Product Description

The beloved Nineteenth Century tale of romance and swashbuckling comes to the screen in this lavish production from producer Stanley Kramer (Inherit the Wind). A charismatic poet and swordsman with a large nose, Cyrano (Jose Ferrer) reluctantly aids another in the pursuit of his one true love, the ravishing Roxane; the result is pure fun and excitement! Winner of the 1950 Best Actor Academy Award®: José Ferrer and mastered from Original 35mm Nitrate Fine Grain.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #92872 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-05-18
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 113 minutes

Amazon.com
Edmond Rostand's ineffably romantic play about the big-nosed soldier and swordsman with a poet's soul looks stagey in this 1950 film adaptation. But, thanks to a heartfelt performance by Jose Ferrer (who won an Oscar for the role), the beauty of Rostand's words shines through. Ferrer plays Cyrano, who is in love with the beautiful Roxanne but is unable to tell her so for fear that she will reject him because of his extremely prominent nose. In a heart-breaking turn, she confesses her love to him--but it is love for another man, a soldier under his command named Christian. Christian, however, is a good-hearted but tongue-tied youngster, and so the older Cyrano woos Roxanne vicariously by supplying Christian with his own words of love, most famously in a balcony scene in which Cyrano speaks for himself while pretending to be Christian. Ferrer is tender, tough, and funny and single-handedly pulls this film to near-greatness. --Marshall Fine

Customer Reviews

Best edition of a magnificent film
This (yellow poster on DVD case) is the Hal Roach edition of the 1950 film starring Jose Ferrer. I'm aware of two other editions: Alpha Video, & Marengo Films. The Alpha Video edition (full colour head shot of Cyrano) is crap -- not worth $5. The Marengo edition (black poster on DVD case), while clean in sound & video, is darker than this Hal Roach edition. In several significant scenes taking place outdoors at night, this edition shows more detail and is easier to watch. It has a minor flaw, a purple band that slowly rolls from bottom to top of the screen; I can eliminate it by reducing the colour intensity on my monitor.

I have all three editions; this is the one I watch.

BEST OF THE CYRANOS
This Hal Roach Studios production from Image Entertainment is the best of the best. Flawlessly transferred from original 35mm camera negative and finegrain material, it features a brilliant soundtrack as well as the original theatrical trailer. This is the real deal--not a backyard dupe offered in a quickie transfer (probably to analogue) for el cheapo prices. If you want CYRANO, this class act version is the one to buy. SPECIAL NOTE: The specification notes indicated on the Amazon site are WRONG--this disc is encoded "Region Zero" not "Region One" as is stated. It will play on any DVD player anywhere in the world. So, what are you waiting for?? (Review refers to Hal Roach Studios DVD version released by Image Entertainment.)

Great film but, alas, a poor DVD
This review is based on the Apha Video DVD. That's the cheaper one with the close up of Cyrano's face on the cover. The picture jumps so badly, I got a headache. There are also several split-second gaps in the footage, causing snatches of spoken lines to be obliterated. Worst of all, the actors sound as though their heads are being held underwater and the violins on the soundtrack are similarly submerged.

This is lovely, literate film, with several average performances and one astonishing, Academy-Award-winning performance by Jose Ferrer. His portrayal of Cyrano might well be the greatest of all time, even when it sounds like it is spoken from inside my fish tank. The story itself, rich and romantic, and almost Shakespearean in its sense of tragic romance, may cause you to cry as much as the horrible quality of the DVD. The closing scene, in the courtyard of a convent during a light-falling snow, has been etched in my memory ever since I first saw it as a kid.

This film was nominated as one of AFI's best love stories of all time.

I am going to order the more expensive version distributed by Image Entertainment and will update my review based on that.