On the Cutting Room Floor: Leonard's Coiffure

A little background: I have been fortunate enough to acquire a copy of the shooting script for the incomparable MGM Marie Antoinette film. The primary reason I made the purchase was to gain access to some of the cut and altered scenes which, though present when the film was shot, were ultimately removed from the final film. 

This deleted sequence was sandwiched between Marie Antoinette's "debut" ball intended to thrust her into the limelight of the court and the artist's ball where she slaps, then kisses, the amorous Orleans. 

EXT. DUTCH LANDSCAPE

We see what appears to be a charming pastoral scene. in the foreground is a windmill, by a glassy stream that meanders through flowers. A little cow browses there. light falls slantingly upon it. Off scene we hear a gale of light laughter, mingled with cries of,  "Oh, Gaston!" -"Shocking!" - "You bad boy!" etc.

BEDCHAMBER OF MARIE ANTOINETTE - COMPOSITION SHOT

We see now that the Dutch landscape is a headdress that crowns Marie Antoinette's powdered and high-piled curls. Leonard, the hairdresser, is standing on a little ladder dramatically at work on his creation. His assistant stands anxiously by, to hand up hairpins, powder, etc.

Marie Antoinette is seated at her dresser, wearing an extremely decollete negligee. The scene has an atmosphere of almost wantonness for the room is filled with men, satin dandies lounging in free attitudes about her Highness, leaning on the dresser, seated very near to her, eyeing her with impertinence of appreciation. One or two women are also present, including Polignac and Lamballe. 

Orleans stands at a mantel in the background. Seated on a stool at Marie Antoinette's feet is the young, beautiful and decadent St. Pre., who has just told the story. They are all laughing at him, laughter which he acknowledges bowing. Leonard wrings his hands because Marie Antoinette's movements impede his progress.

Marie Antoinette (still laughing)
Wasn't there a Queen of France who kissed a poet's lips - because they had said such beautiful things?

St. Pre

But, yes, Madame!

Marie Antoinette

I shall kiss yours - because they say such naughty ones!

St. Pre lifts his face eagerly, she bends and kisses his lips.

Lamballe

Take care! Philippe is watching!

Marie Antoinette peeps into her mirror.

Marie Antoinette (provocatively)

What do you see, Philippe?

CLOSE SHOT - ORLEANS AT MIRROR

He is watching the scene in the mirror over the mantel, his expression lightly ironical.

Orleans

I see Marie Antoinette - the most beautiful woman in France.

CLOSE SHOT - MARIE ANTOINETTE AND GROUP

Marie Antoinette (bowing to him in mirror)
Thank you, Philippe!

Leonard (in anguish)

Madame, I beg of you--not to wiggle--this is the moment!

Marie Antoinette (gaily, with uplifted hands)
Silence, all of you -- this is the moment!Q

The Ladies (delighted, breathless)

The moment!

A complete, intense silence falls. Men and women alike gaze enthralled at Marie Antoinette, who sits without stirring. Leonard, with the air of a high priest, touches a spring among the powdered curls. There is a whirring sound -- the wings of the windmill start to revolve gaily. Leonard stands proudly awaiting the artiste's due. it comes in a cascade of acclamation: "Suburb!" "Divine!' "Exquisite!" "Du Barry will expire with envy!" rising above light hand clapping, in which Orleans ironically joins. Marie Antoinette bows her towering elaboration regally to right and left as the camera moves to a big close up of her, windmills whirring, and we DISSOLVE....

--

This is another deleted sequence whose removal doesn't impact the film very much; it is just another scene intended to highlight the growing extravagance and, in the film's characterization, loose behavior of the "Orlean-ized" Marie Antoinette. We get glimpses in the finished film of how her behavior has impacted public opinion, particularly when Mercy tries to talk sense into her and remarks that she is being openly discussed as a "wanton," and this scene reads like the epitome of her bad behavior. I do think Orleans small role in the scene is interesting. He is participating in the extravagance just enough to be included in the group without actually indulging completely himself, other than to flatter Marie Antoinette. Even while he is attempting to be in her good graces, however, he is still keeping himself far enough removed for a clean escape from her the reputation of her entourage, if necessary.

And I must admit that I wish we could have seen the outrageous pastoral scene coiffure constructed by the film's version of Leonard!

