Diane de Poitiers

Lana Turner was a busy actress in the mid-Fifties, appearing in "The Sea Chase" at Warner Brothers, with John Wayne; in Twentieth-Century Fox's lavish remake of "The Rains Came," newly titled "The Rains of Ranchipur," co-starring with Richard Burton; and in her second-to-last at Metro, her long-time home studio, "The Prodigal," one of M-G-M's most expensive made-in-Hollywood spectacles. All were handsomely mounted in CinemaScope and color and all were at least moderately entertaining as well as flattering to the blonde beauty of their leading lady, "Luscious Lana." By the time "Diane" was being lensed on the Culver City soundstages in 1955, M-G-M was in straitened financial circumstances, though one would never know it by observing the deluxe production values liberally applied in the making of this costumer. One month after this picture's release in early 1956, Lana ended her eighteen year association with M-G-M and, for her, it was back to Twentieth for 1957's "Peyton Place" (and a Best Actress Oscar nomination) and thence to Universal-International where, in 1959, Lana and producer Ross Hunter began a run of some extraordinary good luck at the box office, beginning with the ultra-glossy updated remake of "Imitation of Life."

"Diane" provided Lana with a regal departure from M-G-M. All of the elements were liberally provided by M-G-M to support Lana's abilities and beauty. The property was originally planned as a Greta Garbo vehicle some years before; the eventual script was penned by Christopher Isherwood, from a story, departing from historical exactitude, as has always been Hollywood custom, by John Erskine; and visual elements were assigned to the studio's best, including costume designer Water Plunkett, who dressed Lana in a profusion of elaborate black gowns, since Diane is frequently in mourning for one noble or another as the story proceeds to the fadeout. Miklos Rozsa's score is one of his better efforts, sounding a bit less derivative of some of his earlier efforts at musically framing stories with historical settings. Additionally Lana's costars all turn in very professional work, with Marisa Pavan (the sister of the ill-fated actress Pier Angeli) especially effective as Diane's nemesis, Catherine de Medici. As an example of M-G-M's luxurious style of filmmaking, even while the studio teetered on the edge of bankruptcy, this is the kind of entertainment that is rarely reproduced in these sensation-seeking times.

The VHS version is no doubt "formatted" so, unless you are content to wait for a scheduling of this one on Turner Classic Movies, where it most likely would be letterboxed, "Caveat emptor!"

DIANE is probably the least well-known of all LANA TURNER's "big" pictures at MGM--the studio which ironically was on the verge of bankruptcy at the time of this film, but you'd never know it from the opulence of the finished work in gorgeous Technicolor and featuring one of Miklos Rozsa's more subtle scores.

It's interesting for a couple of reasons: mainly, because it appears to be a faithful recreation of that period in costumes and settings, features ROGER MOORE (youthful and handsome before his James Bond adventures), and gives LANA TURNER and MARISA PAVAN some very interesting moments as they oppose each other in a number of well played scenes.

Other than that, it's a stilted costume romance that never quite comes to life despite all the efforts to give it handsome production values. That explains its obscurity among Lana's films. The lady herself is very fetching here, beautifully costumed (mostly in black), thanks to Walter Plunkett's designs, and attractively photographed for maximum glamor effect.

But part of the unreality comes from the excessive glamor given to Turner. Despite this flaw, she does turn in a good performance as Diane de Poitiers, courtesan who stirs envy in the king's wife and is the subject of much court intrigue in medieval France.

Neglected by today's viewers who probably have never had a chance to see it, it deserves a wider audience.

.....in the heart of France ,in Touraine ,there is Chenonceaux which was nicknamed "le Château des Dames" .It's there,among other places, that the long duel between Diane de Poitiers and Catherine de Medicis took place.If you visit it,and I urge you to do it if you were interested in this movie which is essentially fictionalized history,the guide will show you the monogram which was sculpted on the walls :Henri II the King was pretty smart on his part:the letters are officially H (Henri) and C (Catherine) but it can also be read H and D (Diane) .The interlaced letters can be read differently depending on who's concerned.

Marisa Pavan is a good choice as Catherine,and Lana Turner is good-looking .A pre-James Bond Roger Moore does a decent job -anyway Henri II's face is not that much familiar even to FRench people ,unlike François Premier,his father who also appears in the film:it's strange they chose a Mexican actor to play him! Historically ,the film leaves much to be desired but there are good ideas :the cage for instance:the scene in the forest is almost eerie and the final tournament -whose ending might or might not have been predicted- gains in intensity.

The Lion company - I mean Metro Goldwyn Mayer - was excellent in terms of costume, period, historical movies: the Richard Thorpe's IVANHOE, KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE, QUENTIN DURWARD and other films such as KING'S THIEF, DIANE, SCARAMOUCHE...This somptuous historical drama has the benefits of a terrific production design, the trademark of the MGM costume movies. David Miller made this only film of this kind, unlike Richard Thorpe for hom it was a speciality, though Thorpe was a very prolific director, more than David Miller. Lana Turner is so gorgeous that she nearly makes you ignore the rest, besides her beauty. Besides, I am French and I have alwways been amazed by the fact that Hollywood was so dedicated to make films concerning history of France !!! England, yes, but France !!!! And here, Roger Moore is not at all a super but an anti hero.

Lana Turner was elegant and beautiful as the French courtesan, wearing through most of the motion picture dramatic black costumes... She came to the court of King Francis I to plead for the life of her husband, Count Louis de Brézé who was falsely accused of plotting against the King...

Count de Brézé (Torin Thatcher) suspected his release by an act of infidelity...

Francis I (Pedro Armendariz) was the King who in his person and actions combined the romantic ideal of the medieval knight-king and the refined humanism and art of the Renaissance... When he required Diane's presence, the Count felt his suspicious confirmed... Obviously he was wrong!

However, the real reason Diane has been called is to teach the King's, Prince Henri (Roger Moore), the graces of court life in preparation for his marriage to Catherine de Médici (Marisa Pavan). Impressed by her beauty, charm and political sageness, as well as her ability to cope with his son, the King keeps her at court...

Prince Henri fell violently in love with her...

When the King is killed in battle, Diane became mistress of Henry, now King of France... Throughout his reign, Diane held court as Queen of France in all but name... The real Queen was forced to live in comparative obscurity... Catherine soon comes to hate the woman who is her husband's real love...

But Henri's reign was short, due to Gondi (Henri Daniell) treachery...

Directed by David Miller, the film carried faithfully the 16th Century environment with an impressive stag hunt, an exciting encounter with a wild boar and a thrilling climactic jousting tournament...

Sir Cedric Hardwicke played Ruggiere, the master of astrology, master of the art of predicting... He gave the Queen of France much to think over when she visited him, and in that tournament he murmured: 'What must be... Will be!'

If you like to see history in movies, plus intrigue, politics, secret plotting, suspicion, disloyalty... and you love colorful spectacle, and you want to see Lana Turner's good-acting with Marisa Pavan - in her possibly the best role of her film career as Henri's menacing yet pitiable wife - well, don't miss this entertaining motion picture!