A little creaky, but worth it to see the real-life husband/wife duo of Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne who were legends on the stage, and who live up to at least some of that here. Lunt does well early on when he emotes little facial expressions and mannerisms in a very natural and modern way, and Fontanne towards the end is brilliant, especially talking about his kiss as she caresses his face, and in delivering a veiled ribald reference about something else of his. The story involves a pair of actors who are also husband and wife, but it's pretty basic. He's worried that because she's had a number of men as lovers before she married him, she'll move on to another after all of the bickering they've been doing. To test her, he dresses up as a Russian officer and sees how she reacts to his advances. Where Lunt falls down a bit is in his characterization of the Russian, which is clunky and odd; it doesn't work, and also makes the chemistry that develops with her seem false. I loved the delightful bit of ambiguity in that very last shot and this wouldn't be a bad film to see, but guard your expectations. (sorry, no pun intended)
21 Reviews
More interesting for its place in film history than for itself...
AlsExGal18 February 2021
... because seeing it today it seemed as creaky as a rusty swing set. Yet the leads were nominated for Best Actor and Best Actress for that year. Some Oscar decisions do not age well.
The plot is about a stage actress (Lynne Fontaine) and a stage actor (Alfred Lunt) who are constantly bickering after just a short time of marriage. The actor believes his wife is now looking to replace him, and he thinks that she would prefer a soldier type, because she seems to scan the audience for such men. Several days latter a Guardsman - he instead looks like the doorman at one of your better New York hotels pre pandemic - begins sending flowers and then asks if he can come and see the actress. She says yes. Perhaps the husband is right and he is about to be replaced. Watch and find out what happens.
The leads here were famous stage actors of the 20th century, and furthermore they actually were married and made very few film appearances. Their next one after this wasn't for another twelve years in 1943. But if they bickered in real life it must have all been in good fun because they were married for 55 years until death separated them in 1977. I thought it odd that they were making the actress 29-30 years old, because in 1931 that was approaching middle age, and the plot is also painting her as a great beauty, but I just couldn't help noticing she had a matronly figure. Fontaine's actual age at the time of the production was 44 years old. Husband Lunt was five years younger than that. Actually, during her life, Fontaine kept the year of her birth such a secret that her own husband thought she was ten years younger than she was. Quite a trick.
Actually, these two characters - actor and actress - are both behaving insufferably, and are very vain people, so it's easy to laugh at them but very hard to like either of them. What's fun in it? Zasu Pitts as a servant because Zasu is always lots of fun in that deadpan way of hers. Then there is Maude Eburne as "Mama", a kind of lady in waiting to the actress. This is rather funny because at the beginning of the movie the married acting couple are in a play about Queen Elizabeth and Queen Elizabeth had a nurse for 23 years who acted as a substitute mother to her. This might be just a coincidence but I enjoyed it. Finally there is Roland Young as a theatre critic who pals around with the acting couple and gives them great reviews. Great shades of Citizen Kane isn't this a conflict of interest?
By the way, I call the leads "actor" and "actress" because that is how they are billed. I never heard any of the cast call them by their actual names. I would mildly recommend this one.
The plot is about a stage actress (Lynne Fontaine) and a stage actor (Alfred Lunt) who are constantly bickering after just a short time of marriage. The actor believes his wife is now looking to replace him, and he thinks that she would prefer a soldier type, because she seems to scan the audience for such men. Several days latter a Guardsman - he instead looks like the doorman at one of your better New York hotels pre pandemic - begins sending flowers and then asks if he can come and see the actress. She says yes. Perhaps the husband is right and he is about to be replaced. Watch and find out what happens.
The leads here were famous stage actors of the 20th century, and furthermore they actually were married and made very few film appearances. Their next one after this wasn't for another twelve years in 1943. But if they bickered in real life it must have all been in good fun because they were married for 55 years until death separated them in 1977. I thought it odd that they were making the actress 29-30 years old, because in 1931 that was approaching middle age, and the plot is also painting her as a great beauty, but I just couldn't help noticing she had a matronly figure. Fontaine's actual age at the time of the production was 44 years old. Husband Lunt was five years younger than that. Actually, during her life, Fontaine kept the year of her birth such a secret that her own husband thought she was ten years younger than she was. Quite a trick.
Actually, these two characters - actor and actress - are both behaving insufferably, and are very vain people, so it's easy to laugh at them but very hard to like either of them. What's fun in it? Zasu Pitts as a servant because Zasu is always lots of fun in that deadpan way of hers. Then there is Maude Eburne as "Mama", a kind of lady in waiting to the actress. This is rather funny because at the beginning of the movie the married acting couple are in a play about Queen Elizabeth and Queen Elizabeth had a nurse for 23 years who acted as a substitute mother to her. This might be just a coincidence but I enjoyed it. Finally there is Roland Young as a theatre critic who pals around with the acting couple and gives them great reviews. Great shades of Citizen Kane isn't this a conflict of interest?
