Story of movie The Swan Film : The Swan (1956) an Eastman Color in CinemaScope is a remake of The Swan (1925), a Paramount Pictures release. Another film version was released as One Romantic Night (1930).
| The Swan | |
|---|---|
Movie poster | |
| Directed by | Charles Vidor |
| Produced by | Dore Schary |
| Written by | John Dighton |
| Based on | A hattyú (1920 play; The Swan) by Ferenc Molnár |
| Starring | Grace Kelly Alec Guinness Louis Jourdan Jessie Royce Landis Estelle Winwood Brian Aherne Agnes Moorehead |
| Music by | Bronislau Kaper |
| Cinematography | Joseph Ruttenberg Robert Surtees |
| Edited by | John D. Dunning |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date |
|
Running time | 104 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3,094,000 |
| Box office | $3,749,000 |
The film is a romantic comedy released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, directed by Charles Vidor, produced by Dore Schary from a screenplay by John Dighton, and based on the play by Ferenc Molnár. The original music score was by Bronis?aw Kaper, the cinematography by Joseph Ruttenberg and Robert Surtees, the art direction by Randall Duell and Cedric Gibbons, and the costume design by Helen Rose.
The film stars Grace Kelly, Alec Guinness and Louis Jourdan with Agnes Moorehead, Jessie Royce Landis, Brian Aherne, Leo G. Carroll, Estelle Winwood, and Robert Coote.
Screenplay
In 1910, Princess Alexandra (Grace Kelly), the daughter of a minor branch of a European royal house, is urged by her mother (Jessie Royce Landis) to accept her cousin the crown prince, Albert (Alec Guinness) as husband so that their family may regain a throne that was taken from them by Napoleon. Princess Alexandra tries to gain Albert's attention; he is otherwise taken with sleeping late, shooting duck and playing football with Alexandra's two younger brothers. Alexandra's mother urges her to show interest in the tutor, Dr. Nicholas Agi (Louis Jourdan), to make Albert jealous and stimulate a proposal from him.
Agi is already taken with Alexandra and when she invites him to the farewell ball for the crown prince he eagerly accepts. Later when they are dancing at the ball it appears that Albert is getting jealous but instead he is more interested in playing the bass viol in the orchestra.
Later, Agi tells Alexandra how he feels about her. She tells him that it was all a ploy to get Albert to propose to her and she suspected he felt this way. She realizes that she has some feelings for him but he refuses her. Albert comes to find out about this situation and is a little taken aback. Albert and Agi trade insults. Agi then storms out and tries to leave the next morning.
Alexandra, distraught over what happened, tries to leave with him, but he refuses her again. Albert's mother,The Queen, (Agnes Moorehead), shows up and gets the entire story and is aghast. Albert gives his blessing to the pair and says that when he is king he will allow them back into the country. However, Agi ends up leaving the mansion without Alexandra.
Albert tries to console Alexandra by telling her she is like a swan: on the water she looks serene, but on land she is more like a goose. Albert then offers Alexandra his arm and they walk back into the mansion together.
- Grace Kelly as Princess Alexandra
- Alec Guinness as Prince Albert
- Louis Jourdan as Dr. Nicholas Agi
- Agnes Moorehead as Queen Maria Dominika
- Jessie Royce Landis as Princess Beatrix
- Brian Aherne as Father Carl Hyacinth
- Leo G. Carroll as Caesar
- Estelle Winwood as Symphorosa
- Van Dyke Parks as George
- Christopher Cook as Arsene
- Robert Coote as Capt. Wunderlich
- Doris Lloyd as Countess Sibenstoyn
- Edith Barrett as Elsa, Beatrix's maid
The 1925, 1930, and 1956 films are all based on a Hungarian play entitled A Hattyú, Vígjáték Három Felvonásban (The Swan, A Comedy in Three Acts) by Ferenc Molnár (Budapest, 1914).
For the 1956 film, the role of Prince Albert was originally offered to Rex Harrison, then to Joseph Cotten, before being given to Alec Guinness. This was Guinness' first American film.
Grace Kelly had previously appeared in the CBS Television production of The Swan on June 9, 1950.
The film was shot on location in North Carolina, at the 1895 Biltmore Estate of George W. Vanderbilt in Asheville and at Lake Junaluska.
MGM held the release of The Swan to correspond with civil wedding ceremony of Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier of Monaco, on April 18, 1956.
The score was composed by Bronislau Kaper and conducted by Johnny Green, with orchestrations by Robert Franklyn. One piece of source music, "Rakoczy March", an 1809 piece by John Bihari, was conducted by Miklós Rózsa.
MGM Records released two suites of portions of the music from the film on long-playing record after the release of the film. The complete score was released in 2004, on cd, on the Film Score Monthly label.
According to MGM records the film earned $1,763,000 in the US and Canada and $1,986,000 elsewhere but the high cost meant it resulted in loss of $798,000.
- The 1925 silent film with the same title was directed by Dimitri Buchowetzki and starred Frances Howard as Princess Alexandra and Adolphe Menjou as Crown Prince Albert.
- One Romantic Night (1930) starred Lillian Gish as Princess Alexandra and Rod La Rocque as Prince Albert, with Conrad Nagel as the tutor. It was directed by Paul Stein.
The original Broadway production of The Swan opened on Broadway in 1923, with Eva Le Gallienne as Princess Alexandra, Philip Merivale as Prince Albert, and Basil Rathbone as the tutor.
- List of American films of 1956
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