Gladys George as Madame Du Barry in her Boudoir

credit: my scan/collection

Like every film, MGM's Marie Antoinette underwent several cuts for length and content before it was released for the general public. One of the scenes in the shooting script for the film I obtained earlier this year was an earlier introduction for Madame du Barry and her ladies. In this scene, Madame du Barry lounges on her elaborate bed while her ladies lament the fact that neither they, nor their mistress, are allowed to greet the dauphine.

Although I haven't been able to find any stills of the deleted scene, I was able to find a promotional photograph taken of Gladys George in her costume (and on the set) for this scene, which I posted above. 

The script for this deleted scene can be read here.

On the Cutting Room Floor: Lamballe and 'Toinette

A little background: I have been fortunate enough to acquire a copy of the shooting script for the incomparable MGM Marie Antoinette film. The primary reason I made the purchase was to gain access to some of the cut and altered scenes which, though present when the film was shot, were ultimately removed from the final film. 

This next scene that did not make the final cut of the film took place in between a shorter cut scene with Louis-Auguste and Gamin, the locksmith (I'm saving the "Gamin" scenes for their own post) and the morning scene with Madame du Barry, Louis XV, and his courtiers. It is a prelude to a later scene, where the duc d'Orleans visits Antoinette and tempts her to flaunt Du Barry and join court life.

Before this excerpt, the script sets the stage: Antoinette and Lamballe are pacing one of Marie Antoinette's apartments, where a chess game has been set up. Antoinette is facing the window, silent, while Lamballe sits by the game.

---

Lamballe 

(timidly)

Your play --

Marie Antoinette does not answer and Lamballe rises anxiously.

CLOSE SHOT - MARIE ANTOINETTE AT WINDOW

She stands, trying to hide her face. Lamballe comes into scene.

Lamballe  

(concerned)

You're crying!

Marie Antoinette  

(turns around, brokenly but furiously)

It's - it's just temper!

(she wipes her eyes savagely, sniffles)

I'm so bored I could scream!

And scream she does, shrilly, while Lamballe puts her hands over her ears.

Lamballe  

(aghast)

 'Toinette!

Marie Antoinette 

 (in a hysterical outburst)

Cooped up in here - day after day - going to prayers - reading dull books - dressing up for people who daren't come - because they're afraid of Du Barry--the mean spirited cowards! 

Lamballe 

(spiritedly)

And so's your husband! He might have come -- on your anniversary! You hoped he would -- you spend hours dressing!

Marie Antoinette 

(flaring up)

Why must you always remind me that my husband neglects me? I suppose you go around telling other people -- as though they didn't know! As though that woman--!

Lamballe 

(in a wail of anguish)

 'Toinette! How can you say such things -- how can you--

She drops to the floor by the window seat and bursts into tears. Marie Antoinette is instantly remorseful, drops down by her friend.

Marie Antoinette

Oh, I'm sorry -- I'm a beast today -- I didn't mean it -- don't cry, please, Therese, please!

 ---

The scene continues with a few more moments of cut material, when Lamballe and Antoinette spot the duc d'Orleans in the courtyard--they believe for a moment that he may visit them, but he turns away and Marie Antoinette remarks that he is going to visit "that woman." The scene then fades into the scene, which made it to the final film, with Madame du Barry deriding the courtiers (and then, finally, Orleans) for their duplicity.

In the final cut of the film, our first impression of Antoinette's life in Versailles after her wedding night is the scene which follows Du Barry's denouement in the script: Orleans visits Antoinette and Lamballe and tempts her into "becoming alive" at court. She doesn't agree, at first, but after Du Barry's cruel gift of an empty cradle and her husband's inability to stand up to the king's mistress, she decides she "means to be the dauphine of France," even if that requires following the lead of Orleans.

The removal of this scene doesn't necessarily have a significant impact on the film, but I think it does give the viewer a better and truly stronger sense of how truly desperate and lonely Antoinette is at this point. In turn, this makes her decision to abandon her husband's quiet life at court for the glittering role offered by Orleans less unexpected. It's not that she's just bored--she's feeling trapped, isolated and desperate to the point of hysterics.

Like most of the earlier cuts in the film, I suspect it was cut for time more than anything else.  Again, it doesn't really negatively impact the story--I feel like it's clear in the final film that the reason for teaming up with Orleans is her boredom and her treatment as a result of Du Barry, but it does make her motivation and drive behind her transformation more sympathetic and, in the end, understandable.