By the way, I call the leads "actor" and "actress" because that is how they are billed. I never heard any of the cast call them by their actual names. I would mildly recommend this one.
From Russia with love
AAdaSC17 November 2019
Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne are married to each other and have a successful stage career. However, whilst the public sees them perform successfully on stage, they are constantly goading each other in their private life, so much so that the trust placed in their marriage vows is being tested and threatened. No more so than when a mysterious Russian turns up and starts sending flowers to Fontanne. Who could he possibly be?
This film is funny. It has a different storyline and you are never quite sure whether or not Lynn Fontanne knows what she is doing. Even her knowing glance to camera at the film's end leaves you in two minds.
Would you recognize your partner if they donned a disguise? Every time I've ever put a fake moustache on, I've always been rumbled.
This film is funny. It has a different storyline and you are never quite sure whether or not Lynn Fontanne knows what she is doing. Even her knowing glance to camera at the film's end leaves you in two minds.
Would you recognize your partner if they donned a disguise? Every time I've ever put a fake moustache on, I've always been rumbled.
A Total Delight
drednm29 May 2005
Alfred Lunt and Lynne Fontanne won Oscar nominations for their roles as bickering theater stars in this sly film. In their only starring film together, Lunt and Fontanne are superb. He masquerades as a Russian count and woos her to see if she is a faithful wife. Maybe show knows and maybe she does not. It's all part of the game. Fontanne (who was 44) coos and smiles as the Actress, while Lunt (39) plays the dolt who never knows if his wife his faithful. Great fun. Stylish. But maybe a tad stagy. Lunt lost the Oscar to a tie between Wallace Beery and Fredric March, while Fontanne lost to Helen Hayes (Marie Dressler was also nominated). Zasu Pitts is fun as the dim maid; Herman Bing is good as the creditor. Roland Young shines as the friend and Maude Eburne is super as "mama." Terrific acting and "chemistry" between the biggest theater stars of the early 20th century: Lunt and Fontanne. Both had done a few silent films, this one starring vehicle, and a a guest appearance in "Stage Door Canteen" in 1943. What a pity. They were greats stars and terrific actors. And "The Guardsman" is a must for any film buff.
Better Than Average Adult Comedy
Mike_Yike7 March 2020
The Guardsman is a pretty ordinary movie except for two things: the performances are tops and, the actual outcome is unknown until the end of the film. The two central characters are husband and wife. They are portrayed by Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, husband and wife in real life. Anyway, in The Guardsman the husband wonders whether his wife truly loves him and if she is completely faithful to him. Both characters are stage actors and so the husband plots to pose as a foreign guardsman, complete with uniform and a very bad accent. Will he be able to woo the wife and thereby prove to himself that she is unfaithful? It isn't exactly an original plot gimmick.
Given that the film is from 1931, the performances are unusually restrained and refined, making them better than one might expect for an ancient movie. The plot's question is, does the wife know that the guardsman is actually her husband? That is not answered until the last scene in the film. A good but not great film.
Given that the film is from 1931, the performances are unusually restrained and refined, making them better than one might expect for an ancient movie. The plot's question is, does the wife know that the guardsman is actually her husband? That is not answered until the last scene in the film. A good but not great film.
Broadway Comes to Hollywood
evanston_dad26 May 2021
For a period of time in the early 1930s, Hollywood studios tried to lure theatre stars to the movies, and "The Guardsman" was an attempt to launch the film careers of superstar stage couple Alfred Lunt and Lynne Fontanne. It didn't take, and neither went on to have a film presence, but they did both score Oscar nominations for recreating their stage performances, I believe the first time a husband and wife were nominated in the same year.
The movie is lightweight but fun. It's not the kind of thing I could imagine paying top dollar for to see on stage, regardless of the stars in it, but it passes the time entertainingly enough in the comfort of your living room. Both Lunt and Fontanne are very good and avoid the awkward, stilted acting that plagued many actors at the time who were much more used to performing in front of a camera. Lunt has the showier role, getting to impersonate a Russian prince and all, and he probably had some leading man screen potential. It's a risque film too, decidedly pre-Code in its treatment of marital infidelity.
Grade: B+
The movie is lightweight but fun. It's not the kind of thing I could imagine paying top dollar for to see on stage, regardless of the stars in it, but it passes the time entertainingly enough in the comfort of your living room. Both Lunt and Fontanne are very good and avoid the awkward, stilted acting that plagued many actors at the time who were much more used to performing in front of a camera. Lunt has the showier role, getting to impersonate a Russian prince and all, and he probably had some leading man screen potential. It's a risque film too, decidedly pre-Code in its treatment of marital infidelity.
