By Richard Harland Smith
The Fighting Guardsman
Brief Synopsis
A French nobleman robs from his fellow aristocrats to help the poor.
Cast & Crew
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Henry Levin
Director
Willard Parker
Roland, also known as the Baron de Saint-Hermaine
Anita Louise
Amelie de Montrevel
Janis Carter
Christine Roualt
John Loder
Sir John Tanlay
Edgar Buchanan
Pepe
Film Details
Also Known As
Alexandre Dumas' The Fighting Guardsman
Genre
Adventure
Adaptation
Historical
Release Date
Apr
24,
1945
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Columbia Pictures Corp.
Distribution Company
Columbia Pictures Corp.
Country
United States
Location
Malibu, California, United States; Sherwood Forest, California, United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the novel Les Compagnons de Jéhu by Alexandre Dumas, père (Paris, 1856 or 1857).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 24m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
7,478ft
Synopsis
In 1789, as King Louis XVI and his court wallow in extravagance, rebellion smoulders throughout France. Among those fighting for freedom are the masked bandit Roland and his band of followers, who are known as the Companions of Jéhu. In reality, Roland is the Baron de Saint-Hermaine, an aristocrat who, angered by the injustice perpetrated by his class, has assumed the identity of an outlaw. One day, Roland and his followers rob a mail coach transporting a shipment of the king's gold. Unknown to the bandits, the coach is also carrying King Louis, who is traveling incognito with his arrogant companion, Gaston de Montrevel. The other passengers on the coach are Sir John Tanlay, an Englishman, and Hyperion Picot, a disgruntled subject of the king. After delivering the stolen gold to a church and some starving children, Roland is greeted by his sweetheart, the noblewoman Amelie de Montrevel, who warns him that her brother, Gaston, a dangerous ally of the king, is returning home. Later, as the coach passengers dine at the Golden Pheasant Inn, Picot bemoans the fact that because he stowed his gold with a government shipment, it was also stolen by robbers. Just then, Roland appears and returns Picot's gold. Roland departs, but soon reappears as the baron, with his servant Pepe, in tow. When Pepe denounces the king, Gaston strikes him, causing Roland to defend his servant's honor with his sword. As the two aristocrats duel, Pepe scampers out of the inn and joins the outlaws waiting in the woods. After one of the band, posing as a police official, halts the duel, Gaston notices that the king is smitten by Christine Roualt, the innkeeper's daughter. Upon returning to their hideout in a deserted abbey, Montebar, one of the bandits, criticizes Roland for sparing Gaston's life and accuses him of partisanship with the aristocracy. Roland, however, wins a vote of confidence from his followers and proposes taking the king hostage and forcing him to sign a document freeing the peasants. Noting that Christine has informed him that Louis, a guest at the inn, has invited her to his summer villa, Roland then suggests using the innkeeper's daughter as bait. As the Companions of Jéhu and Christine plot their strategy, Amelie bursts into their hideout to warn them that Sir John, her brother's houseguest, is on his way to investigate reports that the abbey is haunted. After he is captured in the woods by the outlaws, Sir John recognizes Roland as the baron and informs the outlaws that his employer, a London banking house, has sent him to evaluate a loan that Louis has requested, using France as his collateral. When word comes that the king has dismissed parliament, Sir John offers the rebels his sympathy and pledges to keep their hideout secret. Meanwhile, at the king's villa, Berton, the prefect of police, discusses a trap he has set for the bandits. Overhearing the plans, Christine warns Roland, and after the band avoids capture, Berton begins to suspect that Sir John may be Roland's accomplice. Christine, who is in love with Roland and is jealous of Amelie, suggests to the king that a marriage between Sir John and Amelie would