The Affairs of Cellini (1934) User Reviews (13)

One of hundreds of gems waiting to be treasured....

[walzking1 · 6/10 · 8 December 2003]

Stumbling across a neat little 80-minute gem like 1934's The Affairs of Cellini is reason enough to lease satellite TV (or a really good cable service, a contradiction in terms if ever there was one). Viewing it almost nearly 70 years after its premiere allows even the neophyte cineaste a neat precis of the progress (or lack of same) that film has made since then, plus primers in ace character acting and deft characterization by the writers.

The film centers on 16th-century Florence, a hotbed of wealth and intrigue run by a family you might of heard of (the Medicis), and one of its leading artisans, the goldsmith Benvenuto Cellini. Cellini (about whom Hector Berlioz wrote an opera and numerous poems and stories have been penned) is sort of a hybrid of Robin Hood and the Scarlet Pimpernel, with a dash of Don Juan thrown in for fun. Played by the very young, unabashedly gorgeous and surprisingly athletic Fredric March (seen many years later in such classics as Inherit the Wind, The Bridges at Toko-Ri and The Best Years of Our Lives), Cellini's a stiffnecked anti-aristocrat that the Duke of Florence (played hilariously by The Wizard of Oz himself, Frank Morgan) and his lethal-seductress wife (Fox's big star of the mid-'30s, Constance Bennett) can't seem to do without, so skilled at goldsmithing and seduction is he.

Toss in Fay Wray (the year after making Kong go ape), Fox stalwart Louis Calhern in the Basil Rathbone role and the VERY young Lucille Ball in a supporting role, oodles of classic B&W cinematography, snappy directorial pace (by Fox veteran Gregory La Cava) and quasi-operatic sets and decoration, and you've got the kind of lunchtime matinee that 24-hour classic movie channels like Turner Classic and Fox Movies (where this can be seen at least twice a month) were meant to provide.

One of Bennett's Best

[Handlinghandel · 6/10 · 14 January 2006]

Constance Bennett was born to play a Medici. Her combination of hauteur and ooh-la-la makes this role a perfect fit. Frank Morgan, as her dithering husband, is amusing but less plausible.

Fredric March, as the title character, is good. He was always good. Possibly not the heartthrob he needs to be, he is nevertheless both cocky and handsome. Fay Wray is excellent as a commoner whose tastes are too prosaic for the dastardly lover Cellini. She looks beautiful (as does Bennett.) This is certainly atypical Gregory La Cava. It is probably not very accurate historically. But as costume pieces go, it's very compelling. A few years later, another studio made one that is more famous. That was "Marie Antoinette." It was better researched and is still somewhat well known. But it is really dull.

The costumes here are gorgeous. Now and then the music is appropriate to the time. A theme that seems distinctly 19th Century Romantic runs through, though.

The supporting cast is up to the task. It's hard to imagine what people sitting down in a theater in 1934 made of this. Bennett was still a big star so maybe they were happy to see her. It's an oddity, no doubt about it. But it's very good.

Fun affair

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 14 June 2022]

There for me is always at least one main reason for seeing any film. In the case of 'The Affairs of Cellini' it's the cast. Having enjoyed very much over the years the work of Fredric March, Constance Bennett and Frank Morgan. Gregory La Cava seemed a good choice for director and have liked some of his other work, big examples being 'My Man Godfrey' and 'Stage Door'. And of course there is my long term love for classic film, with an attempt to appreciate all genres and decades.

1934's 'The Affairs of Cellini' is a good deal of fun and is worth watching. A great film it may not quite be, but there are many good things and the things the film was seen for in the first place are not wasted in any way at all. It is a strong representation of the cast members, it has enough to show why La Cava's work is worth checking out and anybody that loves classic film should see 'The Affairs of Cellini' once at least, even if it is just for classic film completest sake.

A lot of good things are good here. The cast all perform very well to brilliantly, with the standout performances belonging to beguiling Bennett and especially the wonderfully jovial Morgan (who steals the film). It is beautifully designed, with sumptuous settings and costumes (Fay Wray looks ravishing) all complemented by the photography.

It is a wittily scripted film, with the best moments bubbling like bubbles on top of a champagne glass. La Cava was clearly having fun with the material and clearly knew what to do with it, this was hardly a sign of a director who was out of his depth or over-taxing himself. It is mostly also very compelling story-wise.

