Suez

In "Suez" a lot of Americans pretend to be a lot of Frenchmen, or maybe just plain old 'foreigners', as they often did on the big screen. This 1938 20th Century Fox picture might qualify as an epic; it's certainly a very handsome, prestige production directed by Allan Dwan with Darryl F. Zanuck producing. As you may or may not guess from the title it's the story of how the Suez Canal came into being with Tyrone Power as Ferdinand de Lesseps, the man who came up with the idea of a passage to link the seas of the East with the Mediterranean.

The large cast also includes Loretta Young as the Empress Eugenie, Leon Ames as Napoleon III and such stalwarts as Joseph Schildkraut, Henry Stephenson, Sig Ruman, Nigel Bruce and George Zucco. For a touch of authenticity the French actress Annabella was cast as the French girl Ty falls for out in Egypt. The Egyptian 'locations' were mostly shot in Arizona and California but an excessive use of sand helps us suspend our disbelief. It's also surprisingly entertaining and Power was as handsome here as he ever was on screen. A swan-necked Loretta Young also manages to live up to her given title as 'the most beautiful woman in Europe'. A huge hit in its day and a great way to pass a dull Saturday afternoon.

Tyrone Power plays the beleaguered Ferdinand de Lesseps in this big-budget retelling of the building of the Suez canal, appropriately called "Suez." Power, a huge star, was so often involved in these big budget films, truly the "Airport"-type movies of their day, that the poor man ended up taking part in the Chicago fire, the Suez sandstorm, and an Indian earthquake! Loretta Young is again his costar, this time as Eugenie, and she is her usual gorgeous self in magnificent gowns. The two made a ravishing couple - and in real life, he once called her on a Saturday night, lamenting that despite their big stardoms, they were dateless on date night, and asked her to a movie in Westwood.

The third prong of the love triangle is Annabella, a marvelous actress who became Power's first wife - and they were most definitely the Brangelina of their day! Unfortunately, Zanuck was so furious that his star broke the hearts of millions of women by marrying, that Annabella was blackballed. It's a shame, because on a radio retelling of "Rage of Manhattan" with Power, her fabulous acting is evident. Pity there were not more opportunities for her.

"Suez" is a little slow-going and nobody ages except for the touch of gray given Power, but the windstorm is magnificent. Power, who was only 23-24 at the time of filming, does a wonderful job, and is certainly up to his dramatic scenes. The later one with Annabella is most touching. The next to final shot of him receiving his award from Eugenie is memorable, as he walks, in a half bow, down the stairs backwards. Finally, the "Queen Christina" type close-up of Power's amazing face must last three minutes, but I could have stared at it for another hour.

All in all and despite the fact that it is probably the most historically inaccurate real-life story ever filmed, "Suez" is worth the watch, especially for the effects, done without computer generation and blue screens.

Probably one of the least accurate historical dramas done by the old Hollywood Studio System is Suez with Tyrone Power cast as Ferdinand DeLesseps, the builder of the Suez Canal. Any resemblance to the facts involving the canal and its construction are purely coincidental, in fact both English and French history gets badly skewered in Suez.

Ferdinand DeLesseps should only have been as dashing and as handsome as Tyrone Power, he probably wishes he was. He was never involved in any romantic way with the Empress Eugene of France played by Loretta Young. As for the character that Annabella who was Mrs. Tyrone Power at the time plays, we've sure got no basis in fact for what she does to save Power and the canal itself. Take my word it's quite the sacrifice.

The film has DeLesseps taking over the assignment his father had as consul general for France to Egypt. While there DeLesseps conceives the idea of rebuilding the ancient canal over the isthmus of Suez. And as the film's story unfolds he sacrifices everything to get it. Of course it's all fiction.

The name of Benjamin Disraeli is as linked in history to the Suez Canal as DeLesseps. But how he got involved is also complete fiction. It took place after the canal was complete and while quite a coup for the British at the time, it was hardly anything heroic. Miles Mander plays Disraeli without quite the same flair as George Arliss did nor even Ian McShane in the acclaimed BBC series in the Seventies.

