exotic charm), and the big storm scene is extremely well done as far as special effects go.Power and Young were both at the height of their physical appeal and their close-ups are as stunning as Miss Young's wardrobe.But it struggles to stay alive through the first few reels and it takes an interminable time for the plot to be resolved. It goes on and on at great length without making any sort of impression as a reasonably faithful biography of the man. The romance between Power, Young and Annabella seems no more than a cardboard romantic triangle such as the kind Hollywood often invented for biographies. (As, for example, in the Bronte biography, DEVOTION).As historical drama, it's flimsy. Only the most faithful fans of Power and Loretta Young (both of whom are attractively photographed for maximum glamor) will really be satisfied with this one. All of the production elements are there, but the end result is not quite what audiences expected.Most satisfying element is the great cast of supporting actors--Henry Stephenson, Joseph Schildkraut, J. Edgar Bromberg, Miles Mander, Nigel Bruce and George Zucco. Only standout flaw in casting is Leon Ames as Napoleon (before he became MGM's favorite father figure in "Little Women" and "Meet Me In St. Louis"). He just seems out of place.The sandstorm is magnificent but comes too late to save the film.
Bill ("A Cat's Full Nine") Drake- ¤
There could never be a product like this turned out today. The people are just not out there - at least not in the picture business.Zanuck expressed the opinion that Annabella was the only one of Power's wives good enough for Power. Zanuck was never one to always hit it exactly right on the head but he got it right with this one. Watch these two in this - it's a union of giants!Loretta Young !!!! Just plainly the most beautiful woman who ever lived. If Eugenie was one tenth this beautiful she deserved to wear a crown and live a hundred years, as the fortune teller predicted, and as Eugenie in fact did. Even Power's co-stars Madeleine Carroll in LLOYDS OF LONDON and Gene Tierney/Frances Farmer in SON OF FURY, ravishing as they all were, were not Young's equal.Victoria was badmouthed as too prim and proper but according to Zanuck she must have walked out on a few wires or otherwise there would have been some holdups on both the Suez Canal and the telephone (see ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL).There are so many elements in this that represent the very pinnacle of moviemaking that it would be gilding the lily to begin to enumerate them. We can but savor this thankfully as a flawless treasure; an example of the American commercial movie as an art form in the consummate sense.
AD
