Betty Wears Ermine

The kingdom of Bergamo is celebrating the wedding of their Countess Angelina (Betty Grable) to Baron Mario (Cesar Romero), her childhood friend. The festivities are interrupted by gunshot - the Hungarians, Bergamo's longtime enemy are invading. Mario flees to join his regiment, while Angelina awaits the arrival of the Colonel (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) and his forces. When he arrives and is denied admittance to the Countess, the Colonel finds himself smitten with a portrait of an earlier Countess of Bergamo, Francesca (Betty Grable), That Lady in Ermine (1948).

Initially directed by Ernst Lubitsch, this is a frothy little musical that is fun and enjoyable. It's a happy film; it's a bit silly, but it is fun and entertaining. It's a fairy tale for adults and doesn't try to be anything else. Based on an operetta titled Die Frau im Hermelin, Lubitsch had hoped to direct it since the studio acquired the rights in 1942. By the time he was able to put the film together, he was suffering from heart disease, and regrettably died during production. Direction was taken over by Otto Preminger (who reshot some scenes, and deleted others). Out of respect for Lubitsch (or so he claimed), Preminger refused to have his name placed on the picture (TCM article).

Betty Grable is quite sweet as the Countesses Francesca and Angelina. As Francesca, she is a portrait come to life - and she is especially fun in that role. She gets to boss the other portraits around, and beam periodically at The Colonel (which is rather disconcerting for him!). Of course, she is also an excellent dancer, and her big number with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. is quite energetic and exciting to watch (directed by Hermes Pan!). She also has a beautiful wardrobe designed by Renè Hubert - the full-length ermine coat that Francesca wears in the portrait was real ermine according to the Fox publicity department, and cost $28,000. (AFI catalog)

Douglas Fairbanks is captivating and charming as the Colonel. Though initially domineering, exposure to Francesca - and Angelina - make him loosen up a bit. Mr. Fairbanks portrays the Colonel as a man secure in his masculinity, and so you root for him  to capture the love of the fair maiden. The dance cited above is exciting largely because of Mr. Fairbanks athletic style of dance -   as he leaps on and off  tables, one is reminded of his father, Douglas Sr.

Mr. Fairbanks' foil in the action is Cesar Romero, who doesn't really have a lot to work with. Mario is a wimp, and he is there if only to give the audience someone to root against. Born in New York City (and yes, Cesar Romero is his real name). He started his film career in 1933 - his second film had him as the greedy husband of the former Mrs. Wynant in The Thin Man (1934).  Much of his career, however, was spent playing ethnic parts and in supporting roles - he was Indian in Wee Willie Winkie (1937), Italian in British Agent (1934), and Spanish in The Captain from Castile (1947) - but he had his share of leads, including Week-End in Havana (1941).  During the second World War, he joined the Coast Guard, and saw action in the Mariana Islands. He began to transition to television in the 1950's and it was there that he found a new audience - notably with his audacious performance as The Joker in the Batman series. He was popular in the Hollywood community - frequently escorting single women like Barbara Stanwyck, Lucille Ball, Ann Sheridan, Jane Wyman and Ginger Rogers to events. Mr. Romero never married; he died in 1994, at age 86, of a blood clot. 

It's always a pleasure to see Walter Abel (playing the dual roles of Major Horvath and Benvenuto). He's delightful as a family man who rather likes his surly commander.  Also present in very small parts are Reginald Gardiner (as Alberto, an inhabitant of one of the portraits), and Harry Davenport (as Luigi, the palace storyteller and matchmaker).

When the film was first acquired, Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer were the intended leads. Later, Gene Tierney was considered for Francesca/Angelina and both Rex Harrison and Cornel Wilde were in the running for the Colonel. Not surprisingly, the PCA had some issues with the initial script; some minor tweaks to the ending solved this problems.

We were amazed to discover that Bosley Crowther of the New York Times actually enjoyed the film when he reviewed it. He called it "a glittering and mischievous romp, punctuated with nice music...." While not Lubitsch's best film, it's a lot of fun and certainly worth seeing (it was my favorite movie when I was tiny, and much to my parents' chagrin, in the age before VHS recorders, it was a movie I was always asking to view). We'll leave you with this trailer: