26 thoughts on “MCM: Casanova

    1. Peter O’Toole was also pretty in his day. But in his age he was able to wipe the screen with any handsome actor you care to name.

  1. La Nuit de Varennes is such a brilliant movie!! This group of people just happens to also be journeying to Varennes on the same day/night as the royal flight and so the story is more about these fictional characters and the actual historical event is sort of on the periphery, although obviously it effects each of the characters in different and emotional ways. Also there is a fabulous flamboyant hairdresser.

    Why are there not more votes for Arturo de Cordova?? Hellooooo Latin Clark Gable!

    1. Oh good, someone else with fond memories of La Nuit de Varennes! We saw this when it was brand-new and loved it, but it’s little known. Frock Flicks, do track it down and give it a look!

    2. I love it too! I watched it repeatedly until my VCR ate it, 20 years ago. I’d love to Watch it again!

    3. And La Nuit de Varennes starred the great French mime and actor Jean Louis Barrault. Wonderful film.

  2. I’ll have a Tennant to go, Pleaseandthankyou!

    I remember the Fellini… I saw it far too young, and yeah, it was weird, in a very Fellinian way.
    On the other hand, if you want to watch Casanova going at it, you’re not going to be disappointed !

    Oh, and the Delon one is not worth it: Costumes and sets are decent, yeah, but Delon is insufferable (as usual)… The movie crashed quite badly, if I recall. And there’s dramatic bobby pin shortage for both men and women.

    La nuit de Varennes is a very good film, on the other hand. Not many costumes, since most of the film is inside a coach, but the ones you can see are good… And so is hair and wigs, you should enjoy, I think. (no nookie, but you’re not missing anything, truly)

  3. I am OBVIOUSLY Team Tennant when it comes to Casanova & all things.

    But I need to point out that I also watched that Bill & Ted TV show. And the Saturday morning cartoon series (even tho’ I was in college at the time; or maybe bec. I was in college at the time). I was also a card-carrying member of the Bill & Ted’s Excellent Fan Club & wrote a one-issue cross-genre fanzine called Strange Things Are Afoot (at the Circle K).

    In case anyone ever questioned my deep dork cred. *bows*

  4. would like to vote for charlie cox . . . although David and Heath perfectly acceptable (a young Peter O’Toole, though – that would have given them quite a run for their money)

  5. Tennant. Two of the good things in the Heath one was Natalie Dormer & Charlie from Merchant of Venice. Also the pig.

  6. Man, I was so in love with Leonard Whiting when I saw Romeo and Juliet as a young thing. He was very, very pretty. But of course, in this vote, it is Tennant all the way. I didn’t even know that miniseries existed, and now imma hafta track it down. Oh, and considering my deep and abiding love for all things Terry Pratchett, a (small) shout out to Casanunda, “The World’s Second Greatest Lover” from the Discworld. He’s the first thing I think of when I hear the name Casanova.

  7. I still love Frank Finlay as Casanova. The miniseries was a rougish delight. I don’t remember the costumes. And of course, Heath Ledger — might be my favorite, or tied with A Knight’s Tale. I’ve never seen the David Tennant one, although I would love to. He looks terrific, and the thought of Peter O’Toole playing Casanova as an old man is perfect. I saw the Richard Chamberlain one eons ago, so I don’t remember it very well.

    AS far as costumes go, I liked the Heath Ledger one the most.

  8. While I do enjoy looking at David Tennant, all I could think of while reading the article is “syphilis isn’t sexy.” Hence I wouldn’t want to shag any Casanova character. Having tea with one or more of the actors is another story…

  9. I have so much love for the Tennant version even with its crazy costumes. His man servant is the best too!

  10. Another Casanova, (albeit elderly), is Gustav Waldau in the 1943 Münchhausen. In it he reminisces how 20 years ago he and the Baron once ended up sharing a wardrobe when the duchess’s husband came home unexpectedly and wonders why Hieronymus still looks the same.

  11. As far as Simon Langton’s 1987 “Casanova”, which was written by George Macdonald Fraser (the one starring Richard Chamberlain – and I don’t know if you missed this, but there’s a funny callback to the 1971 version starring Frank Finlay, because Finlay has a major role in this version as Casanova’s nemesis Razetta), make sure you track down the European version if you can find it. It’s nearly an hour longer than the U.S. version (in large part, to be sure, because of topless scenes cut from the American version).

  12. I actually saw that Alain Delon one on german TV in the 90‘s avd I remember it being pretty good. But what did I know at that age…

  13. You missed Tobias Moretti as a very old Casanova in “Ich, Don Giovanni”/”Io Don Giovanni” (2009). The costumes were OK, somehow like in “Licht” a mixed bag, but not totaly wrong. But Moretti is just looking like the real Casanova and he is talking like an old wise man, who learned enough about life and society… And by the way, Moretti (his mother is Italian) is looking Italian. Not a good film, the story is similar like “Amadeus” – only changing the view from Mozart to Da Ponte.
    Pictures: http://movie-roulette.com/movie/io-don-giovanni

  14. I’ve never found interest in Casanova; but as a Czehc I found myself wondering if the beard in The Last Rose from Casanova may have been an echo of Jan Werich as Rudolf II more than a decade earlier, another elderly has-been-lover role, and very iconic around these parts? For a moment, I was looking at the photos in confusion, trying to figure out if that was somehow Werich.

  15. That’s not Boris Rösner in that picture actually. He definitely was not handsome by any means. Quite demonic look. But has charm and great voice, so he was very popular among woman. But I didn’t watch this, very cheap and crappy looking, movie.

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