On the Cutting Room Floor: The Death of the Princesse de Lamballe

A little background: I have been fortunate enough to acquire a copy of the shooting script for the incomparable MGM Marie Antoinette film. The primary reason I made the purchase was to gain access to some of the cut and altered scenes which, though present when the film was shot, were ultimately removed from the final film.

  

The scene we will be taking a look at today is an alternate version of the death of the princesse de Lamballe, as portrayed in the film. In the DVD cut of the film, the princesse de Lamballe is abruptly dragged away from the newly captured royal family into the streets, where the sounds of an angry crowd wait. Moments later, after the family is escorted to their prison cell, they hear a shriek--the king goes to the window, is horrified by what he sees, and tries to prevent the queen from seeing the fate of her friend. She wrenches himself from her grasp, runs to the window--and faints in horror.

The shooting script, although not radically different, does contain more gruesome imagery than the scene in the final cut of the film. Perhaps this was one of the scenes that came to the minds of the Astor Theater management when they returned a message from producer Hunt Stromberg, saying that the brutal events in the second half of the film made it "too heavy or tragic for popular consumption."

--

SHOT: LAMBALLE - CHILDREN AND GUARDS

Lamballe  

(in a tremulous whisper, detaching the children's hands)

Go to your mother.

As they go out of the scene, she stands there helplessly a moment, looking in a bewildered way toward the once all-powerful rulers themselves so helpless now. Her eyes fill with tears. Then she bends in a reverent curtsey. Guards move to unbar the door. Two other Guards take her by the arms, leading her toward it. As the door is opened, there comes a savage roar from outside. De Lamballe starts back, terrified.

SHOT: FROM BEHIND HER AND GUARD

Down a flight of steps is a court of the Temple. Pressed against the railings beyond is a dense mob, the Paris mob with their red caps, their miniature guillotines. Many of the men are armed, with knives, axes, and sticks. The guard jerks the terrified de Lamballe roughly forward.

The scene in the shooting script plays the same as the film, with the royal family entering a room of the tower, and speaking a few lines of dialogue. Then:

The vague roar of the crowd beyond the Temple court has been audible throughout, but now it rises in volume and is suddenly cut through by a shriek of terror lost in the rising clamor. The Queen springs to her feet, her hand goes ot her heart.

Marie Antoinette

(faintly)

What is it?

She makes a swift movement forward, the King steps in her path checking her.

Louis

Don't go! I will look!

He crosses to the window quickly.

SHOT: CUT TO CLOSEUP - KING AT WINDOW

He stands looking tensely down. There is a crash of iron gates. The sound of tumult draws nearer. Fierce commands are shouted by officers of the Guard, drowned in the noisy derision of the mob. Suddenly an expression of horror comes to the King's face. A stifled cry breaks from him. 

SHOT: CLOSE SHOT - THE QUEEN

The children cling to her skirts terrified. Striving to disengage herself from them she starts forward. The king hurries into scene, lays a restraining hand on her arm.

Louis (distressed)

Don't look! It's only the mob! The guards--

He stands petrified a moment listening. The shouts of the mob reach her.

Voices Outside

Antoinette! Antoinette!
Come to the window!

Here's your dear friend!

Come - kiss your friend!

Marie Antoinette (faint with horror)

Therese! What are they doing! Therese!

The King holds her with both hands.

Louis

My dear, don't look! I beg of you--!

Desperately she wrenches herself free from his grasp, free from the clinging hands of her children, and rushes toward the window.

SHOT: CUT TO - CLOSEUP MARIE ANTOINETTE (SHOOTING FROM WINDOW)

She stares out. Her eyes widen in pity and terror. She half raises her hand as though to shut out the sight. A terrible, heart rending shriek of unbearable agony breaks from her.

SHOT: MED. FULL SHOT OF ROOM

While the Queen's shriek still rings out, and the children cling to their father, a black shadow waves across the wall - a grim moving silhouette of Therese de Lamballe's head, carried on a pike, the long hair waving about it.

SHOT: CLOSE SHOT OF THE QUEEN

Staring with wide horrified eyes. The unbearable tension snaps. She falls a dead weight to the floor. Louis comes into scene, drops on one knee, starts to lift her limp form. The exultant mob outside roars triumphantly. 

--

Although in reality, Marie Antoinette was fortunate enough not to see the head of her beloved friend being paraded on a pike, the murderers of the princesse de Lamballe did come to the Temple with the intention of entering and forcing Marie Antoinette to kiss their grisly trophy.

