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Joan of Arc — news, coverage & facts — IJR

Plot

In 15th-century France, the young peasant Joan, at the age of thirteen, begins to hear voices that she believes are sent by God. The voices instruct her to help save France from English occupation and to ensure that the Dauphin, Charles, is crowned the rightful king. When she is seventeen, Joan arrives before Sir Robert de Baudricourt, the military commander of Vaucouleurs, and asks to be provided an escort to meet the Dauphin in Chinon. Sir Robert dismisses her request while Jean de Metz, a knight, tells Joan about a prophecy that an armored maiden from Lorraine will lead France's armies.

In March 1429, after the French have lost another battle, Sir Robert allows De Metz and Bertrand de Poulengy, a squire, to escort Joan. Upon her arrival at Charles's royal court, Joan identifies the disguised Dauphin within the crowd. Convinced of her sincerity, Charles gives Joan command of France's armies despite the skepticism of his advisors. Joan next persuades Charles to accompany her and the French to Orléans.

At the military camp, Joan instructs the soldiers to cease their gambling, drinking, swearing and using the Lord's name in vain. She also sends away camp followers and prostitutes, and has the troops go to confession and attend Mass regularly before battle. Outside the fort of Les Tourelles, clad in armor and waving a banner, Joan warns English commander William Glasdale to retreat to Britain. Glasdale refuses and accuses Joan of sorcery. Joan leads the French on a siege of Orléans, though the French retreat after Joan is severely wounded in the shoulder. The next day, after Joan recovers, she leads the French to a successful siege, where Glasdale is killed in battle.

Emboldened by the victory at Orléans, Joan leads the French to more military victories, allowing Charles to be crowned King of France in Reims. As Joan prepares to march on Paris, Charles signs a truce with Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy. He then assumes command of the French army, whereby Joan loses influence within Charles's court.

In May 1430, while defending Compiègne, Joan is captured and sold to the English. She is imprisoned and transferred to Rouen for trial on charges of heresy, presided over by Bishop Pierre Cauchon. As the Bishop interrogates her, Joan explains and defends her divine mandate, and denounces the English. Despite Cauchon's request for her to recant, Joan steadily refuses, even under threat of torture, and unsuccessfully appeals to be tried before the Church.

After she has been formally admonished, Joan is taken out to the churchyard, where Cauchon reads Joan's sentence. Under immense pressure, Joan submits and signs an abjuration document, thereby agreeing to not to wear men's clothing. However, Joan breaks the agreement while imprisoned and is condemned as a relapsed heretic. On May 30, 1431, Joan is executed by burning at the stake.

Cast

At Domrémy, Joan's Birthplace in Lorraine, December 1428

Ingrid Bergman as Jeanne d'Arc

Selena Royle as Isabelle d'Arc, her mother

Robert Barrat as Jacques d'Arc, her father

James Lydon as Pierre d'Arc, her younger brother

Rand Brooks as Jean d'Arc, her older brother

Roman Bohnen as Durand Laxart, her uncle

At Vaucouleurs, February 1429

Irene Rich as Catherine le Royer, her friend

Nestor Paiva as Henri le Royer, Catherine's husband

Richard Derr as Jean de Metz, a knight

Ray Teal as Bertrand de Poulengy, a squire

David Bond as Jean Fournier, priest of Vaucouleurs

George Zucco as Constable of Clervaux

George Coulouris as Sir Robert de Baudricourt, Governor of Vaucouleurs

The Court of Charles VII at Chinon, March 1429

John Emery as Jean, Duke d'Alençon, cousin of Charles

Gene Lockhart as Georges de la Trémoille, the Dauphin's chief counselor

Nicholas Joy as Regnault de Chartres, Archbishop of Rheims and Chancellor of France

Richard Ney as Charles de Bourbon, Duke de Clermont

Vincent Donohue as Alain Chartier, court poet

José Ferrer as The Dauphin, Charles VII, later King of France

The Army at the Battle of Orléans, May 1429

Leif Erickson as Dunois, Bastard of Orleans

John Ireland as Jean de la Boussac (St. Severe), a Captain

Henry Brandon as Gilles de Rais, a Captain

Morris Ankrum as Poton de Xaintrailles, a Captain

Thomas Browne Henry as Raoul de Gaucourt, a Captain (credited as Tom Brown Henry)

Gregg Barton as Louis d'Culan, a Captain

Ethan Laidlaw as Jean d'Aulon, her squire

Hurd Hatfield as Father Pasquerel, her Chaplain

Ward Bond as La Hire, a Captain

The Enemy

Frederick Worlock as John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford, England's Regent

