''The Guardsman'' is a 1931 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was an era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry that occurred between the widespread adoption of sound in film in the late 1920s and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship gui ...

film based on the play '' Testőr'' by Ferenc Molnár. It stars

Alfred Lunt Alfred David Lunt (August 12, 1892 – August 3, 1977) was an American actor and director, best known for his long stage partnership with his wife, Lynn Fontanne, from the 1920s to 1960, co-starring in Broadway theatre, Broadway and West End thea ...

Lynn Fontanne Lynn Fontanne (; 6 December 1887 – 30 July 1983) was an English actress. After early success in supporting roles in the West End theatre, West End, she met the American actor Alfred Lunt, whom she married in 1922 and with whom she co-starred i ...

, Roland Young and

ZaSu Pitts ZaSu Pitts (; January 3, 1894 – June 7, 1963) was an American actress who, in a career spanning nearly five decades, starred in many silent film drama film, dramas, such as Erich von Stroheim's 1924 epic ''Greed (1924 film), Greed'', along wi ...

. It opens with a stage re-enactment of the final scene of

Maxwell Anderson James Maxwell Anderson (December 15, 1888 – February 28, 1959) was an American playwright, author, poet, journalist, and lyricist. Anderson faced many challenges in his career, frequently losing jobs for expressing his opinions or supporting ...

's ''Elizabeth the Queen'', with Fontanne as Elizabeth and Lunt as the

Earl of Essex Earl of Essex is a title in the Peerage of England which was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title has been recreated eight times from its original inception, beginning with a new first Earl upon each new cre ...

, but otherwise has nothing to do with that play. The film was adapted by Ernest Vajda (screenplay) and

Claudine West Claudine West (16 January 1890 – 11 April 1943) was a British novelist and screenwriter who was a three-time Academy Awards, Academy Award nominee. She moved to Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood in 1929, and was employed by MGM on many films, in ...

(continuity) and was directed by Sidney Franklin. Lunt and Fontanne were husband and wife and a celebrated stage acting team. This film was based upon the roles they had played on Broadway in 1924 and it was their only starring film role together. They were nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role and Best Actress in a Leading Role, respectively. Nonetheless, the film was not a popular success at the box office, and the two stars returned to working on Broadway.Balio p.185

Plot

The story revolves around a husband-and-wife acting team. Simply because he is insecure, the husband suspects his wife could be capable of infidelity. The husband disguises himself as a guardsman with a thick accent, woos his wife under his false identity, and ends up seducing her. The couple stays together, and at the end the wife convinces her husband that she knew it was him, but played along with the deception.

Cast

as The Actor *

as The Actress * Roland Young as Bernhardt the Critic *

as Liesl, the Maid * Maude Eburne as Mama * Herman Bing as A Creditor

Remakes

*In 1941, the plot and much of the script was used for the film version of Oscar Straus's

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

'' The Chocolate Soldier'', starring Risë Stevens and

Nelson Eddy Nelson Ackerman Eddy (June 29, 1901 – March 6, 1967) was an American actor and baritone singer who appeared in 19 musical films during the 1930s and 1940s, as well as in opera and on the concert stage, radio, television, and in nightclubs ...

. The stage production had used the plot of

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...

's '' Arms and the Man'', but Shaw had been deeply offended and angered at the result. For the film,

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

decided instead to use the plot of Molnar's ''The Guardsman'', but it kept the stage score of ''The Chocolate Soldier''. The film was a great success. *On March 2, 1955, a 60-minute version of the play was aired on the series '' The Best of Broadway''. *In 1984, a new non-musical version, titled '' Lily in Love'', starring

Christopher Plummer Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer (December 13, 1929 – February 5, 2021) was a Canadian actor. His career spanned seven decades, gaining him recognition for his performances in film, stage and television. His accolades included an Academy Aw ...

and

Maggie Smith Dame Margaret Natalie Smith (28 December 1934 – 27 September 2024) was a British actress. Known for her wit in both comedic and dramatic roles, she had List of Maggie Smith performances, an extensive career on stage and screen for over seve ...

, was made, but the play was so altered that the names of the characters were changed and Molnar was not even given screen credit. The film was a total flop.

References

Bibliography

* Balio Tino. ''Grand Design: Hollywood as a Modern Business Entertprise 1930-1939''. University of California Press, 1995.

External links

* * *
1945 ''Theatre Guild on the Air'' radio adaptation of original play
at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guardsman, The 1931 films 1931 comedy films American comedy films American black-and-white films Films based on works by Ferenc Molnár Films directed by Sidney Franklin Films set in Vienna Hungarian literature Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films