Grade: B+
Apparently, minds worked a lot slower in 1931
charlytully17 April 2011
Warning: Spoilers
This review not only MAY, but actually DOES contain spoilers!!!
A husband suspects his wife is thinking about being unfaithful in the future (mostly because she is playing a sad tune by Chopin on their piano, which seems to demand a better explanation than any exposition offered in this 1931 black and white yawner, THE GUARDSMAN). Apparently by the time this movie was made, Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne had been married so long that there was little "chemistry" left between them, at least when it came to playing people who were or ever had been in love with each other.
Anyway, the husband hits upon the bright idea that his wife must be yearning for a guy in uniform. Furthermore, he fancies himself such a great actor that he can just throw on anything that resembles a marching band uniform, then strut along the sidewalk under his own window, and his wife will immediately start a fling with him--bamboozled into thinking he is a TOTAL STRANGER. Even at the end of a more or less un-involving 80 minutes--and AFTER sleeping with his own wife with only a fake goatee as a disguise--the husband assumes that his "cheating" wife has NOT caught on to his ruse. He's only enlightened that she sniffed it out from the get-go after she whispers something (too nasty for the studio censors to convey to us) into his ear. Thank goodness this was the only fictional talkie the Lunt family made together, since America got dumbed down enough as it was.
A husband suspects his wife is thinking about being unfaithful in the future (mostly because she is playing a sad tune by Chopin on their piano, which seems to demand a better explanation than any exposition offered in this 1931 black and white yawner, THE GUARDSMAN). Apparently by the time this movie was made, Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne had been married so long that there was little "chemistry" left between them, at least when it came to playing people who were or ever had been in love with each other.
Anyway, the husband hits upon the bright idea that his wife must be yearning for a guy in uniform. Furthermore, he fancies himself such a great actor that he can just throw on anything that resembles a marching band uniform, then strut along the sidewalk under his own window, and his wife will immediately start a fling with him--bamboozled into thinking he is a TOTAL STRANGER. Even at the end of a more or less un-involving 80 minutes--and AFTER sleeping with his own wife with only a fake goatee as a disguise--the husband assumes that his "cheating" wife has NOT caught on to his ruse. He's only enlightened that she sniffed it out from the get-go after she whispers something (too nasty for the studio censors to convey to us) into his ear. Thank goodness this was the only fictional talkie the Lunt family made together, since America got dumbed down enough as it was.
Way overrated...at least with the other reviewers.
planktonrules28 February 2020
Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne are legendary among Broadway actors and this married couple were among the most respected stage actors of their day. Despite this, this power couple only made one sound film together (as well as a brief cameo in "Stage Door Canteen") and Hollywood was excited about their pairing--and both were nominated for an Oscar for their performances in the movie. Despite this, however, they didn't seem to want the Hollywood life and returned to Broadway.
When the film begins, the pair* are just completing yet another very successful performance. However, despite their smiles and the opinion of their fans that they are the perfect couple, the pair fight incessantly...and even do so with smiles on their faces as they take their bows! Soon you learn that he is very jealous of his wife and suspects she's cheating. And, to prove it, he creates a fake identity and begins sending his wife flowers and letters. But because he thinks he's the world's greatest actor, he even arranged to meet her in disguise. What happens next? See the film.
I think "The Guardsman" is a great example of a film that was overhyped simply because of the actors in it. Lunt and Fontanne was legendary...so folks thought it was brilliant. When seen today, the brilliant is difficult to see and the plot seems utterly unworkable as a film. After all, what wife would not recognize her own husband in disguise making love to her?! I think folks back in 1931 were able to suspend disbelief...I sure wasn't. In fact, I was bored and my score of 5 is pretty generous.
For a better film with a somewhat similar plot, try Leslie Howard and Bette Davis in "It's Love I'm After". It's not a work of genius but takes similar material and does more with it. Overall, "The Guardsman" is very talky, has a ridiculous plot and, dare I say it, a bit of overacting. And, occasionally, the great stage actors (particularly Lunt) have a tendency to talk over other actors as they deliver their lines.
*Lunt and Fontanne are not given names in the script...a strange thing and I cannot think of another film like this.
When the film begins, the pair* are just completing yet another very successful performance. However, despite their smiles and the opinion of their fans that they are the perfect couple, the pair fight incessantly...and even do so with smiles on their faces as they take their bows! Soon you learn that he is very jealous of his wife and suspects she's cheating. And, to prove it, he creates a fake identity and begins sending his wife flowers and letters. But because he thinks he's the world's greatest actor, he even arranged to meet her in disguise. What happens next? See the film.
I think "The Guardsman" is a great example of a film that was overhyped simply because of the actors in it. Lunt and Fontanne was legendary...so folks thought it was brilliant. When seen today, the brilliant is difficult to see and the plot seems utterly unworkable as a film. After all, what wife would not recognize her own husband in disguise making love to her?! I think folks back in 1931 were able to suspend disbelief...I sure wasn't. In fact, I was bored and my score of 5 is pretty generous.
