Cyrano de Bergerac

Cyrano de Bergerac (1950), starring José Ferrer, Mala Powers, William Prince

Synopsis of Cyrano de Bergerac

France, 1640: Cyrano de Bergerac, the charismatic swordsman-poet with the absurd nose, hopelessly loves the beauteous Roxane; she, in turn, confesses to Cyrano her love for the handsome but tongue-tied Christian.

Cast of characters in Cyrano de Bergerac

• Cyrano de Bergerac (José Ferrer, The Caine Mutiny, The Swarm).  The great swordsman and poet, who loves the beautiful Roxane.  But she doesn’t even suspect it.  One of the highlights of the film is his “teaching” someone the proper way(s) to insult his large nose.  Both hilarious, entertaining, and at the end dangerous.
• Roxane (Mala Powers, Rage at Dawn, Tammy and the Bachelor).  The love of Cyrano, who wrongly thinks that it’s Christian who has been writing and serenading her.
• Christian de Neuvillette (William Prince, Spies Like Us, Network).  Cyrano’s friend, who also loves Roxane.  Because of Cyrano’s tight-lipped nature, he never suspects that he’s asking his rival to help him win Roxane’s hand.

Editorial review of Cyrano de Bergerac, courtesy of Amazon.com

Recreating his stage role, Jose Ferrer stars as Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano, a 17th-century French cavalier, poet and swordsman whose prominent proboscis is the subject of many a duel. Cyrano is madly in love with the beautiful Roxanne (Mala Powers), but assumes that she’d never love him back due to his cathedral of a nose. Roxanne is also loved by the handsome Christian (William Prince), who is an unfortunate klutz in the realm of romance. Cyrano agrees to help Christian win Roxanne by feeding him the right words for his midnight courtships and love letters; in this way, Cyrano can vicariously express his own ardor for the fair lady.

Michael Gordon’s film adaptation of the Rostand classic features an Oscar-winning performance by Jose Ferrer. The tale of the 17th century swordsman gifted with every quality but the courage to profess his love has frequently been filmed, and in this version Hollywood has gifted us with this faithful and brilliant adaptation of Ferrer’s celebrated stage production to the screen.