The Affairs of Cellini | |
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Directed by | Gregory La Cava |
Written by | Bess Meredyth |
Based on | The Firebrand of Florence by Edwin Justus Mayer |
Produced by | Darryl F. Zanuck William Goetz (associate producer) Raymond Griffith (associate producer) |
Starring | Constance Bennett Fredric March Fay Wray Frank Morgan |
Cinematography | Charles Rosher |
Edited by | Barbara McLean |
Music by | Alfred Newman |
Production company | |
Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date |
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Running time | 80 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The Affairs of Cellini is a 1934 American historical comedy film directed by Gregory La Cava and starring Frank Morgan, Constance Bennett, Fredric March, Fay Wray, and Louis Calhern. It is set in Florence. The film was adapted by Bess Meredyth from the play The Firebrand of Florence by Edwin Justus Mayer.
Both the duke and duchess have an eye for beauty and other partners. The duke presently fancies a young woman who poses as an artist's model. The duchess has her eye on the famous artist, Benvenuto Cellini, who is in the palace making a set of gold plates to be used at ducal banquets. Cellini purportedly hypnotizes young women, and cuckolds the duke of Florence. The somewhat oblivious duke is loath to punish the young man because Cellini fashions gold wares for him, but throws him into the torture chamber. However, a goblet of poisoned wine solves the problem.
Morgan was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. It was also nominated for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography and Best Sound, Recording (Thomas T. Moulton). [1]
The film was a box-office disappointment for United Artists. [2]
The film would later be discussed on the seventh episode of The Snub Club where it was heavily criticized. [3]
During production and distribution of the movie, MPPDA's production code took effect on every major film studio like Warner Bros. or the Walt Disney Productions. Fox Film Corporation had the first film with the MPPDA production code era with The World Moves On , released on June 28, 1934.
Vina Fay Wray was a Canadian-American actress best known for starring as Ann Darrow in the 1933 film King Kong. Through an acting career that spanned nearly six decades, Wray attained international recognition as an actress in horror films. She has been dubbed one of the early "scream queens".
Viva Villa! is a 1934 American pre-Code film directed by Jack Conway and starring Wallace Beery as Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa. The screenplay was written by Ben Hecht, adapted from the 1933 book Viva Villa! by Edgecumb Pinchon and O. B. Stade. The film was shot on location in Mexico and produced by David O. Selznick. There was uncredited assistance with the script by Howard Hawks, James Kevin McGuinness, and Howard Emmett Rogers. Hawks and William A. Wellman were also uncredited directors on the film.
The White Parade is a 1934 film directed by Irving Cummings and starring Loretta Young and John Boles. It was written by Rian James, Jesse Lasky Jr., Sonya Levien and Ernest Pascal, from the novel by Rian James.
Francis Phillip Wuppermann, known professionally as Frank Morgan, was an American character actor. He was best known for his appearances in films starting in the silent era in 1916, and then numerous sound films throughout the 1930s and 1940s, with a career spanning 35 years mostly as a contract player at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, with his most celebrated performance playing the title role of The Wizard in the MGM movie The Wizard of Oz (1939). He was also briefly billed early in his career as Frank Wupperman and Francis Morgan.
Carl Henry Vogt, known professionally as Louis Calhern, was an American stage and screen actor. Well known to fans of film noir for his role as Alonzo Emmerich, the pivotal villain in 1950's The Asphalt Jungle, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for portraying Oliver Wendell Holmes in the film The Magnificent Yankee later that year.
The Magnificent Yankee is a 1950 American biographical film adapted by Emmet Lavery from his 1946 play of the same title, which was in turn adapted from the 1942 book Mr. Justice Holmes by Francis Biddle. The story examines the life of United States Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
Benvenuto Cellini was an Italian goldsmith, sculptor, and author. His best-known extant works include the Cellini Salt Cellar, the sculpture of Perseus with the Head of Medusa, and his autobiography, which has been described as "one of the most important documents of the 16th century".
The following is an overview of 1934 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.
The following is an overview of 1933 in film, including significant events, a list of films released, and notable births and deaths.
Fay Okell Bainter was an American film and stage actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Jezebel (1938) and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Gregory La Cava was an American film director of Italian descent best known for his films of the 1930s, including My Man Godfrey and Stage Door, which earned him nominations for Academy Award for Best Director.
Charles Hart is an English lyricist, librettist and songwriter best known for his work on The Phantom of the Opera as well as a number of other musicals and operas for both stage and television.
The Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze is an instructional art academy in Florence, in Tuscany, in central Italy.
Twentieth Century Pictures, Inc. was an independent Hollywood motion picture production company created in 1933 by Joseph Schenck and Darryl F. Zanuck from Warner Bros. Financial backing came from Schenck's younger brother Nicholas Schenck, president of Loew's, the theater chain that owned Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Louis B. Mayer of MGM, who wanted a position for his son-in-law, William Goetz, Bank of America and Herbert J. Yates owner of the film processing laboratory Consolidated Film Industries, who later founded Republic Pictures Corporation in 1935. The company product was distributed by United Artists (UA), and leased space at Samuel Goldwyn Studios.
Robert Riskin was an American screenwriter. He is best known for his collaborations with Frank Capra.
Laughter is a 1930 American pre-Code comedy film directed by Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast and starring Nancy Carroll, Fredric March and Frank Morgan. It was shot at the Astoria Studios in New York.
The Richest Girl in the World is a 1934 American romantic comedy film directed by William A. Seiter and starring Miriam Hopkins, Joel McCrea and Fay Wray. Norman Krasna was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Story. It was remade in 1944 as Bride by Mistake with Laraine Day and Alan Marshal.
John Monk Saunders was an American novelist, screenwriter, and film director.
The Reader is a 1988 French film directed by Michel Deville. The film won that year's Louis Delluc Prize, and was nominated for nine César Awards including Best Supporting Actor, won by Patrick Chesnais.
Up in Arms is a 1944 musical film directed by Elliott Nugent and starring Danny Kaye and Dinah Shore. It was nominated for two Academy Awards in 1945.