For a better film with a somewhat similar plot, try Leslie Howard and Bette Davis in "It's Love I'm After". It's not a work of genius but takes similar material and does more with it. Overall, "The Guardsman" is very talky, has a ridiculous plot and, dare I say it, a bit of overacting. And, occasionally, the great stage actors (particularly Lunt) have a tendency to talk over other actors as they deliver their lines.
*Lunt and Fontanne are not given names in the script...a strange thing and I cannot think of another film like this.
A Classic in Every Regard
EightyProof4524 May 2004
Many people seem to regard this film as important simply because it is a living testament to Alfred Lunt and Lynne Fontaine's acting. After all, it is the only preserved sound performance in which they have starring roles. In reality, however, the film is not only historically important because of the legends in it; it is one of the most fresh and funny films to emerge from the pre-Code period. The story is irresistible: a vain acting couple constantly insult and tease one another. In order to test his wife's fidelity after a bout, the Actor (Lunt) disguises himself as a foreign guardsman, goes out of his way to meet his wife in disguise, and furthermore goes on to try and seduce her. After he succeeds, he reveals himself, furious at her perfidious attitude. The Actress (Fontaine) begins laughing, claiming that she knew all along. At first dubious, the Actor is eventually convinced that his wife was playing along with him, and the two romantically embrace. The Actress looks at the camera and gives the most priceless look, letting the audience know that she may not have really known all along... Lunt and Fontanne make this film come to life. There dominating presence creates a satirical and realistic portrait of what an egomaniacal acting couple's life might really be like.
In addition, there are some priceless supporting roles: Maude Ebourne as a sarcastic maid, Zasu Pitts as a strange (to say the least) servant, Roland Young, and always-reliable Herman Bing as "a creditor." Sidney Franklin, perhaps the most unjustly forgotten of all screen directors (his classics include Private Lives, Smilin' Through, The Good Earth, The Barretts of Wimpole Street, and The Dark Angel), adroitly guides the ensemble, allowing the acting to take center-stage but never neglecting the details so important to cinema. In all, this short, fast-paced romp with two bona fide legends of American stage history is an essential lesson in screen comedy and romance. Although the Lunts, when asked to do later film work, replied "We can be bought but we can't be bored!" there is absolutely no sign of unenthusiasm on screen here. Each earned an Oscar nomination for their performance in The Guardsman, and they left their indelible stamp, albeit only for a short eighty some-odd minutes, on American motion picture history.
In addition, there are some priceless supporting roles: Maude Ebourne as a sarcastic maid, Zasu Pitts as a strange (to say the least) servant, Roland Young, and always-reliable Herman Bing as "a creditor." Sidney Franklin, perhaps the most unjustly forgotten of all screen directors (his classics include Private Lives, Smilin' Through, The Good Earth, The Barretts of Wimpole Street, and The Dark Angel), adroitly guides the ensemble, allowing the acting to take center-stage but never neglecting the details so important to cinema. In all, this short, fast-paced romp with two bona fide legends of American stage history is an essential lesson in screen comedy and romance. Although the Lunts, when asked to do later film work, replied "We can be bought but we can't be bored!" there is absolutely no sign of unenthusiasm on screen here. Each earned an Oscar nomination for their performance in The Guardsman, and they left their indelible stamp, albeit only for a short eighty some-odd minutes, on American motion picture history.
product of the stage
SnoopyStyle14 April 2024
In Vienna, a celebrated actor (Alfred Lunt) is married to his acting partner (Lynn Fontanne). They are not doing so well. He decides to disguise himself as a Russian guardsman to test her fidelity.
Lunt and Fontanne are a real-life celebrated married Broadway stage acting team. This is their only cinematic team-up and not a particularly successful one. They do give off the airs of stage actors. That may fit the roles but not necessarily great for the screen. They do not elicit much rooting interest. I actually like him doing the switch. The duo roles playing is kind of fun. He has the flashier acting. Both actors got their own Oscar nomination and both lost. The pacing is a little slow which may also be a product of the stage. The premise is rather unlikely. She should know. It's trying to be funny without much success.
Lunt and Fontanne are a real-life celebrated married Broadway stage acting team. This is their only cinematic team-up and not a particularly successful one. They do give off the airs of stage actors. That may fit the roles but not necessarily great for the screen. They do not elicit much rooting interest. I actually like him doing the switch. The duo roles playing is kind of fun. He has the flashier acting. Both actors got their own Oscar nomination and both lost. The pacing is a little slow which may also be a product of the stage. The premise is rather unlikely. She should know. It's trying to be funny without much success.
