''Suez'' is an American

romantic drama film Romance films involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their ...

released on October 28, 1938, by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

, with

Darryl F. Zanuck Darryl Francis Zanuck (; September 5, 1902December 22, 1979) was an American film producer and studio executive; he earlier contributed stories for films starting in the silent era. Best known as a co-founder of 20th Century Fox, he played a ...

in charge of production, directed by

Allan Dwan Allan Dwan (born Joseph Aloysius Dwan; April 3, 1885 – December 28, 1981) was a pioneering Canadian-born American motion picture director, producer, and screenwriter. Early life Born Joseph Aloysius Dwan in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Dwan was ...

and starring

Tyrone Power Tyrone Edmund Power III (May 5, 1914 – November 15, 1958) was an American actor. From the 1930s to the 1950s, Power appeared in dozens of films, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads. His better-known films include ''Jesse James (193 ...

Loretta Young Loretta Young (born Gretchen Michaela Young; January 6, 1913 – August 12, 2000) was an American actress. Starting as a child, she had a long and varied career in film from 1917 to 1989. She received numerous honors including an Academy Awards ...

, and

Annabella Annabella, Anabella, or Anabela is a feminine given name. Notable people with the name include: *Annabella of Scotland (c. 1433–1509), daughter of King James I *Annabella (actress) (1907–1996), stage name of French actress Suzanne Georgette C ...

. It is very loosely based on events surrounding the construction, between 1859 and 1869, of the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

, planned and supervised by French diplomat

Ferdinand de Lesseps Ferdinand Marie, Comte de Lesseps (; 19 November 1805 – 7 December 1894) was a French Orientalist diplomat and owner of Main Idea of the Suez Canal, which in 1869 joined the Mediterranean and Red Seas, substantially reducing sailing distan ...

. The screenplay is so highly fictionalized that, upon the film's release in France, de Lesseps' descendants sued (unsuccessfully) for

libel Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

. Peverell Marley was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Cinematography The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work on one particular motion picture. History In its first film season, 1927–28, this award (like others such as the acting awards) w ...

, an uncredited

Louis Silvers Louis "Lou" Silvers (''né'' Louis Silberstein; September 6, 1889 – March 26, 1954) was an American film score composer whose work has been used in more than 250 movies. In 1935, he won the first Academy Award for Best Original Score for ...

for Best Original Music Score and an uncredited Edmund H. Hansen for Best Sound Recording.

Plot

"Paris in 1850 Louis Napoleon, nephew of the great Bonaparte, is president of the French Republic." During a tennis match in Paris between Ferdinand de Lesseps and his friend Vicomte Rene de Latour, the enthusiastic admiration of Countess Eugenie de Montijo for de Lesseps attracts the attention of Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte. Bonaparte sees to it that both she and de Lesseps are invited to his reception. At the party, a fortuneteller predicts that Eugenie will have a troubled life, but also wear a crown, and that de Lesseps will dig a ditch. Entranced by Eugenie's beauty, Bonaparte arranges for his romantic rival to be assigned to a diplomatic post in Egypt, joining his father, Count Mathieu de Lesseps, the Consul-General. De Lesseps impulsively asks Eugenie to marry him immediately, but she turns him down. In Egypt, de Lesseps befriends two people who will have a great influence on his life: Toni Pellerin, a tomboy being raised by her grandfather, French Sergeant Pellerin; and Prince Said, the indolent heir of his father, Mohammed Ali, the Viceroy (ruler) of Egypt. Toni makes it clear that she has fallen in love with him, but de Lesseps still pines for Eugenie. Count de Lesseps leaves for France, leaving his son to take his place. One day, after a brief rainstorm in the desert, de Lesseps sees the water draining into the sea and comes up with the idea for the

