Themes: Foibles of Marriage, Infidelity, Actor's Life
Main Cast: Alfred Lunt, Lynn Fontanne, Roland Young, ZaSu Pitts, Maude Eburne
Release Year: 1931
Country: US
Run Time: 89 minutes
Plot
The legendary theatrical team of Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne made their only starring screen appearance in this 1931 adaptation of Ferenc Molnar's The Guardsman. The Lunts are appropriately cast as a famous husband-and-wife acting duo, the husband of which suspects the wife of infidelity. To find out for certain, he disguises himself as an amorous Russian guardsman, complete with handlebar mustache. After an evening of paradise, Lunt confesses his subterfuge to Fontanne. She says she knew all the time, but that gleam in her eye opens up quite a few doubts which are never truly resolved. The fabled "naturalism" of the Lunts appears slightly strained under the probing eye of the camera lens, but their seemingly ad-libbed repartee sequences are a joy to behold. The Guardsman served as the basis for the Oscar Straus operetta The Chocolate Soldier, which itself was filmed in 1943 with Nelson Eddy and Rise Stevens. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Director Sidney Franklin was an expert at transposing plays to the screen in smooth, seamless fashion. He was, thus, the ideal man to direct this adaptation of Ferenc Molnar's play about backstage rivalry. He deliberately ignored everything he knew to emphasize the artifice of the opening scene, a depiction of a stage performance of Maxwell Anderson's drama Elizabeth the Queen; but once the backstage section of the story kicks in, Franklin's skills kick in on all cylinders, in a lively, caustically witty comedic romance, and the movie never slows down from there across its brisk 89-minute running time. Modern viewers looking at The Guardsman will think they're looking at a run-through for the opening scenes of Kiss Me Kate, and they wouldn't be far wrong -- Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne and their backstage bickering were the basis for the Fred Graham and Lili Vanessi characters in the musical. The two are extremely engaging here, and their interplay, along with Franklin's brisk treatment of the visual elements, helps makes this one of the more entertaining films of its era. There would be still better and more entertaining movies in this vein to come, including It's Love I'm After and the screen version of Kiss Me Kate, but as a pioneering effort with a unique cast, The Guardsman has lost little of its luster across 75-plus years. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
