Unter der roten Robe

"Under the Red Robe" was directed by Swedish director Victor Sjöström and it is set in 17th century France. Cardinal Richelieu (Raymond Massey) is scheming and doing what he thinks is necessary to create a strong central government...no matter the cost. This means creating unity...and stamping out anything that isn't. In this story, he is out to wipe out the French Protestants in order for unity's sake. But this means capturing a popular Protestant duke...and he enlists the help of his favorite spy and schemer, Gil de Berault (Conrad Veidt). Berault is to infiltrate the Duke's home, gain their confidence and thereby learn where the man is hiding. Unfortunately for Berault, romance gets in the way.

While I liked this film, I'm not sure many will. After all, the story lacks action and is very talky....not bad, just talky. But for me, the story is interesting but more importantly the acting is very good and I am prepared to cut the slowness of the film some slack.

This 1937 film was the third version of a rather creaky Victorian era play Under The Red Robe written by Edward E. Rose and debuting on Broadway in 1896. This British production is the only sound version and given the material is rather arcane we're not likely to see another version made.

The Red Robe of the title refers to the vestments of Cardinal Richelieu, minister to King Louis XIII in 17th century France and first statesman of Europe. The man who said on his deathbed that he had no enemies save those of the state is played with a combination of subtlety and fanaticism by Raymond Massey, two qualities normally not compatible.

Massey has a mission and it requires a guy who can think fast on his feet and be both a courtier and a duelist. He's got such a man in Conrad Veidt. But Veidt is under a death sentence for violating the Cardinal's edict against dueling.

But if Veidt brings in the leader of the Huguenot Protestants who hops back and forth over the Pyrenees to Spain stirring up revolt, he can get the sentence commuted. To aid and assist Veidt, Massey assigns his man Romney Brent.

One small complication Veidt falls for Annabella whom he thinks is the Countess. A real mess all around.

The cast does well by the material, but it's ancient and dated and some of the motivations are a bit hard to follow. The play was written in a far more romantic era and was old fashioned when it got to the screen in 1937 let alone seeing it now.

But as a curiosity it might be worth a look.

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.

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.