. He departs for Paris to raise the necessary funding; Toni goes along as well. He presents his proposal to Bonaparte, but is rejected. He is also disheartened to learn that Eugenie is now very close to Bonaparte. France is on the verge of civil war between Bonaparte and the French Assembly, led by Count de Lesseps and others. Eugenie persuades Ferdinand de Lesseps to pass along Bonaparte's proposal asking the Assembly to disband, giving Bonaparte's promise to reconvene it once the civil unrest has been defused. Despite their misgivings, the members of the Assembly agree, only to be betrayed and arrested. Bonaparte assumes the throne of the revived French Empire, just as Count de Lesseps had feared. The news causes the count to suffer a fatal stroke. Ferdinand de Lesseps is outraged, but Toni persuades him to do nothing. In return for de Lesseps' help, Bonaparte (now Emperor Napoleon III), withdraws his objections to the canal, and construction commences under de Lesseps' direction. The building of the canal progresses, despite Turkish sabotage. However, Napoleon unexpectedly withdraws his support out of political necessity; he needs to appease Great Britain, and the British prime minister is firmly opposed to the project. Prince Said bankrupts himself to keep the venture going, but it is not enough. De Lesseps goes to England to plead his case. The prime minister is unmoved, but the leader of the opposition, Benjamin Disraeli, is enthusiastic about the project. Disraeli tells him to return to Egypt and pray that Disraeli wins the upcoming general election. He does, and funding is assured. As the canal nears completion, an enormous sandstorm threatens everything. When de Lesseps is knocked unconscious by flying debris, Toni rescues him by tying him to a wooden post, but is herself swept away and killed. De Lesseps finishes the canal and is honored by Eugenie, now Empress of France after her marriage to Napoleon III.

Cast

as Countess Eugenie De Montijo *

as Toni Pellerin * J. Edward Bromberg as Prince Said * Joseph Schildkraut as Vicomte Rene De Latour *

Henry Stephenson Harry Stephenson Garraway (16 April 1871 – 24 April 1956) was a British actor. He generally portrayed amiable and wise Gentleman, gentlemen in many films of the 1930s and 1940s. Among his roles were Joseph Banks, Sir Joseph Banks in ''Mutiny ...

as Count Mathieu de Lesseps *

Sidney Blackmer Sidney Alderman Blackmer (July 13, 1895 – October 6, 1973) was an American Broadway theatre, Broadway and film actor active between 1914 and 1971, usually in major supporting roles. Biography Blackmer was born and raised in Salisbury, ...

as Marquis Du Brey * Maurice Moscovitch as Mohammed Ali * Sig Rumann as Sergeant Pellerin *

Nigel Bruce William Nigel Ernle Bruce (4 February 1895 – 8 October 1953) was an English character actor on stage and screen. He was best known for his portrayal of Dr. Watson in a series of films and in the radio series '' The New Adventures of Sherlo ...

as Sir Malcolm Cameron *

Miles Mander Miles Mander (born Lionel Henry Mander; 14 May 1888 – 8 February 1946), was an English character actor, writer, director and producer in the post-war period of early British cinema during the 1920s to mid-1930s, as well as a playwright an ...

Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman, Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician and writer who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a ...

* George Zucco as Prime Minister *

Leon Ames Leon Ames (born Harry Leon Wycoff;U.S. Federal Census for 1910 for Fowler, Center Township, Benton County, State of Indiana, access via Ancestry.com January 20, 1902 – October 12, 1993) was an American film and television actor. He is best rem ...

as Louis Napoleon *

Rafaela Ottiano Rafaela Ottiano (March 4, 1888 – August 14, 1942) was an Italian-American actress. She was best known for her role as Suzette in '' Grand Hotel'' (1932) and as Russian Rita in '' She Done Him Wrong'' (1933). Early life Ottiano was born on Ma ...

as Maria De Teba *

Victor Varconi Victor Varconi (born Mihály Várkonyi; March 31, 1891 – June 6, 1976) was a Hungarian actor who initially found success in his native country, as well as in Germany and Austria, in silent films, before relocating to the United States, where ...

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

* Georges Renavent as Bank President *

Frank Reicher Frank Reicher (born Franz Reichert; December 2, 1875 – January 19, 1965) was a German-born American actor, director and producer. He is best known for playing Captain Englehorn in the 1933 film ''King Kong''. Early life Reicher was born in M ...

as General Changarnier * Carlos De Valdez as Count Hatzfeldt *Jacques Lory as

Millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most millets belong to the tribe Paniceae. Millets are important crops in the Semi-arid climate, ...

Albert Conti Albert Maroica Blasius Franz Maria, ''Ritter'' Conti von Cedassamare (29 January 1887 – 18 January 1967), commonly known as Albert Conti, was an Austrian Americans, Austrian-American actor. He was a member of the noble Kaboga family. Biograph ...

as M. Fevrier * Brandon Hurst as

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...

