This article is about the 1961 film. For other uses, see
Fanny.
Fanny is a 1961 American drama film directed by Joshua Logan. The screenplay by Julius J. Epstein is based on the book for the 1954 stage musical of the same title by Logan and S.N. Behrman, which in turn had been adapted from the plays Fanny, Marius, and César by Marcel Pagnol.
The film deleted all the songs, except the title tune, from the stage musical, but the music by Harold Rome served as the underscore for the soundtrack. Although it had been composed for another medium, it was nominated for both the Academy Award and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score.
Plot
César is a barkeeper in Marseilles in the early 1920s. His 19-year-old son Marius works for him, but wants nothing more than to go to sea and leave his boring existence behind. The only thing holding him back is Fanny, an 18-year-old girl with whom he grew up. Fanny is in love with Marius and flirts with him, but Marius always rejects her.
Fanny invites Marius to a Sunday night dance, but he tells her he is planning to leave the next day, having secretly signed on as a sailor on a lengthy scientific expedition traveling around the world after being encouraged to do so by his friend known as the Admiral. Fanny is offended and leaves.
Meanwhile, elderly but wealthy merchant Panisse asks to meet with Fanny's mother Honorine, who believes he wants to propose to her. To her surprise, he wants to marry Fanny, even though he knows she loves someone else. Although disappointed, Honorine does not object, seeing as Panisse is worth 600,000 francs.
Fanny tells Marius she has rejected Panisse's proposal because she loves him and is willing to wait until he returns. Marius tells her he will be away for five years and to forget about him. They declare their love for each other and go to Fanny's house, which is empty while her mother is away.
The following morning, Honorine discovers Fanny and Marius in bed together. She and César begin to plan their children's wedding, but Fanny urges Marius to leave, fearful he eventually would grow to hate her for depriving him of his great opportunity.
Fanny discovers she is pregnant with Marius's child and tells Panisse the news. He is happy to marry her anyway, overjoyed with the possibility of a male heir to carry on his name. They marry and Fanny gives birth to a boy, whom they name Césario Marius Panisse.
On Césario's first birthday, Panisse goes away on business, and while he is gone, Marius returns on a short leave. He visits Fanny and becomes angry when he learns her child is his. César advises his son the father is "the one who loves." Panisse returns and announces Marius can have Fanny but not the child, but Fanny won't leave without the boy. Marius departs with neither.
Ten years later, Césario is looking forward to his birthday party. The Admiral takes the boy sailing without telling anyone and reunites him with his father, now working in a garage, who is overjoyed to see his son. When Panisse is told the boy is missing, he is stricken and taken to his room. Fanny finds Césario and tells him Panisse is dying, so Marius drives them home.
Fanny explains to Marius she never told him about the baby because she fully expected him to take her with him and, when he didn't, she sought her revenge. The dying Panisse dictates a letter asking Marius to marry his wife once he is dead, and requesting only that the boy keep his last name.
Production
Several foreign language versions of the Pagnol plays, including one in German directed by Alexander Korda in 1931, had been filmed prior to this adaptation. Port of Seven Seas, a 1938 American film directed by James Whale, also was based on the trilogy. [1]
Jack Warner purchased the screen rights to the stage musical but eventually decided he wanted the film to exclude the songs because the popularity of movie musicals was on the wane. Released the same year as Fanny, West Side Story proved to be a box office hit. [2]
Screenwriter Julius J. Epstein had collaborated with Joshua Logan on Tall Story the previous year, but he initially declined the director's offer to adapt Fanny for the screen because he found Marius' motivation for leaving Marseille difficult to believe. Only after Logan assured him he could take liberties with the original script did he accept the assignment. He relied on Pagnol's plays for inspiration, but retained the ending of the musical. [2]
Prior to Warner's decision to film the property as a straight drama, Logan had offered Charles Boyer the role of César but the actor declined because he felt he could not sing and was unwilling to lip sync to someone else's voice. When the songs were dropped, he accepted the offer. He and Maurice Chevalier, cast as Panisse, were old friends but never had performed together, and both welcomed the opportunity to do so. [2]
Audrey Hepburn verbally agreed to portray Fanny but eventually had to decline the role due to prior commitments. Assuming the French would dislike an English language interpretation of the Pagnol plays, Leslie Caron was hesitant to replace her, but she liked the script and accepted three weeks before principal photography began. [2]
Among the Marseille locations used for filming were Notre-Dame de la Garde and Vieux Port.
Cast
Critical reception
Bosley Crowther of the New York Times observed, "Whether fan of the Pagnol films or stage show, whether partial to music or no, you can't help but derive joy from this picture if you have a sense of humor and a heart. For Mr. Logan, with the aid of expert craftsmen and a cast of principals that we do not believe an act of divine cooperation could have greatly improved upon, has given the charming Marseilles folk play a stunning pictorial sweep, a deliciously atmospheric flavor and a flesh-touching intimacy. And, embraced by these graphic, sensuous virtues are the rich human, comic elements that flowed out of Pagnol's little pictures and glimmered upon the Broadway stage . . . To be sure, there are flaws in the compound. The cutting is often too abrupt, some scenes are confused by intercutting, and the tempo in the early phases is much too fast. Also, occasionally the actors are costumed too prettily, and the domestic magnificence of the Panisses in the last part is tasteless and absurd . . . [But] on the whole, the appropriate atmosphere of Marseilles is literally and colorfully conveyed — in excellent color, by the way. Perhaps there will be some prim objection to the lush emotionalism of it all and to the frankness of the musical nudging, but we loved it." [3]
Nominations
DVD release
Image Entertainment released the film on DVD on June 17, 2008.
References
External links
