Le beau Brummel

Unusual to see Stewart Granger in period costume without a flashing blade, but I found this costume drama on the rise and fall of the Regency dandy and confidante to the then Prince of Wales, eminently watchable. Granger himself shows more acting depth than he was usually allowed in the swashbuckling actioners he frequented and is well cast as the proud, aspiring but ultimately over-ambitious George "Beau" Brummell, whose loose tongue and haughty wit ultimately saw him cast out of high society into a life of penury in France, on the run from his numerous creditors. However the real acting plaudits unquestionably lie with Peter Ustinov, who again, like his portrayal of Nero in "Quo Vadis", easily demonstrates his character, the king-in-waiting Prince George's initially fey and petulant ways but later conveys the depth of character of a man who matured into his kingship and his conflicting loyalty which turns to generous magnamity to best friend but loose cannon Brummell. Robert Morley gets to act a fine cameo performance as the mentally ill King whose condition leads to the Regency crisis and Elizabeth Taylor gets to wear some elaborate costumes not to mention hairstyles as Lady Belham, torn between her passionate attraction to Brummell's rebellious individual and the safe society gentleman Lord Edwin Mercer played stoically by James Donald. Historical figures of the day flit in and out of the narrative, but surely the "mad, bad and dangerous to know" Lord Byron should have been played with more zest and by a more handsome actor than we get here. The sets and costumes are sumptuous, the direction steady if uninspired, (for example, an intimate dialogue scene between Granger and Taylor pans back and forth unimaginatively between their faces with every sentence spoken). The dialogue while well-written and rarely trivial, does get bogged down in speechifying, forced wit and point-scoring which gets decidedly stultifying at times. The key scene were Brummell rashly insults the Prince is well staged and played and the viewer is left in no doubt that the bold Brummell has gone too far this time, prefiguring the fate of another high society dandy from a later generation, the writer Oscar Wilde. Having read a little background on the real Brummell's life, I'm aware that the usual Hollywood bowdlerisation has occurred (nowhere did I read of the Prince when King's final reconciliation with the broken Brummell in France), but it makes for a good finish to a meatier costume drama than I might have expected given the subject and personnel involved.

Enjoyed this film, however, I doubt very much if England found this a wonderful film to view. I know for a fact that this film was shown special to the royal family and they were simply shocked at how crazy their ancestors were portrayed in this film. It was from that time on, that all films ever shown to the royal family were to be screened first. Peter Ustinov,(Prince of Wales),"The Bachelor",'99 played the role of a fat prince who did not have a mind of his own or in other words, was a complete WIMP. Stewart Granger,(Beau Brummell), "The Trygon Factor",'66, was a care free character in the British Military and said what he wanted and did exactly what he wanted and lived off people. Beau also became good friends with Prince of Wales, after almost spitting in his face on different occasions. Elizabeth Taylor,(Lady Patricia Belham),"A Little Night Music",'78, was very pretty and played a rather quiet and confusing young lady, who did not know just what she wanted in life. Entertaining film, but not the greatest, but excellent acting.

Beau Brummell was the leading dandy of his age, determining the fashion of men for centuries to come. Lord Byron called him the greatest man of his age, and yet he never made any pretensions to be something special. He just showed men how to dress properly and distinctly, doing away with all the exaggerated foppishness of 18th century fashion. Stewart Granger makes one of his best performances and makes Beau Brummell quite a credible character of consistent honesty, while the prize goes to Peter Ustinov as the prince of Wales, later George IV, who crowns the film by his formidable character of both humour and wit and pathetic awkwardness. Robert Morley plays his father, the mad king George III and has only one great scene, but that's the centre of the play and perhaps what you will be least likely to forget. Nigel Hawthorne made an entire film on this theme, but yet Robert Morley's brief appearance of the same character is more impressive. The main asset of the film though is the brilliant dialog, which sparkles with wit, spirituality and cleverness perpetually, and you will find it worth watching the film all over again just to concentrate on relishing the splendid dialog. Some would find the film overburdened with talk and miss the usual swashbuckling action of Stewart Granger, but he himself always desired to play more parts like this and less of the action virtuoso. Elizabeth Taylor was not yet a great actress at this point, but she nevertheless shines with her diamond beauty. The greatest credit goes to the script writers.

In the 1950s, VistaVision and Technicolor made way for an entirely new genre of films: historical epics. They'd been made before, but never in vivid color, widescreen ratio, and high resolution. Tons of films came out of the decade, like Ivanhoe, Raintree County, and Beau Brummell. Coincidentally, those all starred Elizabeth Taylor. She just looks lovely in Technicolor, doesn't she?

Beau Brummell is a biopic, about the love-hate friendship between the title character and the Prince of Wales, played by Stewart Granger and Peter Ustinov, respectively. It gets a little wordy, since it was based off a play, but those who like lots of beautiful sets and costumes to look at will be sufficiently distracted. The distraction for everyone will be Elizabeth Taylor, and she sparkles in the few romantic scenes she's given.

It's not a fantastic movie, but it won't hurt you to watch it, if you like historical movies, or the 1800s in particular. If you're not fully invested though, it might get a little boring.

Though it's hardly likely that we'll see it (except perhaps on TV's 'Masterpiece Theater"), a remake of this story would possibly benefit from a somewhat less cautious approach to what looks like a more interesting story than what unreels in this glossy costumer. Peter Ustinov and Robert Morley, of course, outclass the nominal leads and the production values are sumptuous, though often quite obviously studio/soundstage-bound. Miss Taylor, before she came into her own as a movie actress of some ability, is gowned and coiffed in a manner that makes her presence understandable, but the whole enterprise is redolent of what helped to bring the studio system to a grinding halt. Just where one hopes for a little astringency and a more adult take on the story's complications, that dreaded Eisenhower-era conservatism blankets the proceedings in an ultra-safe approach that one suspects left even the audiences of the time when this was released wanting substantially more.