First thing to bear in mind is that ,although the director brings Scaramouche back to his native Italy,it 's not another adaptation of Sabatini's novel,as were both American films ,Rex Ingram 's and George Sidney's ,the latter perhaps lauded beyond its station.The screenplay seems rather a cross between two great successes of the French cinema of the late fifties/early sixties, "Le Bossu" (the usurper subject)and "Le Capitaine Fracasse" (the comedians ,in which Gerard Barray was cast as the villain ).
Gerard Barray was Jean Marais 's alter ego ,the one they cast when the latter was not at hand ;a poor man's Jean Marais nohow:Barray was a good thespian ,who performed on stage ;he displayed plenty of go,of humor ,of Joie De Vivre and had no cause to be jealous of Stewart Granger when it came to wielding the sword;he was certainly better than his material (swashbucklers,cheap spy thrillers,Commisssaire San Antonio.....)and by the late sixties ,he had fallen into oblivion.He made a conspicuous comeback as Duvernois,in Amenabar's "Abre Los Ojos" in the nineties.Michèle Girardon worked with Bunuel ("La Mort En Ce Jardin") and Hawks ("Hatari")but she is rather bland .One can prefer the Italian Ava Gardner Gianna Maria Canale ,with whom Barray had already made "Le Chevalier De Pardaillan" (1961)There's a good chemistry between them and she has the best line in the whole movie ("my castle looks like a tavern compared to yours"),and when she waves farewell to the new duke ,she seems to say farewell to her youth (4 years older than the hero)and to her career (which would end in the mid-sixties).Alberto De Mendoza is a delightful infamous villain.
This is no masterpiece,but a very entertaining yarn ,extremely eventful and melodramatic,including betrayals ,damsel in distress,an usurper,plenty of duels (still impressive today) and even a very good use of pantomime,to reveal the truth about the villain's crimes ,a la Hamlet; the masks are a smart narrative device .What does it matter if Notre Dame De Paris is actually a Spanish cathedral?On the other hand ,the Château De Chenonceaux is genuine .
Score by Georges Gavarentz;his collaborator Charles Aznavour wrote the song of the movie "Les Comédiens" which was a big hit in France and is still very known over here whereas the movie attached to it is virtually forgotten ;too bad Aznavour did not sing this tune over the cast and credits himself .