But if you like historical romance than Suez is definitely the film for you.

There are three reasons why you'd rent Suez: if you think Tyrone Power is the most handsome classic actor ever, if you want to see the chemistry between him and Annabella, whom he married the next year, or if you like special effects movies and want to see an epic sandstorm.

Ty, as exquisitely handsome as he usually is, starts the movie in love with Loretta Young, whom I normally can't stand and still can't, even after watching this movie. She wants to wear a crown, so she becomes engaged to Emperor Napoleon III, played by Leon Ames, instead. To mend his broken heart, and to feed his masculine ambition, Ty becomes involved in architecture, eventually leading him to Suez, where he plans to build a canal. The supporting cast of this movie is huge, with Joseph Schildkraut playing Ty's steadfast friend, Henry Stephenson playing Ty's father, Sig Ruman playing Annabella's father, Nigel Bruce, Sidney Blackmer, Rafaela Ottiano, and Miles Mander as Benjamin Disraeli. While there is a lot to keep you entertained, with all the familiar faces, this movie isn't as well remembered as other special effects epics, like The Rains Came and The Hurricane. Compared against those, Suez does fall short, since the love triangle is hardly entertaining, even with the knowledge that there was a backstage romance going on, and until Ty starts building the canal, his career path is a little boring.

Annabella may have snagged herself the leading man in the film, but she didn't snag herself a very good part. Her character is so irritating, it's no wonder Ty keeps holding a torch for Loretta! With her hair cropped like a boy and most of her costumes as shirts and britches, she appears to be very masculine, as compared to Loretta's gorgeous gowns, jewels, styled hair, and poise amidst royalty. In Annabella's entrance scene, she's bathing, and the filmmakers were able to sneak in a bit of nudity despite the watchful eye of the Hays Code. She's portrayed as illiterate, unfeminine, rude, obnoxious, and pushy, and yet she thinks she can win Tyrone Power over? In real life she did, so check this movie out if you want to see how she did it.

Suez (1938)

*** (out of 4)

Entertaining, if fairly flawed, look at Ferdinand de Lesseps (Tyrone Power) and the lose of his love (Loretta Young), which sends him off on a quest to build the Suez Canal. Along his mission he encounters political issues and a natural disaster as he tries to complete the work. There's no question that this movie was made to cash in on the wave of disaster flicks that followed the success of SAN FRANCISCO. Power and Fox had made one the previous year in IN OLD CHICAGO so they tried their luck again and for the most part it worked. I think there are some major problems with the screenplay and a lot of this is around the romance with Young's Countess Eugenie de Montijo. I never really bought her in the role and it's interesting that Young knew her role wasn't all that important so she made the studio agree to let her do her own costumes. This is important because the costumes that were designed for her were so large that many of the sets had to be redone just so she could fit through them. Her costumes certainly outshines her character and I also felt that Young just didn't feel too comfortable with the role, which I believe is the first time I've said that about my favorite actress. The screenplay also doesn't seem to know if it wants to center on the love story, the political stuff or the actual building of the canal. In the end I think the screenplay bites off much more than it can chew but there's still plenty here to enjoy. The best thing going for the film is some tremendous special effects that show up at the very end when a sand storm hits the crew as they're working. The effects are incredibly realistic, for the most part, and there are many times where you'll be asking yourself how they pulled off the trick. There are a couple terrific sequences where large drums of water fall over and take people with them that was very intense. This also leads to an incredibly powerful finale that I won't ruin but how it plays out on the love story was very effective. Power is his typical good self as he manages to be very believable in the role but he's also quite charming and he certainly knows how to woo the ladies. The real star of the movie is Annabella who is simply magnificent in the role of the girl who falls in love with Power but must sit behind the Young character. I thought Annabella did a terrific job with the accent, the charm, the flirtatious nature and she just really made a complete character and nailed every inch of it. Her scenes at the end with Power are extremely effective and really take the film to another level. As with many of the disaster films from this era (and the 70s for that matter) there's way too much story than what was probably needed but the performances and effects make this worth sitting through.