Having said all of those positive things, 'The Affairs of Cellini' can be a bit too on the slow side and stagy, which actually was not an uncommon problem for similar films from this era.

Did also think that occasionally the farcical element has a try too hard feel.

Overall, while not loving it there is a lot to praise about this film. 7/10.

Renaissance Farce

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 25 April 2012]

Edwin Justus Mayer's play about the life of Renaissance master sculptor Benvenuto Cellini ran for 241 performances in 1924-25 and Joseph Schildkraut and Nana Bryant played Cellini and the Duchess of Florence on Broadway. However Frank Morgan repeats the role he did on Broadway as the Duke of Florence and from then on he was typecast.

This was an interesting phenomenon showing the power of the cinema to typecast someone. Morgan had done this same role on Broadway and well, but he did all kinds of parts on stage and screen before The Affairs Of Cellini. But when he repeated this particular stage role he was forever typecast as the fumbling, bumbling fool. Very rarely in his screen career after The Affairs Of Cellini did he deviate from this, the movie-going public came to want to see him in many variations on the Duke Of Florence and from then on he was typecast.

The story is a long bedroom Renaissance farce where the talented, but amorous Cellini is constantly getting in scrapes of one sort or another, always over a woman be she married or not. Fredric March plays Cellini and he steals a bit from Douglas Fairbanks's swashbuckling shtick. He's a good artist though and the indulgent Duke keeps forgiving him and the Duchess played by Constance Bennett has her eye on him.

However one time when the Duke catches sight of the model that March is using he decides to invoke some of his noble powers to get her into his court. That arouses Bennett's ire and March is put out as well. He starts pushing the envelope real hard by putting the moves on a less than resistant duchess.

The model is played by Fay Wray and the only way I can describe her is a Renaissance valley girl. But that's exactly what's got both Morgan and March real interested.

The Affairs Of Cellini got four Oscar nominations including one for Best Actor for Frank Morgan. He lost to Clark Gable for It Happened One Night. Still Morgan is who you really remember from The Affairs Of Cellini.

Great period comedy

[kevvportela · 7/10 · 1 April 2021]

This period drama-comedy is a treat to watch. It has a quite serious plot but at the same time it makes it more flexible to make people laugh, this shows a script well adapted to the screen. A good decision that is short because it juices everything and gets to the point right away.

The performances are brilliant from first to last: Fredric March as Cellini, a slick opportunistic assassin who manages to escape his punishment, falls in love with the Duchess of Florence and creates trouble in the palace. A very seductive and sexy performance as well as good.

Constance Bennett as the Duchess of Florence, an intelligent and empowered woman beyond stepping into the seduction of Cellini. Brilliant performance and a shame the absence of her nomination at the Oscars.

Frank Morgan earned him his first Oscar nomination for the role of the Duke of Florence, a noble fool who plays to give orders. He is the comedy of the film.

Fay Wray as an ordinary village girl, who arrives at the palace by coincidence and begins to take an interest in that lifestyle.

Enjoyable from start to finish, great production work and from Gregory La Cava.

A Charming, Shining Gem

[rburton66 · 6/10 · 9 July 2003]

Nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Actor for Frank Morgan (best known for his many roles in "The Wizard of Oz"), this film is a rare gem that's well worth it's 80 minutes. The film showcases wonderful performances from an all-star cast that includes Fredric March ("The Best Years of Our Lives"), Fay Wray ("King Kong"), and Constance Bennett. Witty and clever dialogue is a strong point in the film and everyone makes this comedy as funny as it can be.

Fox Movie Channel is showing this from time to time, so definitely stop and see it if you have the chance. Not only will you get to a rare Oscar-nominated film, but a brilliant comedy with a remarkable cast.

THE AFFAIRS OF CELLINI (Gregory LaCava, 1934) ***

[Bunuel1976 · 7/10 · 11 March 2014]

I had intended checking this out in conjunction with Riccardo Freda's THE MAGNIFICENT ADVENTURER (1963), involving the same historical figure, as part of a previous Easter marathon (it being the very first entry for the current year); actually, I now watched it on the birthday of director LaCava, but also as a supplement to my Oscar season viewing (the film was up for four Academy Awards)!

