Cyrano de Bergerac

Seventeenth century France. Cyrano de Bergerac is a poet and a swordsman, and a man mocked for the size of his nose. He loves his cousin Roxane and cannot say so. Roxane loves the young soldier Christian, who cannot speak. Cyrano begins writing letters in his name. Michael Gordon directs, Stanley Kramer produces. José Ferrer plays Cyrano. The text comes from Edmond Rostand's play in Brian Hooker's verse translation. Ferrer won the Oscar for best actor. He had already played the part on Broadway and won a Tony for it, taking the highest award in both theatre and film for the same character. The production was cheap and it shows. The crowd scenes are limited, the sets plain, the camera largely static. The film rests almost entirely on the text and on Ferrer. Its afterlife is interesting too. The copyright was not renewed, it passed into the public domain, and countless poor copies went into circulation. A decent print was hard to find for a long time. Who it is for: viewers who like classical theatre adaptation and large acting performances. Who it is not for: as cinema it is weak. The film works like a record of a stage production and has no visual ambition.