Fanny

Fanny is a movie that is a remake of Marcel Pagnol's Marseille Trilogy.  Although it was originally a trilogy, Fanny is all three condensed into one movie.  Fanny stars Leslie Caron as Fanny, Maurice Chevallier as Panisse, Charles Boyer as Cesar, Horst Bucholz as Maurius, Georgette Anys as Honorine (Fanny's mother), Salvatore Baccaloni as Escartafique, and Lionel Jeffries as Monsieur Brun.

Fanny takes place in the French Mediterranean city of Marseille.  Maurius and Fanny are childhood friends that both live in the port right by the water.  Fanny's mom is Honorine, a fish monger and quite possibly the most annoying character in this movie.  Cesar is Maurius father and he owns a small bar on the water frequented by the sailors that come and go from the port.  Cesar's friends are Monsieur Brun and Panisse, the later who owns a large sail making business.

Maurius and Fanny are in love, but Maurius loves the sea far more than he loves Fanny.  He secretly arranges to join the crew of a ship leaving Marseilles so he can see the world.  The night before he is to leave he and Fanny share the night together.  Although Fanny is in love with Maurius she chooses to let him go to sea rather than having him stay somewhere he hates.

Unfortunately, Fanny's mother witnessed Maurius leaving her house in the morning and speaks with Cesar about the two children being married.  They come to an agreement, but Maurius sneaks off before they can be married.  To add injury to insult it turns out that Fanny becomes pregnant as a result of their night together.

As a result Honorine acts quickly to avoid a scandal and a marriage between Panisse and Fanny is arranged.  Panisse also had eyes for Fanny, but as an older widowed man, Fanny had rejected him in favor of Maurius.  Panisse has always wanted a child and agrees to raise the boy as his own, despite Fanny's disgrace.  With that, I will go no further, because I do not want to spoil the story.

Charles Boyer was nominated as Best Actor for his performance as Cesar and I think it was deserved.  He is fantastic as Maurius head strong father, who loves his son, but is also a good friend to Panisse.  He is torn between his son and Panisse, but this does not stop him from doing the right thing.

The movie was also nominated for Best Picture.  While I found this to be a very entertaining movie, despite its length.  I am not sure it is what I would classify as Best Picture material.  If you compare it to the other movies that were nominated that year, I really don't think it is in the same league as the others, or to quote Jules in Pulp Fiction, ".....it ain't the same ball park.  It ain't the same league.  It ain't even the same fucking sport."

• The Guns of Navarone
• The Hustler
• Judgement at Nuremberg
• West Side Story

Now I am not a musical fan, but The West Side Story, which won the Oscar is clearly superior to Fanny.  I won't even go into how The Hustler is far superior to The West Side Story, it just is.  Searching the net, I found a lot of people who also felt that Fanny didn't really deserve the nomination either, though not that many that thought  West Side Story was undeserving.  It doesn't mean I am not right though.  Lets not act as if the Academy gets it right all the time.  Hell, I'm not sure they get it right most of the time.  Does anyone really think, Paul Newman's performance in The Color of Money as Eddie Felson is better than Eddie Felson in The Hustler?

Rant over!

Boyer was up against the following for actor.

• Paul Newman as Eddie Felson in The Hustler
• Maximillian Schell as Hans Rolfe in Judgement at Nuremberg
• Spencer Tracy as Judge Dan Heywood in Judgement at Nuremberg
• Stuart Whitman as Jim Fuller in The Mark

Maximillian Schell ended up winning and I don't know that I can really argue with that.  Paul Newman was excellent in The Hustler, but if he was indeed "snubbed" it certainly was not the worst snub he had or would receive by the Academy.

As I mentioned before, I enjoyed this movie.  While I found it a bit predictable, I felt the story was very good and it kept my attention throughout. The only fault I can find with the story is Honorine.  I mentioned before that she was quite annoying.  However, I can't really say if the writer is to blame or the actress.  Did the writer portray her as this ludicrous fish monger, or did the actress bring her to life that way. 

Maybe the real reason this move kept my attention was Leslie Caron.  I remember when I first put this movie in my queue on Netflix and read a bit about it, everyone spoke to how beautiful Caron was on screen.  I must admit, I had no clue as to who she was.  Which is one of the reasons I began this list and watching many of these movies.  I had heard of so many of these great stars, but I really didn't "know" of them. 

Caron is simply stunning.  I'm not going to say she is the most beautiful actress I have ever seen, but she is no hag either.  Take her beauty and add that to the beautiful scenery and cinematography in this film and you have a visually stunning picture.  Incidentally, Fanny did earn an Oscar nomination for cinematography as well.  I would give this movie 4 out of 5 stars.  Yes, I enjoyed it that much even if I still don't find it worthy of a Best Picture nomination.