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By
NICK ZEGARAC
Shot on location in Italy,
Henry King's Prince of Foxes (1949) is an absurdly
lavish, visually resplendent 'would-be epic' that
tragically only comes to life in fits and sparks.
Based on the novel by Samuel Shellabarger, the
film tells the story of greedily ambitious Cesare
Borgia (Orson Welles); a 1500 AD conqueror who is
set to devour the whole of Italy, one province at
a time. Cesare has been exploiting his sister,
Angela's (Marina Berti) beauty to rack up husbands
who are shortly thereafter poisoned, seceding all
lands and titles to the Borgia family.
Also to his purpose, Cesare sends his most trusted
co-conspirator, Andrea Orsini (Tyrone Power) to
conquer Citte del Monte; the rich and fertile
lands and kingdom belonging to Count Marc Antonio
Verano (Felix Aylmer) and his much younger wife,
Camilla (Wanda Hendrix). Andrea's self-appointed
importance as a lady's man, presupposes that
Camilla will be just as easily swayed by his charm
and good looks and thereafter betray her husband.
Andrea's mother (Katina Paxinou) is horrified when
she learns of Andrea's latest quest. She
rightfully perceives her son as a dupe, dependent
on Cesare's every whim and command for his
livelihood. But Andrea also holds a deeper dark
secret -- he has not been born to noble blood as
Cesare supposes.
However, what Andrea discovers upon his arrival in
Citte del Monte is a Count who desires nothing but
peace, and a woman who is as loyal to her husband
as he remains to his country. The experience is
humbling, and Andrea turns coat to rise up against
Cesare in a fight to the death. But will Andrea's
fair weather confidant, Mario Belli (Everett
Sloane) -- a man who began by plotting to
assassinate Andrea, feel the same way about
Andrea's new found loyalty?
Sumptuously photographed by Leon Shamroy, with
confounding and gargantuan sets designed by Thomas
Little, and with a lush orchestral score by Alfred
Newman, Prince of Foxes has everything going for
it except narrative cohesion to keep the action
and dialogue portions in perfect harmony. As
Cesare, Orson Welles is obviously in his element
and having a good time being master of all he
surveys. But the narrative, jettisons his
involvement with the story about midway through to
focus on Orsini's growing affection for the Count.
Alright, I'll say it -- the allure of Ty' Power in
period garb escapes this critic. He is ill served
by breast plates, capes and spandex -- appearing
effeminate and not terribly engaged with his
material as the lady's man, in a way that Errol
Flynn seemed all too readily and easily to
assimilate into while retaining an air of devilish
handsome and manly grace in similar fare over at
Warner Bros. The appearance of Everett Sloane in
similar attire is woefully laughable to say the
least. Prince of Foxes is regarded as one of the
best of this sort of cloak and dagger faux history
epics. It is -- but that isn't saying much for the
genre on the whole.
Fox Home Video's DVD is impressively mastered. The
B&W image is, for the most part, solid and nicely
contrasted. The grayscale is well delineated,
sharp without appearing digitally enhanced.
Occasionally, age-related artifacts are thicker
than expected. There is also a hint of edge
enhancement and pixelization, but neither will
terribly distract. The audio has been rechanneled
to stereo. The original mono is also available.
Extras include an isolated score (which is
actually a score and effects track that rather
defeats the purpose, since you hear everything
from chains being dragged across a floor to swords
clashing over the musical score, wholly ruining
one's appreciation for just the score). There's
also a stills and advertising gallery and a brief
Movietones newsreel covering Power's wedding to
Linda Christian in Rome. The original theatrical
trailer is actually the Italian trailer for the
film, minus any narration. |