I had been wary of getting to it during a period when I tend to watch large-scale movies due to its being labeled a bedroom romp, albeit in costume; as such, this factor was more than proved right – but, at least, a full-on sword-wielding brawl (apart from other swashbuckling feats that are mentioned but left to the viewer's imagination) does come into play in the first act! Anyway, the picture is stylish, witty and starrily cast: Fredric March (in one of his few efforts in this vein, but to which his intrinsically stagy acting is well suited) incarnates the philandering goldsmith Benvenuto Cellini, Constance Bennett (who has her eyes on the hero!) and Frank Morgan are the Duchess and (henpecked) Duke of Florence, Fay Wray the protagonist's latest conquest (whom Morgan also romantically pursues!) and Louis Calhern appears as the court's inevitably scheming adviser. Morgan, typically the befuddled supplier of comedy relief but giving an undeniably splendid performance, was one of the Oscar nominees here: however, since the Supporting Actor category had not yet been incorporated into the ceremony, his was considered a leading role…which ties in somewhat with the fact that, despite the title, it is Bennett who receives top billing here! The other nods were for Charles Rosher's cinematography, Richard Day's art direction and the sound recording.

It was certainly interesting to watch a period rendition of a Lubitsch- type sophisticated comedy; yet, in this way, the end result falls rather between two stools: the pace is decidedly slow (despite its trim 79- minute duration) for what ordinarily would be played as breakneck farce, whereas it gives little insight into what ultimately made Cellini's name (choosing instead to depict him as a wily roguish sort in the Don Juan mould – pardon the pun)! The finale, though, is pure "Pre-Code" – with the Florentine rulers installing their respective lovers in different palaces they officially use for a particular time of year!

Frank Morgan gets an Oscar nod

[HotToastyRag · 5/10 · 16 July 2018]

Fredric March stars as the notorious sculptor Cellini, who, as the title suggests, has many affairs in the 90-minute movie. It's a little bit silly when you watch it, almost as if the movie might be a spoof of itself, when Freddie repeatedly seduces his conquests. So, if you're the mood to laugh, you can rent it and treat it like a spoof, and if you're in the mood for a drama in the 1600s, you can take it seriously.

Frank Morgan plays against type-and was rewarded by an Oscar nomination-in this movie, as a cruel duke who doesn't bat an eyelash at using torture as a punishment. Frank's wife is Constance Bennett, and when Freddie visits the palace, it isn't long before she falls under her spell. That might not be the smartest move, seeing how much of a bad guy her husband is. . .

This movie won't hurt you if you decide to rent it, but it also won't end up being your favorite. It's not Freddie's best performance, and while Frank does do a good job, I prefer A Lost Lady which was released in 1934. Frank gets to play the romantic lead in that one; how rare is that!

A watchable but silly trifle...

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 1 February 2010]

Because this movie starred Fredric March, I was sure to see it. However, after seeing it, I can't exactly say it's a must-see film...or that I even liked it. It's not that it's a bad movie, but it's not all that great, either.

March plays the title character--a man who was a goldsmith for the Medicis in Renaissance Italy. Through much of the film, Cellini spends his time chasing women and killing people in sword fights (wow...Freud would have had a field day if he'd ever met a guy like this). It's all very well acted yet stilted because it's essentially a costume drama--the sort of films I don't particularly like--though I am a huge fan of classic Hollywood. My problem with this film and others like it is that so much energy and time and money is spend on sets and costumes that the rest of the film usually suffers. The only real plus for the film is the nice and jovial performance by Frank Morgan--he was a lot of fun and quite in his element. Otherwise, it's just another costumer combined with a light comedic/romantic touch--the sort of film Errol Flynn or John Barrymore (during the silent era) would have excelled at if they'd been given such a role.

As for me, I never got into the film very much as it seemed like a silly sort of trifle of a film, but also could see it was a quality production. Perhaps there were just too many knowing glances between Constance Bennett and March to make this a particularly rewarding film to watch.

Comic mayhem in the courts of the Reniassance.

[mark.waltz · 8/10 · 2 March 2016]

A duke takes a lover, so what does the duchess do? Take one of her own, of course! It doesn't help that the duchess's lover has been marked for execution by the duke who has no idea of what's going on in his own palace.

