I like MGM epics. The 5-year-old likes sword fights. We both like to stay up past midnight, watching old movies, while the rest of the family sleeps. Hence, last night's midnight showing of Scaramouche.
This one's got it all. Pomp. Pageantry. Enough Technicolor to make your eyes cross. Stewart Granger is in full-on beef-cake glory. Mel Ferrer is playing the villain (which he should have done way more often because he was way scary). Eleanor Parker is not getting rejected by Captain von Trapp, for once. And Janet Leigh is not getting stabbed in the shower, for once. (Oh, sorry, spoiler alert!) It's pretty pre-Revolution France (you know, without pesky poverty or subjugation or raging disease), and it is gorgeous as all get out.
Things cap off with a 7 minute sword fight that had the 5-year-old jumping around the living room, attempting to also swing on the drapes. I may need to reconsider these midnight epics........ but you shouldn't. See it soon!
