Under the Red Robe

Admired by Stevenson, Wilde, Sabatini and Conan Doyle, the romantic historical novels of Stanley Weyman are largely forgotten now. This one, extremely popular on publication, has since been dramatised on stage and adapted three times for the screen.

An Anglo-American curio from 1937 this third version is primarily of interest to cinéphiles as the final filmic fling of the 'Father of Swedish Cinema' Victor Sjostrom(changed to Seastrom for the benefit of North American viewers)

It is alas in pretty poor shape nowadays both visually and aurally but the cinematography by two masters of their craft Georges Périnal and James Wong Howe still impresses as does the score by Arthur Benjamin.

As one would expect from this director the emphasis is more on character than action and he has the services of some truly fascinating personalities. Delicious French actress Annabella gets first billing and most of the close-ups but who's complaining whilst her leading man is the mesmerising Conrad Veidt, perfectly cast as a gambling, duelling scoundrel who is redeemed by his sense of honour, a virtue which in today's world is dead in the water. The film is weakened alas by a total lack of chemistry between the two whilst the less said about his unfortunate wig the better. Comic relief is supplied by the excellent Romney Brent and gravitas by the powerful presence of Raymond Massey's Cardinal Richelieu. The rest of the cast comprises rather stagey, twee English actors with only Ralph Truman making an impression.

The film is not without its moments but one would ideally have hoped that Sjostrom would finish his distinguished directorial career with material worthy of his talents. He is however in very good company for he is one of a number of great directors who have gone out with a whimper rather than a bang.

This is an enjoyable period drama that combines a little history, some action, some romance, some dry and occasionally macabre humor, and most of all plenty of intrigue. It has an interesting historical setting, centering on the devious Cardinal Richelieu, one of history's more interesting (if hardly admirable) figures. While there isn't much here to take seriously, it is good light entertainment.

Conrad Veidt stars as a dreaded duelist under sentence of death, to whom Richelieu offers a pardon if he can bring in a Huguenot duke whose plans for an uprising have the Cardinal in a panic. Raymond Massey is very well cast as the Cardinal, and he does full justice to the role. Veidt is believable as Gil, and his deadpan style works rather well with some of the occasional lines of dry humor.

Veidt's character is accompanied by a slippery servant played with good humor by Romney Brent. The heart of the movie comes in Veidt's interactions with the duke's sister, played by Annabella, who makes her a worthy adversary for the swordsman, both with her beauty and with her brains.

Beyond the basic details of the anticipated conflict, the story relies less on the historical background than on the easily understood human drams among the characters. Veidt finds himself torn between his word, his affection for Annabella, and his fear of death. The servant and the duke's sister likewise have their own dilemmas to face, and these give some depth to the story, which is nothing deep, but is rather entertaining and interesting in its own right.

I say "unearthed" because the film seems to have been buried -- the condition of the print is pretty bad, and the soundtrack is so worn that half the subtitles say, "Inaudible". Apparently this is an orphaned film, in the public domain, without a decent print to remaster. Considering that many fine films have disappeared, we are lucky that this one survived at all. Lucky, because we see here what made this movie's era "Golden". Even routine costume dramas/comedies such as this one were blessed with fine production values, interesting scripts, and great directors and actors.

You can't have everything, and I wanted to see more of the deliciously ruthless Raymond Massey, who got second billing as Cardinal Richelieu but only a few minutes of screen time. A great discovery for me was Romney Brent. I looked him up, and most of his career was on the stage, so to see this delightful character player on the screen is a real treat. Annabella's heavy accent is hard to decipher, but she's so lovely, who cares, especially when she's framed by Victor Sjöstrōm, who brought us Garbo.

The sets are impressive, and the story is an interesting piece of historical fiction. There really is a Château Foix (subtitles call it "Fiox"), which did have a connection to Richelieu. If you're a movie lover, then look past the poor print and be grateful for this unearthed gem.

Told with deft comic timing from Veidt (as the feared duellist known as the 'Black Death') and his faithful sidekick (Brent) as they try to fulfil the Cardinal's (Massey) hopeless mission to infiltrate the enemy and bring back the Duke of Fiox alive from behind enemy lines. Though he initially charges like a bull with impunity, and for the exoneration offered to him if he should succeed, things get complicated when the fiercely patriotic and honourable Veidt falls for the Duke's sister (Annabella), forcing him to improvise tactics that will not only fulfil his agreement, but deliver also the damsel with whom he is now enamoured.

Veidt delivers his dialogue with precision displaying a keen sense of comic timing with a lightly-parodied chivalry, while dialogue director and veteran stage actor Brent is a scene-stealer from first to last (don't miss the hilarious closing scene) as the faithful 'puppy' like servant with a sleight of hand and an uncanny knack for acquiring information. Annabella is a classy characterisation of the aristocratic resistance and Massey plays his role of perceived cruelty and dictatorial ambivalence with aplomb.

There's more than meets the eye here (as I found) and contrary to some reviews claiming the opposite, this Baroque-era romantic swashbuckling yarn is funny, exciting, sometimes tense and remains true to form throughout thanks to enthusiastic direction from a noted director (Sjostrom) and an accomplished cast who keep the momentum energetic and entertaining throughout.

With the aid of the Swedish Film Institute, a collection of Victor Sjöström's movies will "tour" around the world to various film clubs and like so I have had the pleasure of watching most of the movies he directed. Sadly though, Sjöström's final effort proves to be the most disappointing. Conrad Veidt is without a doubt less dashing than Errol Flynn playing a debonair French swordsman - with a German accent.

He's not the only one though with an accent, Annabella with a thick French one, her sister the countess speaks the Queen's English and the men at the inn sounds like peasants from the English countryside. It is all rather confusing.

I don't know why Sjöström accepted the direct this movie, perhaps he was eager to direct again but too many constraints were put on him. The end result looks like any movie that includes musketeers or cardinal Richeliu.