''Captain Fracasse'' (French: ''Le Capitaine Fracasse'') is a 1943 French-Italian

historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

adventure film The adventure film is a broad genre of film. Some early genre studies found it no different than the Western film or argued that adventure could encompass all Hollywood genres. Commonality was found among historians Brian Taves and Ian Cameron in ...

directed by

Abel Gance Abel Gance (; born Abel Eugène Alexandre Péréthon; 25 October 188910 November 1981) was a French film director, producer, writer and actor. A pioneer in the theory and practice of montage, he is best known for three major silent films: ''J'ac ...

and starring

Fernand Gravey Fernand Gravey (25 December 1905 in Ixelles (Belgium) – 2 November 1970 in Paris, France),Death certificate # 8/445/1970 also known as Fernand Gravet in the United States, was a Belgian-born French actor. Early life Gravey was the son o ...

Assia Noris Anastasia Nikolaevna von Gerzfeld (, sometimes transliterated as Anastassia von Hertzfeld; 16 February 1912 – 27 January 1998), known professionally as Assia Noris, was a Russian-Italian film actress. Born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, Noris ...

and Alice Tissot. It is an adaptation of the novel '' Captain Fracasse'' by

Théophile Gautier Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier ( , ; 30 August 1811 – 23 October 1872) was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and art and literary critic. While an ardent defender of Romanticism, Gautier's work is difficult to classify and rema ...

. The scenario and dialogue is by Abel Gance and Claude Vermorel and the music composed by

Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss-French composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. Honegger was a member of Les Six. For Halbreich, '' Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher'' is "more even ...

. Honegger's score for the film (H. 166 in his catalogue of works) consists of around 50 minutes of music for chorus and large orchestra. On the same subject, there were also a 1929 silent version directed by Alberto Cavalcanti,French film - Le Capitaine Fracasse (1929)
/ref> and a 1961 colour version directed by Pierre Gaspard-Huit both with the same title.

Cast

as the Baron de Sigognac (later Capitaine Fracasse) *

as Isabelle * Jean Weber as the Duc de Vallombreuse * Alice Tissot as Dame Léonarde * Vina Bovy as Séraphine * Maurice Escande as the Marquis de Bruyères * Roland Toutain as Scapin * Lucien Nat as Agostin * Mona Goya as the Marquise de Bruyères * Paul Œttly as Matamore * Jacques François as the Chevalier de Vidalenc, friend of Vallombreuse * Mary Lou as Yolande de Foix * Jean Fleur as Blazius * Nino Costantini as Léandre * Josette France as Zerbine * Roger Blin as Fagotin * Paul Mondollot as Pierre

Plot

Set in the mid 17th century, the young Baron de Sigognac lives alone, ruined, in his castle. A troupe of travelling players stop in the castle ward and are offered hospitality by Sigognac, who remarks the beauty of the actress Isabelle. He decides to follow the troupe on their journeys. The old leader of the troupe, Matamore dies and Sigognac replaces him using the pseudonym Capitaine Fracasse. He is enthusiastically received but has a rival for the attentions of Isabelle in the Duc de Vallombreuse. They fight a duel in a cemetery in Poitiers. Afterwards, Vallombreuse manages to abduct Isabelle and imprison her in his castle. Sigognac-Fracasse comes to the rescue and another duel ensues. Then it is revealed that Isabelle is in fact the rich descendant and the sister of Vallombreuse. Sigognac finally marries her.

References

External links

* {{Abel Gance 1943 films 1940s historical films French black-and-white films French historical films Italian historical films 1940s French-language films Films directed by Abel Gance Films based on Captain Fracasse Films set in the 17th century Films scored by Arthur Honegger Lux Film films 1940s French films 1940s Italian films