Trivia / Scaramouche (1952)

• Awesome, Dear Boy: Stewart Granger had seen Scaramouche (1923) as a ten-year-old boy in England and it had a strong effect on him. When he heard MGM was going to remake the film, he arranged a deal with the studio in which he would sign an exclusive contract, if he was given the lead in the new film.
• Cast the Runner-Up: Originally Stewart Granger was to play both roles, Andre and Noel, but it was finally decided to sign Mel Ferrer for the latter.
• Dyeing for Your Art: George Sidney had Eleanor Parker dye her hair red for the film.
• Hostility on the Set: Eleanor Parker later said that Stewart Granger was the only person in her career that she did not get along with:
  It wasn't a conflict between the two of us. Everyone disliked this man...Stewart Granger was a dreadful person, rude...just awful. Just being in his presence was bad. I thought at one point the crew was going kill him. Jean visited him on the set and would leave his dressing room in tears. He humiliated her. It was terrible. All of the dueling scenes in Scaramouche were wonderful, though. I'll give Granger credit for that. He didn't know how to do any of that, but worked hard and learned. Mel Ferrer, his counterpart in the movie, was extremely adept at the swordplay, but was a gentleman. He could have taken advantage and upstaged Granger, the star, but he never did.
• Mid-Development Genre Shift: Initially, the film was meant to be an MGM musical starring Gene Kelly (based on his success with The Three Musketeers (1948)), with Ava Gardner as Lenore and Elizabeth Taylor co-starring as Aline before it was changed to more of a swashbuckling adventure film. Their commitments to the film were confirmed in early 1951. At one point, other than Kelly, Fernando Lamas and Ricardo Montalbán were also considered for the lead.
  George Sidney: I always felt that Scaramouche should have been a musical. It would have needed the most crafty score but it could have been terribly exciting.
• No Stunt Double: Stewart Granger, who performed most of his stunts himself, took fencing lessons with Jean Heremans when preparing for the role.
• Prop Recycling: Nina Foch as Marie-Antoinette wears the same costume that Norma Shearer wore in 1938's Marie Antoinette.
• Scully Box: Stewart Granger wore lifts in the film so he would appear to be the same height as his slightly taller co-stars Mel Ferrer, Henry Wilcoxon and Richard Anderson. Granger's height was often listed as 6'3" but it is widely believed he was actually 6'1".
• What Could Have Been: The film originally ended, as the book and previous film did, with the French Revolution, as well as the death of the Marquis De Maynes at the storming of the Bastille. They elected for a happy ending instead.

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