ZAZA (1938)

On Broadway, a turn-of-the-last-century standby for David Belasco, then a 1923 silent hit for Gloria Swanson, this French stage perennial was moldy stuff by the time George Cukor & Claudette Colbert got to it. Yet what a refreshed marvel they make of the old material. Even if censorship issues suppressed major scenes between Colbert’s Music Hall star and Herbert Marshall, her secretly married-with-child gentlemanly lover. No one could possibly be surprised at this adulterous turn of events; and frankly, it’s not much to hang a whole story on (even when the play was new). Especially with a miscast Marshall, purring his way thru with calm British reserve. But everything else is so extraordinary here, with some of the best backstage atmosphere ever seen in a Hollywood studio pic, in echt French style.* Colbert is stunning on stage and off (Charles Lang lensing to perfection), with a supporting cast of real stage savvy. Bert Lahr, in a rare & wonderful straight perf, as performing partner/ manager, singing in character on stage with Colbert or trying out a new tune without any tricks in the dressing room. Constance Collier, a great stage star in her youth, normally confined in Hollywood to dotty society types, here getting her soul into a dowdy character role as Colbert’s dresser/assistant, and bringing a lifetime of knowledge to it. It all ends in a magnificent stage turn as Colbert sings her ex-lover out of her life for good.* A big flop in its day, and easy to see why, now a precious one-off. There’s really nothing like it from the period.

READ ALL ABOUT IT: *Born in France, Colbert shows no need to overplay with heavy French frou-frou. (Swanson is all over the place with it.) And thanks to Cukor’s personal friendship with Fanny Brice, Colbert was coached by a pro thru her stage numbers. Not for nothing is the end of this film so similar to the end of FUNNY GIRL/’68 where Barbra Streisand not only plays Fanny Brice, but does her signature song, always singing very much as Streisand, not as Brice whose torch song style was far closer to what Colbert, in charming voice & manner, does here. See more on this and Cukor in general, in Gavin Lambert’s excellent interview book ON CUKOR.

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: *Cukor gave special credit to Paramount Art Director Hans Dreier for the film’s look. And it’s likely producer Albert Lewin (one time resident story editor & general sophisticate to Irving Thalberg) had some influence. Later going on to direct such visually literate pics as PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY/’45 and PANDORA AND THE FLYING DUTCHMAN/’51.