Witty, sexy, funny
jramaro16 February 2005
The Guardsman is now one of my 10 favorite films. Thanks to Turner Classic Movies audiences can continue to see the brilliant performances of Lunt and Fontanne in this hilarious play made into a film. The performances of the support cast are excellent, especially that of Roland Young.
The Guardsman does what a good comedy should do. It should make us laugh, give us insights into the human condition, and keep us wondering what will happen next to characters that we care about.
I laughed out loud and watched the unpredictable plot move through scenes of witty, fast paced dialog that led to an ending that lived up to everything that preceded it. If you carefully watch Fontanne in the ending, you will be certain of the meaning of her character's smile.
The Guardsman does what a good comedy should do. It should make us laugh, give us insights into the human condition, and keep us wondering what will happen next to characters that we care about.
I laughed out loud and watched the unpredictable plot move through scenes of witty, fast paced dialog that led to an ending that lived up to everything that preceded it. If you carefully watch Fontanne in the ending, you will be certain of the meaning of her character's smile.
A very entertaining well made comedy
km_dickson22 September 2005
Real life husband and wife duo Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne play famous married theater performers (named in the credits only as The Actor and The Actress). The Actor is so convinced that his wife would be unfaithful to him if given the chance, he dresses up like a Russian officer to try and seduce her. The Guardsman remains the only sound film that either Lunt or Fontanne ever did, which is a damn shame. Both actors achieve a natural quality on screen rarely equaled in thirties films. Lunt especially gives a knockout comedic performance, not only as the whining, conceited, jealous husband, but also as the brash and passionate Guardsman. The rest of the cast play their parts perfectly as well, doing justice to the delightfully witty script. It looses some momentum in the second half, as the film slowly works its way to the conclusion you know is coming. They definitely could have played with the scenario a bit more. Nonetheless, it makes for a very enjoyable comedy.
a historical theatrical couple on film
blanche-227 April 2011
The names Lunt and Fontanne to this day signify greatness in acting. This famous stage couple has a theater named after them in New York City. To see some of these "great names" perform, though, can prove to be the shattering of illusions. Today's acting styles are so different than they were back then, and one sometimes expects to see hammy gestures, trembling voices, and over the top melodrama.
I am thrilled to report that Lunt and Fontanne live up to their reputation and are as wonderful today as they were back then when they filmed their hit play, "The Guardsman." It's a silly story -- a husband and wife theatrical couple spar at each other, and the husband believes his wife is unfaithful. To test her, he disguises himself as a Russian guardsman and attempts to seduce her.
Lunt and Fontanne were a very attractive couple and absolutely charming. Their performance in a scene from "Elizabeth the Queen" at the very beginning of the film had me hankering for more. I wish they had made other films, but they refused, finding it too boring.
A real treat.
I am thrilled to report that Lunt and Fontanne live up to their reputation and are as wonderful today as they were back then when they filmed their hit play, "The Guardsman." It's a silly story -- a husband and wife theatrical couple spar at each other, and the husband believes his wife is unfaithful. To test her, he disguises himself as a Russian guardsman and attempts to seduce her.
Lunt and Fontanne were a very attractive couple and absolutely charming. Their performance in a scene from "Elizabeth the Queen" at the very beginning of the film had me hankering for more. I wish they had made other films, but they refused, finding it too boring.
A real treat.
I'm Jumping for Joy Over This Movie!
janice1436 September 2008
I first saw this movie on TCM, and I became enamored of this fabulous acting couple. I won't repeat the fabulous reviews of this film, but I hounded TCM to reschedule the movie, but alas. Then thanks to an amazon.com seller, I bought the video. I have watched it over and over. What fun to see Lunt running around in disguise and thinking he was putting something over on his wife. And Zasu Pitts as the maid, she's priceless!
The Guardsman has also put me in touch with their biographies, what wonderful lives they led. They were Broadway stars, Lunt and Fontanne, they have a Broadway theater named for them.
And 77 years later, the Guardsman still brings laughs to us. Thank goodness for them!
The Guardsman has also put me in touch with their biographies, what wonderful lives they led. They were Broadway stars, Lunt and Fontanne, they have a Broadway theater named for them.
And 77 years later, the Guardsman still brings laughs to us. Thank goodness for them!
For Posterity
bkoganbing14 April 2011
Although Alfred Lunt and Lynne Fontanne did do several television plays that have been recorded for posterity, The Guardsman represents the only sound filmed record we have of them at the height of their fame as America's leading thespian couple.
Years ago I read a joint biography of the Lunts and the two of them felt quite strongly that live performance was the only true test of acting ability. They also felt it was important to bring theater out to the hinterlands. Rather than be on a sound stage in Hollywood, the Lunts made many road show tours of their Broadway hits and other plays in a tremendous amount of small theaters. The problem for posterity is that those who remember seeing the Lunts on stage are getting older and fewer.
No doubt they took The Guardsman on the road after its 248 performance Broadway run in 1924-25. Given their aversion to film, it's a wonder that Irving Thalberg got them at all for a film.