Marcelle Corday Marcelle Corday (8 January 1890 – 25 June 1971) was a Belgian-born American actress. She mostly played character parts in silent and sound films. Biography Born in Brussels, Belgium, in 1890, Corday was a niece of violinist Eugène Ysa� ...

as Mme. Paquineau * Odette Myrtle as Duchess *

Egon Brecher Egon Brecher (18 February 1880 – 12 August 1946) was an Austrian-born American actor and director. He also served as the chief director of Vienna's Stadttheater, before entering the motion picture industry. Early years Brecher was born on 1 ...

as Doctor * Alphonse Martell as General St. Arnaud * Montague Shaw as Elderly Man * Leonard Mudie as Campaign Manager * Michael Visaroff as Jewel Merchant (uncredited)

Production

A September 1937 news article reported that

was set to star in this film opposite Simone Simon.

reported earlier in June that Simon was assigned to the female lead. In March 1938, Zanuck revealed that he had set up a $2,000,000 budget, with recently retired from acting

George Arliss George Arliss (born Augustus George Andrews; 10 April 1868 – 5 February 1946) was an English actor, author, playwright, and filmmaker who found success in the United States. He was the first British actor to win an Academy Award – which he ...

, winner of the

Academy Award for Best Actor The Academy Award for Best Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It has been awarded since the 1st Academy Awards to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading ...

for playing the title role in 1929's ''

Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman, Conservative politician and writer who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creat ...

'', possibly returning to repeat, in ''Suez'', his famed portrayal.

and

were cast in the same month, thereby ruling out a role for Simon. On April 23, 1939, six months after ''Suezs premiere, Tyrone Power, age 24, and Annabella, age 31, were married (his first marriage, her third), with the union lasting until 1948. Philip Dunne later called the film "pretty bad". "Tyrone Power played Ferdinand de Lesseps, the Lee Iaccoca of his day," said Dunne. "So he dug the Suez Canal, so what? My partner Julien Josephson and I invented a love story with the Empress of France (Loretta Young) to keep audiences going. We had to. The man was the world's biggest bore."Philip Dunne looks back at movies' golden age: A2 Editionim Bawden Toronto Star 27 Jan 1990: G8. 400

Arabian horse The Arabian or Arab horse ( , DIN 31635, DMG ''al-ḥiṣān al-ʿarabī'') is a horse breed, breed of horse with historic roots on the Arabian Peninsula. With a distinctive head shape and high tail carriage, the Arabian is one of the most easi ...

s, 300

camel A camel (from and () from Ancient Semitic: ''gāmāl'') is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provid ...

s, and almost as many donkeys, were needed for this film.

Contemporary reviews

''The

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' found the film "a handsomely sepia-tinted and ponderously implausible description of how the Suez Canal came to be built....Mr. Zanuck, in short, has endowed his historical excursion with everything but credibility....It is not precisely the role for Mr. Power, who has the screen manner one associations with the young men from Ted Peck's Escort Bureau." ''The

Washington Evening Star ''The Washington Star'', previously known as the ''Washington Star-News'' and the ''Washington'' ''Evening Star'', was a daily afternoon newspaper published in Washington, D.C., between 1852 and 1981. The Sunday edition was known as the ''Sunday ...

'' was more accepting of the inaccuracies, noting that "In preparing the script for the lavish, spectacular and expensive picture, Twentieth Century-Fox found the historical arrangement of character and situation somewhat lacking in adequate dramatic values. Accordingly, it changed them to suit their requirements. The result is a much better bit of entertainment than it is a lesson in history, which quite possibly is what Mr. Darryl Zanuck was after, so accuracy will have to take care of itself." ''The

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...

'' acknowledged the plot's Hollywood touches while complimenting special effects: "The building of the Canal itself is celebrated with some genuinely spectacular photography, sets, and swarms of people. In the midst of the labor a magnificent tornado supplies the catastrophic Zanuck touch to the proceedings. It is comparable to the Chicago fire, the San Francisco earthquake, the Chinese locust plague or the South Seas hurricane....This is something that connoisseurs of movie catastrophes will have to add to their collections."

Evaluation in film guides

Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide ''Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide'' was a book-format collection of movie capsule reviews that began in 1969, was updated biannually after 1978, and then annually after 1986. The final edition was published in September 2014. It was originally calle ...

'' gives ''Suez'' 3 stars (out of 4) and, in its early editions, states, "elaborate Darryl Zanuck production surrounds good cast with 1850s France and Egypt". Since 1993, however, the write-up's final lines have been revised to read, "entertaining and elaborate hokum which apparently bears no resemblance to history. Power and Annabella later wed in real life". ''

Steven H. Scheuer's Movies on TV Steven Henry Scheuer ( ) (January 9, 1926 – May 31, 2014) was a film and television historian and critic. He edited ''Movies on TV'' published between 1958 and 1993 and wrote ''The Movie Book'' (1974), subtitled ''A Comprehensive, Authoritative ...

