Movie Reviewed: Scaramouche, starring Alice Terry and Ramon Novarro

Movie Reviewed: Scaramouche, starring Alice Terry and Ramon Novarro

Gone with the wind

Days leading to the French revolution, an orphan named André-Louis Moreau (Ramon Novarro) becomes an outlaw French revolutionary. His personal story is the focus of this movie. Andre falls in love with Aline de Kercadiou (Alice Terry), but her uncle would like her to be married the Marquis de la Tour d'Azyr (Lewis Stone), an older French nobleman. When de la Tour kills André's friend Philippe de Vilmorin in a duel; André wages a duel. When authorities order for Andre’s arrest just before the duel, he flees and takes the identity of Scaramouche, the clown. This is partly a love story amidst a revolution, something similar to “Gone with the wind” but with a twist. It is not so much about infidelity but love and turmoil in France.

This movie was made in 1923 just before MGM Studio was created by the merger of three studios. MGM came to acquire many things; besides the studio equipments, but also stars, directors and writers and technical personnel of the three studios. MGM also inherited from its component companies like Metro studio, some valuable properties for re-use. One of them was the splendid productions Rex Ingram made for Metro. Although the newly formed studio lost the heartthrob Rudolph Valentino to the rival Paramount Studios when MGM refused pay him $100 raise in his wages. But it avoided other such costly mistakes by keeping Rex Ingram on its payroll. MGM also immediately replaced Valentino with Ramon Novarro as the studio’s Latin lover. Under circumstances, MGM made the best decision to keep Rex Ingram as the studio’s director. Because Ingram was not only valuable money making director but also married to MGM’s leading actress Alice Terry. Terry and Novarro made five successful movies together; “Lovers,” “The Arab,” “Where the pavement ends,” and “The Prisoner of Zenda” including Scaramouche. Novarro and Terry became great friends and dated platonically despite her marriage to Ingram. Ramon Novarro was gay and they generally hung out at speakeasies that catered to gay clientele.

Scaramouche is a good movie to watch because of its historical significance, and I am sure all fans of Alice Terry and Ramon Novarro would love this film.