Customer Reviews

Beau Brummell [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

With its lavish appointments and its excessively theatrical scene-stealing from Peter Ustinov and Robert Morley as the silly Prince of Wales and his even sillier father King George III, "Beau Brummel" is not as bad as you might expect...

The rooms look authentic, and, when Ustinov is jabbering some nonsense as the trivial, vain, empty monarch to be, the film even sounds authentic...

As Lady Patricia, Taylor is allowed to move on a sea of romantic indecision... She must choose between the impetuous adventurer and a serious court Politician... A little bourgeoise at heart, she makes her choice finally for the harbor rather than the tempest...

The movie is based on Clyde Fitch's play, but with a pallid Stewart Granger as the widely known sartorial dandy, the focus is wisely shifted to the crazy Regent... Ustinov's Regent has more glamor than Granger's soldier of fortune, and the movie becomes the story of the misguided, easily manipulated, finally rather pathetic Prince of Wales rather than a showcase for the skill and panache of Captain Beau Brummell...

As a character study of fashion-crazed royalty, Bernhardt's film is pompously entertaining; as romance, or as insight into the historical Beau himself, the movie is impoverished... Granger and his leading lady are responsible for the dead weight that surrounds Ustinov's spirited silliness...

The rich, willful Taylor contained intimations of the Southern belles to follow, but even at her maturity, in "A Place in the Sun" or "The Last Time I Saw Paris," Liz had not fully awakened to the best that was in her...

One of Stewart Granger's classic movies. This is the way all movies should be. The good ole days of fancy costume movies are long gone.

... I didn't feel he was really into his performance in this movie, the way he was in 'Scaramouche'. This movie, for me, was just 'okay', not horrible, not great, just somewhere in between. I own this movie, and I will watch it again, but I must say I'm not in any particular hurry to do so. I would like for the 2006 James Purefoy version to show up on dvd. As for this version, I imagine it will be on dvd once Purefoy's version comes out.

Part of my problem with this movie is (and it is not the movie's fault) I'm not a big fan of Elizabeth Taylor. She's okay, but I just can't get thrilled with her for some reason. And, Stewie Granger just didn't put himself into this movie the way he did in 'Scaramouche', at least I didn't think he did. I just felt like he didn't care that much about this movie to bother putting in a noteworthy performance.

On the 1-10 scale, I'd put this movie somewhere between 6.5 and 8.0. Good, not bad, but not great or outstanding.

Lavish British production that included a very impressive cast: the accurate profile of Stewart Granger, the always beautiful Elizabeth Taylor and the hesitating future George IV starred by Peter Ustinov.

An everlasting picture to watch and enjoy it over and over again.

Beau Brummell (1954) is out of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and directed by Curtis Bernhardt. It's based on the play of the same name by Clyde Fitch with a screenplay written by Karl Tunberg, The music score is by Richard Addinsell with Miklós Rózsa and it is filmed in Eastman Color by Oswald Morris. Starring are Stewart Granger as Beau Brummell, Elizabeth Taylor, and Peter Ustinov plays the Prince of Wales. It is also a remake of a Warner Bros. silent film made in 1924 that starred John Barrymore as Brummell.

"In the day of Napoleon, Nelson and Wellington, of Pitt, Burke and Fox, there lived a man called Beau Brummell. Lord Byron said he was the greatest man in Europe. Brummell agreed--and he very nearly proved it".

Well that sets the mood doesn't it? Time to sit back and enjoy a romping good costumer with dandy dashers dealing in politico shenanigans and romancing buxom beauties. Only that isn't quite the case, for what follows is more a staid picture about a supposed interesting man during what was undoubtedly a very interesting time in 19th century England (this is the time when King George III was losing his marbles and the Pitt family flourished in politics as Whig Independents). But not all historical periods make for a great movie, so perhaps Brummell's tale just isn't that interesting to begin with? He was known for his love of clothes and gambling, and true enough he wasn't afraid to speak his mind, but on the screen it never ignites into anything blood stirring. It's an over talky piece that is low on action and skirts around the chances to keep the narrative spicey.

Perhaps the presence of Granger lends false an expectation of a swashbuckler? But even armed with prior knowledge that this is not that type of Granger movie doesn't prepare for how laborious the picture is at times. Thank god, then, for Ustinov, who practically makes sitting thru the movie worth it on his own. He plays the Prince of Wales as a self-involved neurotic, thriving on decadence as he becomes the King in waiting and shares a passion with Brummell for the finer things in life. But away from Ustinov the acting is hit and miss, with Granger only asked to be handsome and deliver lines with style, and Taylor looking radiant yet hardly able to put any heat into the simmering romance with Brummell. It would have been nice to have had more of Robert Morley as George III, while both Paul Rogers as William Pitt & James Donald as Lord Edwin Mercer hold their respective ends up well enough. While away from the actors there's some good production value with Morris' photography, as the English countryside comes to life and the interiors of Ockwells Manor in Berkshire fit snuggly for the period setting.

The core issues such as fashion, elegance and society standings may indeed be camera friendly, but the story around those things is sadly rather bland. 5/10

"Beau Brummell" is a lightweight, not-always-accurate biopic of the Regency-era fashion icon that suffers from an overly moralizing ending (the kind of ending that always had to be tacked on to Hollywood pics in the old days, whether or not it actually made sense). Stewart Granger and Elizabeth Taylor, the romantic leads, give decent though not world-beating performances, and reliable character actor Peter Ustinov makes an interesting "Prinny" (the Prince of Wales, later to become George IV). However, it does have splendid costuming - as you might expect from a movie about a dandy like Brummell - though the ladies' dresses are not really accurate for the Regency period, being more in the way of late-18th-century wear (Elizabeth Taylor wears a white powdered wig in several scenes, though those had gone out of fashion by the turn of the 19th century when the movie is set). Fans of the "Spiderman" series will certainly want to check out what Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) looked like as a young woman (a dazzlingly beautiful redhead); she plays "Prinny's" mistress/clandestine wife, Mrs. Fitzherbert.