This work has a play within a play, in fact the inner play in this is Maxwell Anderson's The Private Lives Of Elizabeth And Essex. It opens with the Lunts doing the final scene from that work and to tumultuous applause as the curtain closes, we find these two bickering incessantly as Alfred is almost insanely jealous of every attention his wife receives from admirers. What to do?
So poor Alfred hatches a cockeyed scheme where with heavy makeup and costume he makes himself out to be a Russian Cossack guardsman who is quite willing to ignore marital conventions for the pleasures that Lynn can offer him. And he puts on a big campaign to win Lynn away from himself.
Ferenc Molnar's play was remade by MGM ten years later in The Chocolate Soldier which was the operetta within the play as Nelson Eddy and Rise Stevens played the roles the Lunts originated. The prose of Maxwell Anderson is replaced by the songs of Oscar Strauss from his operetta The Chocolate Soldier. But Molnar's The Guardsman plot remains the same.
The play was a tour de force for the Lunts and I don't think it was an accident that the Academy gave its only recognition of this film with Oscar nominations for Alfred and Lynne as Best Actor and Best Actress. It really is quite the personal vehicle.
By the way Herman Bing has a small role as a creditor who is trying to get a bill paid from Alfred. In the end he really deflates the pretentious Lunt and you have to see how he does it.
One of the other items there is a filmed record of is a Hallmark Hall of Fame production Yankee From Olympus that the Lunts did live for television in the Sixties. It's very good and I did do a user comment on it.
But for a chance to see the Lunts at their height, The Guardsman is the one and only vehicle for that.
Years ago I read a joint biography of the Lunts and the two of them felt quite strongly that live performance was the only true test of acting ability. They also felt it was important to bring theater out to the hinterlands. Rather than be on a sound stage in Hollywood, the Lunts made many road show tours of their Broadway hits and other plays in a tremendous amount of small theaters. The problem for posterity is that those who remember seeing the Lunts on stage are getting older and fewer.
No doubt they took The Guardsman on the road after its 248 performance Broadway run in 1924-25. Given their aversion to film, it's a wonder that Irving Thalberg got them at all for a film.
This work has a play within a play, in fact the inner play in this is Maxwell Anderson's The Private Lives Of Elizabeth And Essex. It opens with the Lunts doing the final scene from that work and to tumultuous applause as the curtain closes, we find these two bickering incessantly as Alfred is almost insanely jealous of every attention his wife receives from admirers. What to do?
So poor Alfred hatches a cockeyed scheme where with heavy makeup and costume he makes himself out to be a Russian Cossack guardsman who is quite willing to ignore marital conventions for the pleasures that Lynn can offer him. And he puts on a big campaign to win Lynn away from himself.
Ferenc Molnar's play was remade by MGM ten years later in The Chocolate Soldier which was the operetta within the play as Nelson Eddy and Rise Stevens played the roles the Lunts originated. The prose of Maxwell Anderson is replaced by the songs of Oscar Strauss from his operetta The Chocolate Soldier. But Molnar's The Guardsman plot remains the same.
The play was a tour de force for the Lunts and I don't think it was an accident that the Academy gave its only recognition of this film with Oscar nominations for Alfred and Lynne as Best Actor and Best Actress. It really is quite the personal vehicle.
By the way Herman Bing has a small role as a creditor who is trying to get a bill paid from Alfred. In the end he really deflates the pretentious Lunt and you have to see how he does it.
One of the other items there is a filmed record of is a Hallmark Hall of Fame production Yankee From Olympus that the Lunts did live for television in the Sixties. It's very good and I did do a user comment on it.
But for a chance to see the Lunts at their height, The Guardsman is the one and only vehicle for that.
Lunt and Fontanne on screen
rfl-230 November 2003
The Guardsman is the only play of the famous stage couple that was remade for the screen. In fact, Lunt and Fontanne appear together in only four movies that I'm aware of, two of which are silent; the other sound movie being Hollywood Canteen, where they briefly appear as themselves.
For students of stage history, and admirers of a truly great thespian couple, this movie is a treat.
For students of stage history, and admirers of a truly great thespian couple, this movie is a treat.
Lunt is adorable in this pre-code sex farce
wetcircuit7 July 2019
What a shame that this is our only Lunt/Fontanne film. They seem natural together as the hammy actors stepping on the other's lines and bickering during curtain calls. The characters recall the over-the-top narcissistic actors from 20th Century, but here they are far more likable. After a brief stage scene of "serious acting" we cut to backstage where the real drama is unfolding. Lunt's histrionics are half attention-seeking and half the insecurity of an over-blown ego - he's the diva.