It is likely that some of this scene, as written in the shooting script, was never filmed or at least not included in any screening. An "X" is scrawled next to the scene where the silhouette of her paraded head is shown in the room of the Temple. The rest, if it was included in the original cut of the film, may have been removed in the fall of 1938 after approximately 20-30 minutes were removed to make it more palatable for the popular/wide release audience. 

Her death may have just been too brutal to be included in a film that MGM was promoting as a grand, romantic costume drama. I also wonder if the character and subsequent murder of Gamin (to be discussed at a later date!) was removed for this same reason--although this may have just been for time.

Personally, I think the scene as written is more effective than the final cut shown in the film. The removal of the moments between Marie Antoinette's cry of horror and her faint, for example, takes away the impact of what she is seeing--or what the audience imagines she is seeing. It's so fast that there is hardly time to dwell on it before it quickly fades out into the next scene.

Of course, the quicker scene might be viewed in a different way, as it highlights the chaotic nature of her last moments rather than dragging it out for the audience.


 

 

On the Cutting Room Floor: Madame du Barry's Boudoir

A little background: I have been fortunate enough to acquire a copy of the shooting script for the incomparable MGM Marie Antoinette film. The primary reason I made the purchase was to gain access to some of the cut and altered scenes which, though present when the film was shot, were ultimately removed from the final film.

In my last Cutting Room Floor post, we took a look at a brief scene between Louis XV and a groom-to-be, Louis-Auguste. This introductory scene was probably viewed as superfluous to the story, given the fact that much of the dialogue was repeated only minutes later in the "wedding night" scene between Louis and his new wife.

This next deleted scene was yet another introduction, which immediately followed the cut scene between Louis XV and Louis-Auguste and preceded the arrival scene between Marie Antoinette.

To set the stage (or sound stage, as it were): The scene begins as the carriage procession of Marie Antoinette is arriving to Versailles, to great applause and cheers.

---

SHOT: APARTMENT OF DU BARRY AT VERSAILLES. MED. SHOT OF WINDOW FROM OUTSIDE.

The cheers continue - long and loud. Four of Du Barry's ladies-in-waiting are leaning eagerly from the open casements.

1st Lady

(excitedly)

That's her coach--there!

SHOT: BEDROOM OF THE DU BARRY AT WINDOW SHOT FROM WITHIN.

3rd Lady

It's drawing up!

(she swings around to face the room)

Oh, do come, Madame Du Barry - you must see!

BED OF DU BARRY

A great painted affair with gorgeous draperies. Du Barry, hard, blond, cheap, sits propped among silken cushions, sweetmeats, perfumes, fashion pictures. Her face is venomous as:

Voice of 1st Lady

I wish we could go downstairs. I can't understand why His Majesty wouldn't--

Du Barry sits up, ominously.

Du Barry

(deadly)

His Majesty wouldn't what?

SHOT: GROUP OF LADIES

Turned now from the window, petrified with alarm.

Voice of Du Barry

(in rising rage)

His Majesty wouldn't allow me to come down to the reception--is that what you mean to say?

SHOT: CLOSE SHOT, DU BARRY

Du Barry

(furious)

His Majesty doesn't give me orders! I give him orders!:

(shocked cries from the ladies)

The reason that I don't attend the reception is that I'm ill.

(she suddenly screams)

Ill, do you understand! Ill! Ill!

There comes a sudden burst of wilder cheering, the clash of martial music, Du Barry leaps like a tigress from the bed, swishes rapidly over to the window, pushes the startled ladies aside and looks down.

SHOT: CLOSEUP, DU BARRY.

Tight-lipped, resentful, staring somberly down to the wave of cheering, the welcoming march. 

---

Although the scene doesn't radically alter the storyline, I feel like its removal does slightly detract from the antagonistic relationship developed between Madame Du Barry and Marie Antoinette in the first half of the film. It gives Madame Du Barry more of a complex, underlying resentment against Marie Antoinette which gives more weight to her behavior and actions after Marie Antoinette has settled into life at Versailles.

In the final film, Du Barry doesn't make an appearance until 2 years after Marie Antoinette's arrival, when she mocks their wedding anniversary and chides the courtiers for leaving her aside in favor of "the Austrian." Her hatred for Marie Antoinette is more or less attributed to the fact that the court abandoned her for a brief time and, as Louis-Auguste tells his new wife on their wedding night, "because she [Marie Antoinette] will be queen." 

