Fanny

Playwright, novelist, screenwriter, producer, and director Marcel Pagnol's original Fanny trilogy—a nearly-seven-hour epic filmed between 1932-36 that captured waterfront life in Marseilles, France—was turned into a musical in 1954, which then became the basis for this 1961 film from Joshua Logan. A simple tale, Pagnol's story revolves around a young man named Marius (Horst Buchholz) who lusts for the sea; Fanny (Leslie Caron), the woman who loves him; and his lovable bear of a father Cesar (Charles Boyer). The basic plot involves Fanny becoming pregnant on the eve of Marius' departure on a ship, an elderly shopkeeper (Maurice Chevalier) wedding her to save her honor, and the complications that arise when Marius prematurely returns. What made the original trilogy so special was the superb characterization, especially the crochety, but fiercely loving Cesar (played, in the French version by the brilliant comic actor Raimu), who won the audience's undying devotion whether he was lying, cheating at cards, or scheming with Fanny's mother to get the two lovebirds together. Boyer, although a fine thespian, is no match for Raimu, and he and the other cast members are further hampered by the severe compression (one of the true charms of the original lay in its numerous extraneous comic bits or character-revealing long stretches of dialogue, many of which are lost here). Even so, this Fanny boasts its own strengths, including Jack Cardiff's beautiful on-location cinematography, Caron's captivating performance in the title role, and a solid set of show tunes. Recommended, overall. (R. Pitman)