Cinevent Notes Past: THE WEDDING MARCH
Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 5:11 am
Even with a casual knowledge of the history or his films, the question begs: why did any studio head in and or out of his mind ever rehire Erich Von Stroheim to direct another film after FOOLISH WIVES? Well, oddly enough, some of his pictures were actually hits with the general Public, and for every GREED either flopping or very tepidly and tinily earning against its expenses, there was a MERRY WIDOW that filled quite nicely the coffers. Then again, MGM dumped Von Stroheim in spite of THE MERRY WIDOW’s success, and you think Von’s studio exit numero dos would have been a warning to the other major studios who hadn’t had the pleasure. In fairness, Paramount only released THE WEDDING MARCH, it was eclectic motion picture pioneer, huckster and production dabbler P.A “Pat” Powers who took Von Stroheim on in 1926 to shoot another original story (his first since FOOLISH WIVES) in what the Director planned as a two-part picture with himself as star (again, for the first time since FOOLISH WIVES) playing what was essentially a sympathetic part.
Well, okay, relatively sympathetic as far as the Man-You-Love-To-Hate is concerned. Von Stroheim plays Prince Nicki, your average, run-of-the-mill Austrian Aristocrat just before World War One. Nicki may not be as depraved as the rest of his Family, and is even given to flirting with crippled but lovely musician Mitzi (Fay Wray, in one of her first major feature roles), but later finds his royal parents plan his nuptials to the club-footed Cecelia (Zasu Pitts) , daughter of a wealthy commoner, in hopes of reviving the royal family’s royal pocketbook.
That’s pretty much the set-up, and around it Von Stroheim paints a fascinating picture daubed throughout with his sometimes tasteless, but very human touches, as well as some oddly for Von, but very ethereal and lovely romantic interludes as Nicki weighs his choices: marry for love? marry for money? Then what to do after that?
We’ll never know, because Erich Von Stroheim once again lived up to his extravagant legends, the shooting of THE WEDDING MARCH abounds with such as the elaborate orgy scene which became a real orgy as Stroheim hired real prostitutes, gallons of bootleg liquor, and closed and locked the Stage doors and let all go at it for supposed days while he filmed away. Part One was completed as planned, but somewhere in the middle of shooting Part Two, Pat Powers tired of the cost-overruns and Erich Von Stroheim once again found himself with walking papers. The first half was released by Paramount nearly two-years after production began, boasting a Movietone musical track and Technicolor sequences, and what there was of Part Two was hastily shuffled together and padded out with lengthy flashbacks from Part One into a short feature called THE HONEYMOON, which was released in Europe only in 1929. The last known print of THE HONEYMOON was in the hands of the Cinemateque’s Henri Langois, who unfortunately allowed it to decompose before it was preserved in the 1950’s.
Yet the first half remains, and THE WEDDING MARCH may indeed be Erich Von Stroheim’s most poetic and gentle picture (perhaps in the same way THE GORILLA is the Ritz Brothers most poetic and gentle picture, but you get what I mean). Undoubtedly things got seamier in round two, but here we do find some beauty in Erich Von’s soul, and bittersweet but lovely romance, played nowhere near a sewer cap, but with some genuine Old World Viennese charm.
And nobody gave comedians and comediennes more opportunities in serious or certainly off-beat roles. Nobody else seems to have caught the wispy sadness in Zasu Pitts eyes, or gave her the chance to show what she really could do as an actress. Or Dale Fuller, whom this Author recently saw as herself in a silent SCREEN SNAPSHOTS reel and to his final relief, saw she looked like a normal-looking and happy lady in real life. Watch for early Vitagraph comic Hughie Mack in what became his final film role by default due to the pictures late release (he died in 1927). And lest we not forget the other Von Stroheim regulars: Cesare’ Gravina, George Fawcett, Sidney Bracey, and the always fascinating Maude George, with her strangely placid face and intriguing wicked eyes, another actress only Erich V. knew how to bring the best out of.
After THE WEDDING MARCH, Erich Von Stroheim had only one great debacle left, and at least QUEEN KELLY may have earned him the dubious distinction of being of being possibly the only Hollywood figure who actually took Joseph P. Kennedy to the cleaners. After that, except for acting roles, script doctoring, one more directing job down the drain on Fox’s WALKING DOWN BROADWAY/HELLO SISTER (1933) there were many years spent as a living legend before he became a dead one. Then the irony of his being immortalized by the masses for his portrayal of Max the Butler in Billy Wilder’s SUNSET BOULEVARD far more than any of his silent films.