abolish any populist feelings that the Englishman might harbor. Applauding Christine's ingenuity, the king invites Sir John and the de Montrevel family to his villa. To insure that the king will force Amelie to marry Sir John, Christine makes Louis jealous by flirting with the Englishman. At dinner one night, the king is in the midst of announcing the marriage of Sir John and Amelie when Roland, dressed as the baron, joins the dinner guests. When Berton mentions that he suspects the bandits are headquartered at the abandoned abbey, Louis orders Gaston to lead the guard on an assault of the abbey. Christine distracts the dinner guests by pretending to faint so that Roland can sneak out to warn his compatriots about the raid. Roland clashes with Gaston in the woods, and as the two men duel on horseback, Gaston pulls a pistol from his belt and takes aim at Roland just as Montebar fells the aristocrat from his horse with a well-aimed bullet. After the battle, the king sends for the baron and offers him a commission in the Royal Guard. As the two men speak, Amelie enters the room, and the king, anxious to be rid of his rival, Sir John, proclaims that he has arranged the wedding for that evening. Just as Amelie is about to protest, Berton reports that Gaston has been killed by Roland. Out of sympathy for Amelie's loss, the king offers to postpone the ceremony, but Amelie, blaming Roland for her brother's death, insists that it be held as planned. As the king dresses for the festivities, Roland and Pepe sneak into his room and warn him that unless he grants reforms immediately, he will face rebellion later. Meanwhile, Amelie, dressed in her wedding gown, is sobbing in her room when Sir John enters and informs her that Roland was not responsible for her brother's death. The king is about to consent to Roland's demands when Sir John knocks at the door, and Pepe, startled, fires his gun, thus alerting the guards. After the king accidentally shoots Christine while aiming at Roland, Sir John takes up a saber and joins forces with the rebels. Just as the guards capture Roland, the peasants rebel, invading the chateau and taking the king prisoner. His mission completed, Sir John wishes Roland luck and returns to England. When Roland proclaims that his place is with the people, Amelie responds that her place is with him.
Director
Henry Levin
Director
Cast
Willard Parker
Roland, also known as the Baron de Saint-Hermaine
Anita Louise
Amelie de Montrevel
Janis Carter
Christine Roualt
John Loder
Sir John Tanlay
Edgar Buchanan
Pepe
George Macready
Gaston de Montrevel
Lloyd Corrigan
King Louis XVI
Elisabeth Risdon
Mme. de Montrevel
Ian Wolfe
Berton
Ray Teal
Albert
Victor Kilian
Montebar
Charles Halton
Hyperion Picot
Maurice Tauzin
Edouard
Charles Waldron
Abbe
Ethan Laidlaw
Jacques
Shelley Winter
Nanette
Belle Mitchell
Peasant woman
Michael Mark
Peasant man
Bobby Frasco
Boy
Al Luttringer
Officer in coach
Dick Alexander
Bearded man
Edith Evanson
Madam Paquin
Paul Smith
Sergeant
Robert Barron
Cavalry leader
William E Lawrence
Innkeeper
Eddie Abdo
Lackey
Stanley Price
Lackey
Alfred Allegro
Lackey
George Magrill
Soldier
Gene Stutenroth
Majordomo
Ted Hecht
Liveried servant
Hope Landin
Nun
Lester Sharpe
Turnkey
Stan Jolley
Tax collector
Harry Cording
Tax collector
Bob Cason
Tax collector
Glen Mccarthy
Tax collector
Tommy Coats
Postillion
Post Park
Postillion
Newt Kirby
Postillion
John Hawks
Postillion
Crew
Gert Anderson
2nd Camera
Edward Dein
Screenwriter
Philip Faulkner
Sound
Ralph Faulkner
Tech Director
Louis Germonprez
Assistant Director
Stephen Goossón
Art Director
Burnett Guffey
Director of Photography
Walter Holscher
Art Director
Thelma Hoover
Research Director
Michel Kraike
Producer
Viola Lawrence
Film Editor
Vera Mikol
Research Director
Robert Priestley
Set Decoration
Paul Sawtell
Music Score
Marlin Skiles
Music Director
Franz Spencer
Screenwriter
M. W. Stoloff
Music Director
Edwin L. Wetzel
Music mixer
Film Details
Also Known As
Alexandre Dumas' The Fighting Guardsman
Genre
Adventure
Adaptation
Historical
Release Date
Apr
24,
1945
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Columbia Pictures Corp.