'' also gives it 3 stars (out of 4), commenting, "well-photographed and lavish film which is supposed to tell the true story of how the Suez Canal was built. If it had done that, it might have been a great film instead of another colorful epic." '' TimeOut Film Guide'' observes that "this highlights both Dwan's virtues and his flaws. The action/catastrophe are marvellously assured without ever going over the top, as is the handling of the human drama." It concludes that "Dwan—who is concerned with the modest virtues of honesty and fairness—is unable, indeed unwilling, to so combine both strands of his story. Accordingly, ''Suez'' is a series of incidents unconnected by dramatic urgency; Dwan, quite simply, is unconcerned with the building of the canal." Assigning 3½ stars (out of 5), '' The Motion Picture Guide'' described it as "typically lavish Hollywood biography that bears even less relation to the truth than usual for the genre" and later went on to state that "inane dialog is the biggest culprit in this ridiculous view of 19th-Century French politics". The write-up also mentions that in his 1971 biography by

Peter Bogdanovich Peter Bogdanovich (July 30, 1939 – January 6, 2022) was an American director, writer, actor, producer, critic, and film historian. He started out his career as a young actor studying under Stella Adler before working as a film critic for ''Fi ...

, ''The Last Pioneer'',

expresses admiration for Annabella's professionalism, in particular while filming the epic sandstorm. It goes on to state that "when the film was shown in France, the descendants of de Lesseps sued Fox, claiming that the engineer had been 54 when he first went to Egypt, and never had an affair with the Empress Eugenie. A French court threw out the case, determining that the film brought more honor to France than dishonor on the family. The film follows the usual formula of the other Zanuck biographical bowdlerizations: smart sets, great costumes, romance, fine special effects, and complete disregard of fact. Original release prints were sepia tinted."''The Motion Picture Guide'' (Chicago, 1987), volume VII, page 3196

References

Reviews

Nugent, Frank S. "THE SCREEN IN REVIEW; ''Suez'' Opens at the Roxy, with Tyrone Power as the Great Canal Builder-----''The Sisters'' Features Errol Flynn and Bette Davis at the Strand" (''The New York Times'', October 15, 1938, p. 21)
(subscription required)
"''Suez'' is at Santa Clara; Tyrone Power seen as Man Who Built the Suez Canal" (''The San Jose News'', January 3, 1939, p. 19)"Films in Glasgow: ''"Suez"'' and ''"The Ware Case"''; Tyrone Power as de Lesseps: Donald Takes Up Golf" (''The Glasgow Herald'', April 18, 1939, p. 6)"THRILLING ROMANCE; Tyrone Power as Canal Builder" (''The Age'', June 5, 1939, p. 13)

External links

* *
Suez
at ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' (1987 write-up was originally published in ''The Motion Picture Guide'')
Beck, Sanderson (2001). ''Suez'' at ''Movie Mirror''Mavis, Paul. ''Suez'' review (June 20, 2012) at ''DVD talk''
* ttp://homepages.sover.net/~ozus/suez.html Schwartz, Dennis. ''Suez'' review (August 15, 2012) at ''Ozus' World Movie Reviews''br>Grost, Michael E. ''The Films of Allan Dwan''
examining ''Suez'' for traits which are frequently perceived within the films directed by Dwan, with comparisons found in 1949's ''

Sands of Iwo Jima ''Sands of Iwo Jima'' is a 1949 war film starring John Wayne that follows a group of United States Marine Corps, United States Marines from training to the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II. The film, which also features John Agar, Adele M ...

'', 1954's '' Silver Lode'', 1951's ''Belle Le Grand'', 1956's '' Slightly Scarlet'' and 1917's ''

A Modern Musketeer ''A Modern Musketeer'' is a 1917 American silent film, silent adventure film, adventure comedy film directed and written by Allan Dwan. Based on the short story, "D'Artagnan of Kansas" by Eugene P. Lyle, Jr., which appeared in ''Everybody's Maga ...

''; sections focusing on themes common to Dwan's work are highlighted by sub-headers "Water Works", "Politics: Rivalries Between Government Parties", "Camera Movement", "Symmetry" and "Hats" {{Allan Dwan 1938 films 1930s historical romance films 1938 romantic drama films 20th Century Fox films American black-and-white films Films directed by Allan Dwan Films set in Egypt Films set in Paris Films set in the 1850s Films set in the 1860s Films set in the French colonial empire American romantic drama films Films with screenplays by Philip Dunne Films scored by Louis Silvers Cultural depictions of Napoleon III Cultural depictions of Victor Hugo Cultural depictions of Franz Liszt Cultural depictions of Benjamin Disraeli American historical romance films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films English-language romantic drama films English-language historical romance films