"Joan of Arc - the 1948 film" Topic

British television showed the 1948 Ingrid Bergman classic Joan of Arc two days ago and it being a cold and damp day outside I sat through it prepared to criticise and carp to my hearts content.

However…
I was pleasantly surprised. It appears we were shown the restored (full length) edit and that means the Siege of Orleans and the storming of the Tourelle was shown at length.

I ran a critical eye over dress, armour, equipment and weapons and I have to say that – for a 1948 movie – I found very little to criticise. They even got the heraldry right with the correct display of the B*st*rd of Orleans flag with its label of three points and 'bar sinister' for his illegitimacy.

There were at least three calibres of artillery in use – large and medium for the French and smaller wall pieces for the English in the Tourelle – while the English used both longbow and crossbow in the defence of the Tourelle. The French used pavises during part of the attack, wheeled mantlets and one of these was ripped apart by English artillery. There was even a trebuchet as the battle took place at the time when stone-throwers were probably still in use but giving way to artillery.

It is a talk heavy drama – the battle is only about 15 or 20 minutes – but the civilian and church costumes are sumptuous.

My one serious niggle, and this was nit-picking for nit-picking's sake, was that one of Joan's earliest bodyguards had an open-face bascinet which was too snug. The steel fitted to his skull too closely with no room for even the thinnest of liners and no protective padding at all. As any motorcyclist will tell you it is this lining where the real protection lies. It absorbs impact. Tap this man on the head with even a light hammer and he would have felt it!
Helmet lining was a skilled job in this period. King Henry V even had two 'stuffers of the king's bascinets' in his army at Harfleur and Agincourt.

link

If you can catch to film on cable or pick up a copy on DVD you will not be disappointed in the Orleans sequences. Try to get the long version. The link above explains the movie's editing history.

Barry

ISTR the version of Henry V from around the same time did well in the costume department too, better than most modern movies. Given the budget & modern tech for movies, there really isn't any excuse for the fantasy armor shown in modern movies, other than this is what the director or costume designer wanted, & most people don't care.

Damon.

@Garand:
That is a fair comment. The 1944 Henry V did do well in armour. The cavalry charge was magnificent but nowhere near historical. In practice the French only charged about 250 yards and were under fire from the beginning, given that the English had upped stakes and advanced to shoot at the French. But the charge was still great cinema!

B

A quick look on You Tube found this:
YouTube link
The 1948 version – assault on the Tourelle. Over-dubbed in something like Russian but enough to convey what I was saying above.
B

And then there were the controversial lines, edited out of most theatrical releases, uttered by Bill Kennedy portraying Thierache, Joan's Executioner, as the flame's began to dwindle: "Throw on more faggots! Throw on more faggots!"

A rather foolish edit given that the main definition of the word is a bundle of firewood!
link
It is also a synonym for a fascine.
In Britain it is also a meaty delicacy:
link
somewhat similar to US meatloaf.

Barry