But in this cut scene, however, we find out that Madame Du Barry has been deliberately excluded from a socially significant event because--as the film later implies--her modest background is a source of detraction among the court and even the King, who refused to let her attend. This earlier scene would have added more weight to two scenes: the scene where Madame Du Barry attacks Orleans for his pamphlets ("I wasn't a laundress--I was a milliner!") and the scene where Marie Antoinette drives home Du Barry's humble background in the dramatic ball confrontation scene.

I can see why it was ultimately removed, however--and I suspect it was likely removed for time more than anything else. The focus of the film is on Marie Antoinette and not Du Barry, even though their relationship is the primary conflict behind the drama of the film's first act. Removing a quick Du Barry scene would not have impacted or detracted from the main story, even if it did deprive us of a little bit of characterization.

Marie Antoinette (1938) on the Cutting Room Floor: The Dauphin's Debut

I was recently fortunate enough to purchase a shooting script from one of my favorite films, MGM's Marie Antoinette. One of the reasons I was eager to make the purchase was due to the cuts made to the film between its initial shooting and the "final product" that is currently available on home video. I absolutely love reading about lost footage, deleted scenes, dialogues or characters that were swept aside... and so far, the script has not been a disappointment!

With that in mind, today's post will be the first of several posts featuring some of the cut scenes and dialogue from Marie Antoinette (1938)!

Up first is the original debut scene of Louis-Auguste, the dauphin and future Louis XVI. This scene was originally placed before Marie Antoinette's arrival to the palace of Versailles--and just before another deleted scene with Madame du Barry, which will be saved for a later post!

Earlier, in some cut dialogue between Ambassador Mercy and Maria Theresa, the empress had already set up the audience for the strangeness of the young Louis-Auguste: "Mercy--this boy, this Louis--is he as strange as we have heard?" 

In this cut scene, we come to a shot of Louis-Auguste watching the celebrations in anticipation of Marie Antoinette's arrival from the window of his apartment. The screenplay describes him as appearing "sullen, shy" but with a "certain fundamental kindness and simplicity in his nature." He is watching the upcoming procession with a certain sense of "unpleasant mystery" about him, when Louis XV arrives in his apartments.

King.

Well, my dear grandson, the great day is here at last.

Louis (hesitantly)

 Yes, Sire.

King

Then you hadn't forgotten? Good! I am not unfamiliar with the abstractions of bridegrooms. If I remember correctly after forty years, I was myself taken with a charming melancholy from which I never fully recovered.

 (He looks at Louis quizzically)

Come, come, my dear boy; you must try to look more agreeably bored.

Louis

I'm sorry, Sire--It is not because of her at all. It is - as I have tried to tell you - but why must I be married?

King (imperturbably)
Because you share with France the misfortune of being heir to the throne.

Louis (impulsively)
I do not want to be King!

King

None of us choose these trifles. And you're not King yet. I beg you not to hurry me.

Louis

I did not mean--I shall do my duty, Sire.

The King gives him a quick glance of delicately disparaging appraisal.

King

Hm! That is all the best of women may expect at home. 

(cheerfully, to Louis) Come along, my boy. It is still customary for the groom to meet the bride. 

Does the loss of this scene have a significant impact on the film? Not particularly. I can easily see why it was cut from the final product. The only thing it really does for the story is cement the personalities of Louis XV and Louis-Auguste a bit earlier. I think the film benefits from the debut appearance of Louis-Auguste occurring when Marie Antoinette, grinning and eager to please in her new home, is almost shocked by the identity of her new husband. It is more of an awkward surprise for the audience when both the viewer and Marie Antoinette are treated to the first impression of Louis-Auguste, awkwardly making his way through a speech, at the same time. 

Much of the dialogue in the scene, such as "It's not because of her at all, it is, as I have tried to tell you--" and "I do not want to be king!" is reinforced only several minutes later in the scene between Louis-Auguste and Marie Antoinette on their wedding night. 

It's not the most interesting scene and I really don't lament the fact that it was left on the cutting room floor. But I do think it is neat to compare the shooting script, or how the film was originally conceived during filming, with the final product. 

The scene, which ends with Louis-Auguste awkwardly leaving with the king, was followed another cut scene that introduced the main 'antagonist' for the first half of the film: Madame du Barry. But that's a scene for another day!