Count Your Blessings #7

 

Patriarch of All He Surveys Burt Lancaster was at a Disadvantage in Whatever Version of The Leopard Unspooled

CYB: The Leopard (1963)

THE LEOPARD (1963) --- Made the mistake of watching the 2003 standard DVD release in mistaken belief there was no Blu-Ray, learning subsequent that Criterion upgraded to Blu later on. The Leopard is like so many European features hobbled by necessity of an English language version to properly sell stateside. That meant dubbing of everybody aboard, even star Burt Lancaster, who though he spoke English during the Italian shoot, had to do-over his voice for Twentieth-Fox distribution, that version supervised by the actor along with American director Sydney Pollack. Result was a mess that couldn’t help being a mess, the original Technirama debased to standard scope projection with inferior Color by Deluxe Fox was using in the sixties as opposed to rich Technicolor Euro audiences got. Length was also reduced by 24 minutes, 185 minutes down to 161 for domestic dates (the Rome premiere actually ran 205 minutes). I looked at the 185 edition, then portions of the Fox job, mainly to hear Lancaster, understand now why The Leopard failed, at least in the US. There seemed no way this or any Euro effort, let alone such an epic as here, would survive the crossing. Everybody spoke in voices not their own, here and there, each using native language during shooting and having to leave final outcome to post-production techs. Such was reality of multi-lingual filming and distribution worldwide. Yes, Lancaster spoke English when he acted his role in Italy, but all that had to be post-post-dubbed by him once back in America, and imagine how difficult that was with director and Italian crew moorings lost. Lancaster had to essentially work alone and try to remember nuances of a performance he had given months before. Poor guy ended up badly dubbed by both others and himself. Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale were major names with no little appeal to worldwide audiences, but neither were heard in America, substitute speakers the rule with actors suffering for the switch. Delon especially loses what conviction he’d have otherwise brought to the US version, having to rely, like Cardinale, and Lancaster, on whatever impact his physical presence could have. This was enough to some extent, for these players had visual appeal during shared peak period, but to rely upon that would not support The Leopard enough in most markets it played.

Want to Hear These Actors Speak? Go Find France's Edition of The Leopard

Lancaster could not speak Italian, Cardinale could not speak sufficient English to dub her part for US release, Delon in the same position. He and Cardinale were only heard in their real voices for the French language version, which is available on a Region Two Blu-Ray. That may be the closest to an authentic rendition of the film in circulation, but wait, Burt Lancaster did not speak French, so there goes that. Fact is most Europeans never got to hear the actual voice of Lancaster and many other major American stars, as they of necessity were dubbed for whatever of their films circulated offshore. As with silent features and many a talkie from Europe, I frankly find it more satisfying to “learn” the narrative from a couple of viewings, then turn off the subtitles and watch the shows sans reading from there on. Certainly it helps from a visual standpoint, and we can sense most of drama and conflict from character expressions, the tone and tenor of their voices, or whoever's voice has been grafted onto the action. In that sense, European films are essentially silent, enjoyed best where we approach them that way. 60's critics argued endlessly on dubbing vs. subtitles, neither camp emerging the clear winner. A general public spoke loudest perhaps ... they'd take neither. Euro receipts from The Leopard gratified, but reviews and boxoffice in the United States crashed, $673K collected in domestic rentals against $2.466 million spent on the negative (Italian producers bankrupted by the venture). Final loss recorded by Fox was $1.422 million. Darryl Zanuck had seen and evaluated footage as production went on, him back in charge as crisis of Cleopatra deepened. The Leopard was anything but Zanuck’s sort of movie, him baked from beginnings in narrative-centered oven where languor or distractions of any sort were shaved before he’d permit release, but Zanuck knew also that his way of work was largely finished, especially where confronted by European methods and philosophy. He was in this regard not unlike Burt Lancaster’s character in The Leopard.

Inapt Comparison to The Longest Day and Cleopatra Was Far From Ideal Way to Sell The Leopard in the US

Critics in the US would not support The Leopard, which based on what they had to look at was understandable. Lancaster and Pollack did the best they could with what they had, a near-hopeless commission. The Leopard suffered on all screens for a story and background (obscure Italian history) that viewers needed thick encyclopedias to follow. I never understood what conflicts were really about and had to rely on colors of opposing uniforms as to who shot who, but never did I fully grasp why. The one mass battle scene seems a disorganized mess, now-sharpness of a restored image revealing soldiers running aimlessly forward or backward without really engaging one another. Zanuck surely winced when he screened these dailies. Director Luchino Visconti was celebrated enough to go forward with much resource, but till then smaller films may not have prepared him to now stage outsized action. In fact, he had not wanted the fight footage but was obliged by producers wanting size to sell. Euro makers dreamed constantly of American markets they’d crack. It had been done, by Italians in fact with La Dolce Vita, but insistence on an American star was not enough to overcome so many obstacles to The Leopard’s success in English-speaking markets. For all attempts at action, this came off insistently like an art film, which meant mainstream housing would bypass it, Burt Lancaster or not in the lead. He hosted an effusive trailer but showmen smelled a rat. Maybe they remembered how he stiffed them before with art-inclined projects. Television was as cruel. ABC used The Leopard first on November 5, 1967, again May 12, 1968. Ratings bottomed out both times. This film like so many others was utterly wrecked by square-framed tubes, or maybe viewers were used to seeing mere 60%, if that, of intended images. I’ll confess to that being the case for me. Fox recovered $491K from televised exposure of The Leopard.

A Ballroom Tour-De-Force to Influence Many Films That Would Come Later

Even If You Lose the Story's Thread, There Still is Wonderment Just to Look At

What did we know of proper ratio at the time? There was a book I eagerly bought during run-up to new network offerings called “TV 68,” cost $1.25. A most critical section, which I more-less memorized, was “Movies on TV Are Better Than Ever,” NY Times critic Howard Thompson brief reviewing near-all features networks had scheduled for the new season. One was The Leopard, which Thompson started out praising, “strikingly artistic, moodful, and atmospheric tableau,” then out came the stiletto, “also slow and extremely remote.” Result was me skipping ABC's run. It was a school night anyway and I would not have been permitted to stay up (same thing happened, and more traumatically, with Shane). Considering Leopard length, it would have been midnight before embrace of Morbius, although I can imagine how much ABC chopped this offering to keep it out of AM hours. The Leopard would wait long to flower. Per often, Criterion got the job done. Their Blu-Ray is the best The Leopard ever looked, the US cut there as an extra but not restored. The Italian “legitimate” version now seems the only one serious cinephiles care to watch. I don’t say “Count Your Blessings” lightly here. The Leopard as rendered by Criterion is a rescue for what many consider a masterpiece, a till-then oblivion admirers thought The Leopard would never emerge from. Still a commitment to get through, but highlights are more than memorable, a final forty minutes centered on a lavish ball one of the outstanding highlights of sixties, or anytime, filmmaking. We see clear where inspiration for parts of The Godfather, The Deerhunter, Heaven’s Gate, and The Age of Innocence came from. They all learned from Visconti, though I’d not say any surpassed him.