I can think of several films where an actress wife creates a false identity to fool her husband - usually to get a part in his show. Here's a fun genderswap with Lunt as the flashier sex, sighing loudly in his underwear - and when that doesn't get a reaction he sticks out his rump and sighs again louder while a dry Roland Young ignores him. Later, Lunt imagines himself passionately bursting into Fontanne's boudoir, only to turn and drape himself vulnerably across her makeup table. In contrast, Lunt's Russian guardsman is a growling brute in a uniform that no woman can resist (so he thinks).
Fontanne has less to do in her "straight man" role, but manages to steal the spotlight even in Lunt's contrived fantasy, sending mixed-messages announcing she could never cheat on her husband while clearly encouraging her suitor's advances.
I can think of several films where an actress wife creates a false identity to fool her husband - usually to get a part in his show. Here's a fun genderswap with Lunt as the flashier sex, sighing loudly in his underwear - and when that doesn't get a reaction he sticks out his rump and sighs again louder while a dry Roland Young ignores him. Later, Lunt imagines himself passionately bursting into Fontanne's boudoir, only to turn and drape himself vulnerably across her makeup table. In contrast, Lunt's Russian guardsman is a growling brute in a uniform that no woman can resist (so he thinks).
Fontanne has less to do in her "straight man" role, but manages to steal the spotlight even in Lunt's contrived fantasy, sending mixed-messages announcing she could never cheat on her husband while clearly encouraging her suitor's advances.
Come and meet "The Lunts"
ronrobinson322 September 2023
After watching this film, I did some research on Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. I enjoyed watching their performances and rapport with each other. It turns out they were a famous couple from the stage known as "The Lunts". They were married and almost always starred together. They made only a very few films. This was a recreation of the play called "The Guardsman" that had been a big hit on Broadway that they were also the stars of.
Well, in recreating their parts in this film, they were a delight to watch. Alfred Lunt is boyish and charming with a fragile ego. Lynn Fontanne is beautiful and poised as she plays a perfect foil to his bizarre mannerisms. It turns out they were both nominated for an Academy Award for their roles.
The premise of the plot starts off with Lunt and Fontanne as famous successful stage actors. He is very jealous of any man that she looks at. He devises a scheme where he will dress himself up as a Guardsman Prince since Fontanne seems to be attracted to men in uniform. As the Guardsman, he sneaks around whenever her husband is not around. But as she falls for the Guardsman, it gets harder and harder for Lunt to keep up the charade.
They have ZaSu Pitts as a maid and Roland Young as a theatre critic to play off of also.
The dialogue is fun. The acting is fresh. And "The Lunts" are just plain fun to watch!
Check it out and meet "The Lunts"!!
Well, in recreating their parts in this film, they were a delight to watch. Alfred Lunt is boyish and charming with a fragile ego. Lynn Fontanne is beautiful and poised as she plays a perfect foil to his bizarre mannerisms. It turns out they were both nominated for an Academy Award for their roles.
The premise of the plot starts off with Lunt and Fontanne as famous successful stage actors. He is very jealous of any man that she looks at. He devises a scheme where he will dress himself up as a Guardsman Prince since Fontanne seems to be attracted to men in uniform. As the Guardsman, he sneaks around whenever her husband is not around. But as she falls for the Guardsman, it gets harder and harder for Lunt to keep up the charade.
They have ZaSu Pitts as a maid and Roland Young as a theatre critic to play off of also.
The dialogue is fun. The acting is fresh. And "The Lunts" are just plain fun to watch!
Check it out and meet "The Lunts"!!
My Wife is in Love With Me!
view_and_review8 February 2024
"The Guardsman" was genuinely funny. In a way it reminded me of "War of the Roses." I don't find many 30's comedies funny because they involve fast talking and dated references, but this one was a riot.
It starred Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne as The Actor and The Actress, a married couple that performed on stage together. They had a hilariously bitter marriage full of barbs and quips back and forth. The Actor was particularly miffed because he believed his wife was pining for another man. It turns out that he had good reason to believe this because HE was the other man.
The Actor put on a costume and makeup to make himself into a Russian prince. He then showered The Actress with roses and love notes. Their relationship was progressively heating up which made The Actor worried, angry, and afraid. If she falls for this Russian prince then she wouldn't be faithful to me. Only one other person knew his secret and that was his good friend The Critic (Roland Young).
I had a blast watching this. It didn't even fit the mold of 1931, it seemed like it was plucked from a later era. Alfred Lunt nailed it with his accents, his emotion, his delivery, and his facial expressions. I think only Charlie Chaplin could've done the role as well, though I don't know how good Charlie Chaplin was at accents.
It starred Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne as The Actor and The Actress, a married couple that performed on stage together. They had a hilariously bitter marriage full of barbs and quips back and forth. The Actor was particularly miffed because he believed his wife was pining for another man. It turns out that he had good reason to believe this because HE was the other man.
