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In the Eighteenth century, Empress Marie
Therese of Austria tells her daughter, Marie Antoinette, that a marriage
has been arranged between her and the Dauphin Louis XVI, heir to the
throne of France. Marie expects a life of grandeur, but is
confused by her future husband, an extremely shy and introverted man
whose only joy in life seems to be derived from his skill as a
locksmith. Abandoned by Louis on their wedding night, Marie
follows the malicious advice of the power-hungry Duke d'Orleans to find
solace in revels and gambling.
One day, she meets Count Axel de Fersen, and
is stung when he refuses to indulge her imperious whims. Two years
after Marie's marriage, Madame du Barry, the mistress of King Louis XV,
the Dauphin's grandfather, sends Marie an empty miniature cradle as an
anniversary gift, a pointed reminder that Marie has not yet produced an
heir. After a confrontation at a ball to conciliate Madame du
Barry and Marie, Louis XV decides that the marriage between his grandson
and Marie should be annulled. This proposal drives Louis XVI to
anger at last, and he defends his wife, but the king remains adamant.
Marie, meanwhile, is cruelly discarded by
d'Orleans, who stayed at her side only while she enjoyed favor.
Marie is consoled by seeing Axel, who reminds her of their childhood
friendship and declares his love for her. Plans for an annulment
are cancelled when the King unexpectedly dies, and Marie's hopes for a
romance with Axel end when he realizes that he cannot conduct a love
affair with a queen. He then leaves after vowing his eternal love.
The Dauphin, now King Louis XVI, becomes an
affectionate husband, and soon fathers a daughter and then a son by
Marie. Though he tries to be a just ruler, he is unable to stem
the tide of mounting social unrest. Marie's extravagances, especially
her unwitting purchase of an expensive diamond necklace, exposes the
French peoples' hatred for their Austrian queen, and this, along with
oppression and the political machinations of d'Orleans, lead to a
revolution.
By now, the ineffectual king has lost
influence over the military and, after the mob storms the palace, the
royal family is imprisoned. Immediately afterward, their friend
and companion, Princesse de Lamballe, is taken from them and executed.
Hope briefly comes when Axel, whose love for
Marie is known by Louis, arranges for an escape by bribing a guard, but
the family is soon recaptured. Condemned by the assembly,
including the treacherous d'Orleans, the royal couple and their children
share one last dinner. The next day the King is executed, and
Marie and her son are separated. The boy is forced to testify
against his mother at the assembly and they are both sentenced to death.
Axel comes to the now prematurely aged and worn queen one more time
before she is led to the guillotine.
Notes
An onscreen dedication reads: "To Sidney Franklin...for his
contribution in the preparation of this production...grateful
acknowledgement." According to contemporary news items in trade
publications, and information contained in the MGM story files at the
USC Cinema-Television library, pre-production work on the film began in
1933. At that time, Sidney Franklin was assigned to direct the
picture and Claudine West and Ernest Vajda were assigned to the script,
which was to be supervised by MGM production head Irving Thalberg.
News items in late 1933 through 1935
indicate that
Norma Shearer, Thalberg's wife, was to take the title role and that
Charles Laughton was "signed" to play opposite her as King Louis
XVI. In late December 1935, it was announced that Marie
Antoinette was to be the first major MGM production shot in Europe,
and Thalberg was planning to go to Europe in preparation for the film in
June 1936. The production was delayed a number of times, and after
Thalberg's death in mid-September 1936, it appeared that the film might
be shelved. In late August 1937, MGM assigned Jacques Tourneur,
who later acted as second unit director on the film, to prepare a short
documentary film about the last days of Queen Marie Antoinette to
generate interest in the main film.
By the time the picture was again back on
MGM's production schedule in 1937,
Charles Laughton was no longer available for the role of Louis XVI
and
Peter Lorre and Oscar Homolka were both tested for the part.
In a modern NYT interview, actor John Gielgud has said that he,
too, was considered for the role. In early Dec 1937, Lorre was
announced as the first choice for the role, but by the time filming
began on December 30, English actor Robert Morley had been awarded the
part. Marie Antoinette marked Morley's motion picture debut
and his last film made in the United States until Take Her - She's
Mine in 1963.
Maureen O'Sullivan was signed for the role of "Princess de Lambelle,"
but she had to replace the ill
Luise Rainer in the lead of MGM's Port of Seven Seas and was
thus prevented from appearing in Marie Antoinette. O'Sullivan was
then replaced by
Anite Louise, who was borrowed from Warner Bros. for the role.
Tyrone Power was borrowed from Twentieth Century-Fox for his role as
"Count Axel de Fersen." Early HR production charts, as well as a
studio cast sheet released before the film's completion, list actor
Shepperd Strudwick in the role of "Toulan." That role was taken
over by Leonard Penn at some point in the film's production.
Modern sources add that Herbert Marshall and
Robert Taylor were also considered for that role at various times.
On or about the first day of filming, Sidney
Franklin, who had been with the project from the beginning, was replaced
by W.S. Van Dyke II. According to an HR news item, Franklin
was "ill," but modern sources have indicated that after Thalberg's
death, MGM's interest in the project waned and studio executives felt
that Van Dyke would be a much faster, and thus cheaper, person to direct
the project. In 1939 Franklin became an MGM producer, a position
he held into the 1950s. The only film he worked on as a director
after 1938 was The Barretts of Wimpole Street, a 1957 remake of his 1934
film of the same name.
During principal photography on Marie
Antoinette, portions of the film were shot on location at the
recently completed Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California.
The racetrack's facade was decorated to stand-in for the exterior of the
Palace at Versailles. A press release, contained in the AMPAS
Library file on the film, from Robert M.W. Vogel of MGM's foreign
department states, "The French government has authorized the Palace of
Versailles to be photographed for the first time as a background in a
motion picture." The backgrounds were edited into the racetrack
footage in the completed film. In mid-March 1938, filming was
halted on the production for two weeks to edit completed scenes and to
decorate sets for scenes that needed to be added. During that
time, Van Dyke went on a location scouting trip to British Columbia for
Northwest Passage. Marie Antoinette subsequently went back into
production for an additional two months. An article in Life
magazine in July 1938, just after the film's Los Angeles premiere, noted
that it cost "only" $1,000,000 to make due to Van Dyke's economy.
The article also noted, among other things, that MGM's recreation of the
ballroom at Versailles was actually twice as large as the original.
 |
Article by
Nick Zegarac,
Writer and
Film Reviewer |
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SAB records indicate that writers Ernest
Vajda and Donald Ogden Stewart protested against not being given
screenwriting credit in the film's tentative credits submitted to AMPAS
on April 5, 1938. Vajda and Stewart are, however, included in the
onscreen credits of the released film, along with Claudine West, whose
name appeared first. According to news items, the film's lavish
premiere was held at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Los Angeles.
The event was broadcast on the radio, hosted by masters-of-ceremonies
Pete Smith, Don Wilson, Frank Whitbeck, Carey Wilson,
Robert Young and
Freddie Bartholomew. For its New York opening, MGM press
representative Howard Dietz arranged for a $100,000 "museum" quality
exhibition at New York's Astor Theatre to publicize the picture.
Marie Antoinette marked actor
John Barrymore's final film for MGM after being under contract to
that studio throughout the 1930s. Shearer and Morley were both
nominated for Academy Awards for their roles in the film. The picture
also received nominations in the Art Direction and Music (Scoring)
categories.
Music includes "Amour Eternal Amour,"
music and lyrics by Bob Wright, Chet Forrest and Herbert Stothart. |
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