Dennis Hoey as Sir William Glasdale

Colin Keith-Johnston as Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy

Mary Currier as Jeane, Countess of Luxembourg

Ray Roberts as Lionel of Wandomme, a Burgundian Captain

J. Carrol Naish as John, Count of Luxembourg, her Captor

The Trial at Rouen, February 21 to May 30, 1431

Francis L. Sullivan as Bishop Pierre Cauchon of Beauvais, the trial conductor

Shepperd Strudwick as Father Jean Massieu, her Bailiff

Taylor Holmes as the Bishop of Avranches

Alan Napier as Earl of Warwick

Philip Bourneuf as Jean d'Estivet, a Prosecutor

Aubrey Mather as Jean de La Fontaine

Herbert Rudley as Thomas de Courcelles, a Prosecutor

Frank Puglia as Nicolas de Houppeville, a Judge

William Conrad as Guillaume Erard, a Prosecutor

John Parrish as Jean Beaupere, a Judge

Victor Wood as Nicolas Midi, a Judge

Houseley Stevenson as The Cardinal of Winchester

Jeff Corey as her Prison Guard

Bill Kennedy as Thierache, her Executioner

Cecil Kellaway as Jean Le Maistre, Inquisitor of Rouen

Louis Payne as Judge Thibault

Uncredited

Richard Alexander as Man on Boulevard

Herbert Rawlinson as Judge Marguerie

Russell Simpson as Old Man with Pipe

Vernon Steele as Boy's Father

Differences in versions

There are several differences between the full-length roadshow version of the film and the edited general release version.

One that is immediately noticeable is that there is actually a snippet from Joan's trial during the opening narration in the edited version, whereas in the full-length version, the events of Joan's life are shown in chronological order. The narration is more detailed in the edited version than in the complete version, with much of it used to cover the breaks in continuity caused by the severe editing.

The edited version omits crucial scenes that are important to a psychological understanding of the narrative, such as the mention of a dream that Joan's father has which foretells of Joan's campaign against the English. When Joan hears of the dream, she becomes convinced that she has been divinely ordered to drive the English out of France.

Most of the first ten minutes of the film, a section showing Joan praying in the Domrémy shrine, followed by a family dinner and conversation which leads to the mention of the dream, are not in the edited version.

In the complete 145-minute version, the narration is heard only at the beginning of the film, and there are no sudden breaks in continuity.

Entire characters, such as Joan's father (played by Robert Barrat) and Father Pasquerel (played by Hurd Hatfield) are partially or totally omitted from the edited version.

Even the opening credits are somewhat different, and run about two minutes longer. In the edited version, the story begins after Victor Fleming's director's credit, and in the full-length version, after the director's credit, a title card states "The Players" appears onscreen, after which all the major lead and supporting actors, as well as the characters that they play, are listed in order of appearance and in groups (e.g., "At Domrémy", "At Chinon", etc.), much like Fleming's other lengthy film epic Gone with the Wind. More than 30 of the actors are listed.

The edited version might be considered more cinematic through its use of maps and voice-over narration to explain the political situation in France. (In the full-length version, Joan's family discusses the political situation during dinner.) The full-length version, although not presented as a play-within-a-play, as the stage version was, nevertheless resembles a stage-to-film adaptation, makes great use of Maxwell Anderson's original dialogue, and may seem, to some, stagy in its method of presentation, despite having a realistic depiction of the Siege of Orléans.

Critical reaction

Joan of Arc received critical praise for its production values and Ingrid Bergman's performance, though some felt Joan of Arc's characterization was lacking. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times called Joan of Arc "one of the most magnificent films ever made, bespeaking the vast sum of money and the effort expended on it. Dramatically, it has moments of tremendous excitement and shock. And emotionally it has glimmers of the deep poignancy of the Maid. But, somehow, the huge combination of pageantry, legend and pathos—of spectacle, color, court intrigues and the historic ordeal of a girl—while honestly intended, fails to come fully to life or to give a profound comprehension of the torment and triumph of Joan."

Abel Green of Variety praised Bergman's performance and wrote "Joan of Arc is a big picture in every respect. It has size, color, pageantry, a bold historic bas-relief done up in the best 1948 Hollywood tradition. It has authority, conviction, an appeal to faith and a dedication to a cause that leaves little wanting." Harrison's Reports applauded the film as "a great spectacle, a truly superb feature that deserves to take its place as one of the finest ever produced in the history of the motion picture industry. Exquisitely photographed in Technicolor, the production is impressive and magnificent, and its combination of spectacularity, devout faith, and high courage has been handled with infinite care by both Walter Wanger, the producer, and Victor Fleming, the director." Kate Cameron of the New York Daily News wrote: "It is beautifully photographed in Technicolor and contains an inspirational performance by its star Ingrid Bergman, who also played Joan on the New York stage in the American play."

John McCarten of The New Yorker wrote the film "is overburdened with scenery, employs a cast that must run into thousands, and never departs from its fifteenth-century locale ... The sets are glaringly unnatural, and I guess the camerawork could be best described as curdled." Time magazine opened their review, stating, "Joan of Arc gives Ingrid Bergman the biggest role in her career. She almost fills it. If the rest of the movie were up to Miss Bergman, it could be rated very close to excellent. As it is, it rates A for effort."

Jack D. Grant of the Los Angeles Mirror was mixed on Bergman's performance, writing, "she had missed the true heart of the Maid ... Perhaps she approached it too reverently to breathe life into her interpretation. Her performance remains cold with the single startling exception of the womanly tears with which she meets triumph in battle." In the 2009 edition of his Movie Guide, Leonard Maltin—who had not reviewed the full-length version—wrote "Ingrid Bergman is staunchly sincere in this overlong, faithful adaptation of Maxwell Anderson's play. Not enough spectacle to balance the talky sequences".

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 82% of 11 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.5/10.