In our impetuous film history youth, we cheered him on as the classic example of the brilliant misunderstood artist, dedicated only to his ART, at all odds, at all costs. In our middle years, we admit to ourselves that if we had been Irving Thalberg, Louis B. Mayer, or Pat Powers we’d have probably done the same damn thing. As much as I admire GREED, my heart of hearts and lower spine of lower spines sitting in theater seats tells me I really don’t want six more hours of it, or two or three more of FOOLISH WIVES. Erich Von Stroheim had incredible talent, but it was not a talent controlled by the real self-discipline that would have enabled that talent to exist fluidly in the art-form-by-committee known as the Movies, and in the end, the realist has to lay that blame at his own feet. I can even do without the patched and pasted together second half of THE WEDDING MARCH. As the newly-wedded Prince Nicki walks down the aisle betrothed to the one we won’t spoil by telling you, we can see all too clearly what is to come….
RICHARD M ROBERTS
Well, okay, relatively sympathetic as far as the Man-You-Love-To-Hate is concerned. Von Stroheim plays Prince Nicki, your average, run-of-the-mill Austrian Aristocrat just before World War One. Nicki may not be as depraved as the rest of his Family, and is even given to flirting with crippled but lovely musician Mitzi (Fay Wray, in one of her first major feature roles), but later finds his royal parents plan his nuptials to the club-footed Cecelia (Zasu Pitts) , daughter of a wealthy commoner, in hopes of reviving the royal family’s royal pocketbook.
That’s pretty much the set-up, and around it Von Stroheim paints a fascinating picture daubed throughout with his sometimes tasteless, but very human touches, as well as some oddly for Von, but very ethereal and lovely romantic interludes as Nicki weighs his choices: marry for love? marry for money? Then what to do after that?
We’ll never know, because Erich Von Stroheim once again lived up to his extravagant legends, the shooting of THE WEDDING MARCH abounds with such as the elaborate orgy scene which became a real orgy as Stroheim hired real prostitutes, gallons of bootleg liquor, and closed and locked the Stage doors and let all go at it for supposed days while he filmed away. Part One was completed as planned, but somewhere in the middle of shooting Part Two, Pat Powers tired of the cost-overruns and Erich Von Stroheim once again found himself with walking papers. The first half was released by Paramount nearly two-years after production began, boasting a Movietone musical track and Technicolor sequences, and what there was of Part Two was hastily shuffled together and padded out with lengthy flashbacks from Part One into a short feature called THE HONEYMOON, which was released in Europe only in 1929. The last known print of THE HONEYMOON was in the hands of the Cinemateque’s Henri Langois, who unfortunately allowed it to decompose before it was preserved in the 1950’s.
Yet the first half remains, and THE WEDDING MARCH may indeed be Erich Von Stroheim’s most poetic and gentle picture (perhaps in the same way THE GORILLA is the Ritz Brothers most poetic and gentle picture, but you get what I mean). Undoubtedly things got seamier in round two, but here we do find some beauty in Erich Von’s soul, and bittersweet but lovely romance, played nowhere near a sewer cap, but with some genuine Old World Viennese charm.
And nobody gave comedians and comediennes more opportunities in serious or certainly off-beat roles. Nobody else seems to have caught the wispy sadness in Zasu Pitts eyes, or gave her the chance to show what she really could do as an actress. Or Dale Fuller, whom this Author recently saw as herself in a silent SCREEN SNAPSHOTS reel and to his final relief, saw she looked like a normal-looking and happy lady in real life. Watch for early Vitagraph comic Hughie Mack in what became his final film role by default due to the pictures late release (he died in 1927). And lest we not forget the other Von Stroheim regulars: Cesare’ Gravina, George Fawcett, Sidney Bracey, and the always fascinating Maude George, with her strangely placid face and intriguing wicked eyes, another actress only Erich V. knew how to bring the best out of.
After THE WEDDING MARCH, Erich Von Stroheim had only one great debacle left, and at least QUEEN KELLY may have earned him the dubious distinction of being of being possibly the only Hollywood figure who actually took Joseph P. Kennedy to the cleaners. After that, except for acting roles, script doctoring, one more directing job down the drain on Fox’s WALKING DOWN BROADWAY/HELLO SISTER (1933) there were many years spent as a living legend before he became a dead one. Then the irony of his being immortalized by the masses for his portrayal of Max the Butler in Billy Wilder’s SUNSET BOULEVARD far more than any of his silent films.
In our impetuous film history youth, we cheered him on as the classic example of the brilliant misunderstood artist, dedicated only to his ART, at all odds, at all costs. In our middle years, we admit to ourselves that if we had been Irving Thalberg, Louis B. Mayer, or Pat Powers we’d have probably done the same damn thing. As much as I admire GREED, my heart of hearts and lower spine of lower spines sitting in theater seats tells me I really don’t want six more hours of it, or two or three more of FOOLISH WIVES. Erich Von Stroheim had incredible talent, but it was not a talent controlled by the real self-discipline that would have enabled that talent to exist fluidly in the art-form-by-committee known as the Movies, and in the end, the realist has to lay that blame at his own feet. I can even do without the patched and pasted together second half of THE WEDDING MARCH. As the newly-wedded Prince Nicki walks down the aisle betrothed to the one we won’t spoil by telling you, we can see all too clearly what is to come….
RICHARD M ROBERTS