Distribution Company
Columbia Pictures Corp.
Country
United States
Location
Malibu, California, United States; Sherwood Forest, California, United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the novel Les Compagnons de Jéhu by Alexandre Dumas, père (Paris, 1856 or 1857).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 24m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
7,478ft
Articles
The Fighting Guardsman -
To compete with the big budget swashbucklers Warner Bros. (The Adventures of Robin Hood, 1938), 20th Century-Fox (The Mark of Zorro, 1940), and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (The Three Musketeers, 1948), Universal and Columbia exploited the fact that the principal production value common to those lavish period pieces was a good looking leading man, stripped to the waist, and handling a sword with charm and aplomb. As Universal had Tony Curtis, Rock Hudson, and Jeff Chandler, so Columbia put swords in the hands of Cornel Wilde, Larry Parks, and Wilfred Parker - each an heir, early on in their careers, to Errol Flynn. Early publicity notices for The Fighting Guardsman (1946) had Parks in the running for the principal role of a French aristocrat leading a band of peasant partisans in Robin Hood-style revolt against King Louis XVI but when the film went before the cameras in December 1944 it was Parker as Baron Francois de St. Hermaine, aka Roland the Bandit. A former tennis pro, who had spent a decade in bit parts at Warners, Parker had just returned from military service in World War II; the former tennis pro's tenure as a leading man at Columbia would last just a few years before he was back among the supporting players, billed well below stars James Stewart, Glenn Ford, John Payne, and Howard Keel. Based on an obscure novel by Alexandre Dumas pere, The Fighting Guardsman provided work for a legion of Hollywood character actors, among them George Macready (as the dastardly Gaston de Montrevel), John Loder, Lloyd Corrigan Ian Wolfe, and Shelley Winters, in one of her earliest film roles.
By Richard Harland Smith
By Richard Harland Smith
The Fighting Guardsman -
To compete with the big budget swashbucklers Warner Bros. (The Adventures of Robin Hood, 1938), 20th Century-Fox (The Mark of Zorro, 1940), and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (The Three Musketeers, 1948), Universal and Columbia exploited the fact that the principal production value common to those lavish period pieces was a good looking leading man, stripped to the waist, and handling a sword with charm and aplomb. As Universal had Tony Curtis, Rock Hudson, and Jeff Chandler, so Columbia put swords in the hands of Cornel Wilde, Larry Parks, and Wilfred Parker - each an heir, early on in their careers, to Errol Flynn. Early publicity notices for The Fighting Guardsman (1946) had Parks in the running for the principal role of a French aristocrat leading a band of peasant partisans in Robin Hood-style revolt against King Louis XVI but when the film went before the cameras in December 1944 it was Parker as Baron Francois de St. Hermaine, aka Roland the Bandit. A former tennis pro, who had spent a decade in bit parts at Warners, Parker had just returned from military service in World War II; the former tennis pro's tenure as a leading man at Columbia would last just a few years before he was back among the supporting players, billed well below stars James Stewart, Glenn Ford, John Payne, and Howard Keel. Based on an obscure novel by Alexandre Dumas pere, The Fighting Guardsman provided work for a legion of Hollywood character actors, among them George Macready (as the dastardly Gaston de Montrevel), John Loder, Lloyd Corrigan Ian Wolfe, and Shelley Winters, in one of her earliest film roles.
By Richard Harland Smith
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
This picture's title is presented onscreen as Alexandre Dumas' The Fighting Guardsmen. According to a pre-production Hollywood Reporter news item, the picture was orginally to star Leslie Brooks, Larry Parks and John Calvert. Although a Hollywood Reporter production chart places Ted Donaldson in the cast, his appearance in the released film has not been confirmed. Onscreen credits list M. W. Stoloff as music director, but the Daily Variety review and Columbia production credits list Marlin Skiles as music director. A Hollywood Reporter news item notes that some scenes were filmed in the Malibu Mountains and in Sherwood Forest near Los Angeles. According to the Daily Variety review, The Fighting Guardsman marked Willard Parker's first screen appearance since leaving the armed forces.