The Actor put on a costume and makeup to make himself into a Russian prince. He then showered The Actress with roses and love notes. Their relationship was progressively heating up which made The Actor worried, angry, and afraid. If she falls for this Russian prince then she wouldn't be faithful to me. Only one other person knew his secret and that was his good friend The Critic (Roland Young).
I had a blast watching this. It didn't even fit the mold of 1931, it seemed like it was plucked from a later era. Alfred Lunt nailed it with his accents, his emotion, his delivery, and his facial expressions. I think only Charlie Chaplin could've done the role as well, though I don't know how good Charlie Chaplin was at accents.
One of the funniest films I've ever seen
mrnunleygo2 March 2020
This pre-code comedy is the only sound film that starred legendary stage actors Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontaine. They had starred in the play on which it is based and they thought they'd give talking films a try. I watched it because I wanted a glimpse of Lunt and Fontaine, but as I watched I kept laughing and laughing. It's a silly comedy, a piece of fluff really, but Lunt and Fontaine (along with a great supporting cast) transform it into one of the funniest films I've ever seen. Lunt plays it big and broad while Fontaine keeps it small and subtle, but for the script they were working with, this worked beautifully. Although both actors were nominated for academy awards for their roles, the film was not a box office success, and the couple decided to stick to the stage thereafter. But this film is not just a curiosity. It's a masterpiece.
Acting as Infidelity
Cineanalyst13 March 2021
Mark another one off for 5th Academy Awards nominees reviewed, I suppose. Happy to see TCM put up "The Guardsman," as I was afraid I would otherwise need to resort to the old VHS release of it someday. Predictably, it's a creaky early talkie, a bit stagy, although no more than expected from such a stage adaptation, and with no musical score to speak of--only the diegetic Chopin, as early talkies before "King Kong" (1933) largely seem to have forgotten how silent films were scored. A fair job is actually done to open the play up a bit, and the camera moves and the picture cuts frequently enough, if nothing special in itself. Some of the editing is awkward, although I appreciate the attempts at a bit of overlapping dialogue. None of that is very important, though. This is a clever and funny film, and I totally support real-life husband-and-wife acting team Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne receiving Oscar nominations for playing, well, a husband-and-wife acting team. Having seen some of the rest of the slate of 1931-1932 season contenders, I probably would've given this more nominations over some of the more overrated ones (ahem, "The Champ," ahem).
What's not to like? Lunt and Fontanne are deliciously ostentatious in their actorly manners. The rest of the cast of an entourage, including the always wonderful if underused ZaSu Pitts, play the role of our on-screen spectators to the actors' continued performances off-stage. Such actors are they that the characters don't have names. Even when the couple attend the opera nominally as spectators, the film never shows us the stage and instead focuses all the attention on their performances, which is in contrast with the first play-within-a-play scene where they're on stage and the picture entirely focuses on that. Off-stage, continuing to perform, the jealous husband puts on the disguise and accent of the titular Russian guardsman, prince, or whatever, to try to seduce his wife as a test of her fidelity. Meanwhile, we're to wonder whether the result is dramatic irony in that we know more than her, and she's acting to hide the budding affair from hubby, or whether she's playing along with the marital role play and, thus, fooling us. The entire premise being to equate the inherent insincerity of the acting process, of pretending to be someone else, with marital infidelity or sexual promiscuity.
Nowadays, even Ryan Murphy can figure out how to compare acting to cheating and prostitution in drivel such as his "Hollywood" (2020) mini-series, but there wasn't so much of this, at least this explicitly and thoroughly, back at the dawn of the talkies when a lot of plays could finally be adapted sonically as well as visually. Clever stuff.
What's not to like? Lunt and Fontanne are deliciously ostentatious in their actorly manners. The rest of the cast of an entourage, including the always wonderful if underused ZaSu Pitts, play the role of our on-screen spectators to the actors' continued performances off-stage. Such actors are they that the characters don't have names. Even when the couple attend the opera nominally as spectators, the film never shows us the stage and instead focuses all the attention on their performances, which is in contrast with the first play-within-a-play scene where they're on stage and the picture entirely focuses on that. Off-stage, continuing to perform, the jealous husband puts on the disguise and accent of the titular Russian guardsman, prince, or whatever, to try to seduce his wife as a test of her fidelity. Meanwhile, we're to wonder whether the result is dramatic irony in that we know more than her, and she's acting to hide the budding affair from hubby, or whether she's playing along with the marital role play and, thus, fooling us. The entire premise being to equate the inherent insincerity of the acting process, of pretending to be someone else, with marital infidelity or sexual promiscuity.
Nowadays, even Ryan Murphy can figure out how to compare acting to cheating and prostitution in drivel such as his "Hollywood" (2020) mini-series, but there wasn't so much of this, at least this explicitly and thoroughly, back at the dawn of the talkies when a lot of plays could finally be adapted sonically as well as visually. Clever stuff.
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