Obviously, the name of the game here is sex, although the production code wouldn't let them make that obvious. Constance Bennett is the flirtatious duchess, the younger wife of the Duke of Flirence, played by the Oscar nominated Frank Morgan. Bennett is attracted to sculptor Frederic March, playing the title character who is in love with innocent Fay Wray. When the duke meets Wray, he decides to add her to his court, and no intention of including Wray's bearded mother, the delightfully funny Jessie Ralph.

Speeding by with Morgan definitely a scene stealer, this came in a year of Hollywood history lessons, all more based on Encyclopedia synopsis with fictional dramatic elements to flesh them out. This is pure entertainment and succeeds on the fact that it is obviously a historical fairy tale and that any resemblance between this and historical fact was a total accident.

A DISAPPOINTMENT FOR LA CAVA FANS

[bensonj · 30 May 2004]

Gregory La Cava is one of Hollywood's great directors, but this isn't up to his standard, despite a good cast. Though supposedly a comedy of manners, it's really a swashbuckler with hardly any swash. Morgan, a milquetoast king though he tries to act ferocious, overdoes his "well I don't...ahem...do you really...oh well, I..." routine. Fay Wray is best as an artist's model. She's sexy, yet so dumb she hasn't the imagination for romance. At one point, when the other characters are trying to get her to take part in an elaborate charade to make someone think that someone is not someone's lover, she says, "Oh, this is so silly." One of the few really funny lines, and, sadly, all too true.

Weill and Gershwin did it better.

[F Gwynplaine MacIntyre · 6/10 · 7 August 2005]

Benvenuto Cellini was a goldsmith in 16th-century Florence, and apparently he was also something of a hell-raiser and a swordsman (in the sexual sense as well as the literal one). However, it's my understanding that we have only Cellini's own memoirs (never published in his lifetime) as testimony of his sexual prowess. Fortunately, some of his artistic creations have survived, and they leave no doubt as to his skill as an artisan.

This movie is based on a play by Edwin Justus Mayer, which also inspired 'The Firebrand of Florence', a musical (with songs by Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin) that flopped on Broadway in 1945. I wish I could have seen that musical instead of this movie. What's wrong with it? Well, there's lots of sumptuous Hollywood spectacle on view here, which is part of the problem. This is supposed to be 16th-century Italy, but everything is spotlessly clean and everybody has good teeth. Late in the film, we get a glimpse of brawny Dewey Robinson in a Prince Valiant wig, galumphing about as a poncy steward. I was more impressed by Vince Barnett as Cellini's dogsbody assistant, wearing a wig that conceals Barnett's lug-ears.

Some people enjoy Frank Morgan's performance. I don't, largely because he nearly always played a whinnying idiot. Here he's cast as the duke of Florence, who was apparently a whinnying idiot because that's how Morgan plays him. More impressive is Fay Wray, an actress of keen intelligence, who here very convincingly portrays a stupid peasant girl. The jumble of American accents are very annoying in this movie, constantly reminding us that this is 16th-century Florence by way of 20th Century-Fox.

Constance Bennett gets top billing, but the real draw here is definitely Fredric March, who plays Cellini in full swashbuckler mode. March's stunt double makes an impressive entrance through the ceiling. The sets and costumes throughout this film are elaborate and impressive, as is the camera work. Still, this is one of those annoying movies in which the hero is the only 'real' man, who invariably comes up trumps in every encounter. I'll rate this movie 6 out of 10. It probably would have been a better movie if the duke had been played by Ralph Morgan, a much better (and more versatile) actor than his brother Frank

Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde meets the Wizard of Oz meets King Kong's bride

[lee_eisenberg · 8/10 · 9 November 2017]

Benvenuto Cellini is probably not the most famous figure from Renaissance-era Italy. I had never heard of the man until I saw "The Affairs of Cellini". Nonetheless, the movie makes him look like one fun-loving guy. Assuming that it's accurate, Cellini (played by Fredric March) was someone who just wanted to get romantic...even if it was with a married woman.

A lot of the lines come across as comic relief, and there's no shortage of sword-fighting. Just nice, harmless fun for a movie that purports to be historical. I guess that I wouldn't call the movie any sort of masterpiece, but it's still a fun movie. Fay Wray - hot off her role as the love interest of a certain giant ape - looks especially glam in some of those dresses; I suspect that between this movie and her most famous role, she turned a lot of boys into men back in the '30s.

Anyway, it's nice, corny fun. Playing the duke is Frank Morgan, a few years before playing a certain man behind the curtain.