While living in Vienna in
1925, Franz Werfel (1890-1945) wrote Juarez
and Maximilian. Early in World War
One he served at the eastern front in the Austro-Hungarian Army. Later he was posted to the Military Press Bureau located in Vienna. By the time Werfel wrote Juarez and Maximilian, he was an
established playwright, novelist and poet.
Juarez
and Maximilian is described on the cover to its
published English edition as “A Dramatic History in Three Phases and Thirteen
Pictures.” The plot recounts the trials
and tribulations of Maximilian I (1832-1867), the only monarch of the second
Mexican empire, at that time Mexico was controlled by the French Empire ruled
by Emperor Napoleon III (1808-1873). Maximilian was the younger brother of the
Austrian Emperor Francis Joseph I (1830-1916). Since Maximilian was a member of
the House of Hapsburg, he was related to nearly every monarch in Europe.
Maximilian was married to Charlotte (1840-1927), the daughter of King Leopold I
(1790-1865) of Belgium. When she became Empress of Mexico, she took the name
Carlota (Spanish for Charlotte). The English translation of the script spells
her name “Carlotta”.
The action of the play
commences either late 1864 or early 1865 and ends in June of 1867. It follows
the general pattern of the actual events that occurred in Mexico during that
timeframe. Maximilian’s antagonist was Benito Juarez (1806-1872), who had been
elected by the citizens of Mexico and served as President of Mexico since 1858.
It is easy to understand why some critics, reviewers and audience members
understood this play as simply a dramatization of those historic events.
But Werfel was a man of
his time and he told this story by using several theatrical devises that made
the story telling more contemporary to 1920s audiences. He divided the major
segments of the play into “Three Phases” instead of designating them as three
acts. Each phase represents a different and distinct time-frame in the history
of Maximilian’s rein in Mexico. Werfel uses the word “picture” instead of the
term scene. A change of location and situation are represented in each one of
the thirteen pictures. Over the course of the play one understands how
Maximilian’s situation changed dramatically.
At the beginning of the play Maximilian had 40,000 soldiers from France,
Belgium and Austria to support his rein in Mexico. By the Third Phase all of those
troops had returned to their homelands. Also Werfel’s use of the term “picture”
which represented to me a specific image, therefore, I was more conscience of this
play as a visual piece akin to a film.
Werfel had written some
of his earlier plays in the expressionist style. It was thought by critics that
his style changed, as did that of so many young writers, due to the sobering
effects that World War One had on playwrights. However, the characters and the
situation are more realistic in Juarez
and Maximilian. Werfel use of different designations for theatre terms, as
mentioned above, as well as never having Juarez appear on stage indicated he was
still experimenting with style. While Juarez the antagonist is
invisible, his agents carry Juarez’s messages in order to demonstrate his
haunting presence.
Juarez
and Maximilian
is “A Dramatic History” that points beyond the nineteenth century. There were
several times during my reading of the script that I was very aware of being
involved with the events and emotions of the 1860s as well as being conscious
of 1920s sensibilities with which the plays seems to be imbued. Since Juarez is never seen on stage, it does
not matter that in 1865 he would have actually been fifty-nine years old and
twenty-six years Maximilian’s senior. Yet the feeling from the play is that
Juarez is a leader who gathers youths to his patriotic vision for Mexico. Werfel’s
vision of Juarez and his supporters is reminiscent of the various patriotic
youth movements across Europe in the years leading up to World War One as well
as during it.
During the Twelfth
Picture, Maximilian states: “The age of royalty is over.” Then following his next sentence, he states:
“The hour of the dictators has come.” Those statements hold a modicum of truth
for Mexico, but they seem too encompassing for Mexico alone. However, these
thoughts are less representative of the European situation in 1867. Both statements ring with truth for Europe
during the 1920s.
When Juarez and Maximilian premiered in Magdeburg, Germany on April 25,
1925, Carlotta was still alive and living at Bouchout Castle in Belgium. The
play opened in Vienna during June of 1925. This production of the play was
directed by Max Reinhardt (1873-1943). The review in The Stage June 25, 1925 was positive. “The play beautifully
produced by Max Reinhardt with the aid of many original costumes and contemporary
photographs proved to be a triumph for Paul Hartmann (1889-1977), who was a
Hapsburg to the life.” The review ends by claiming there were sixty curtain
calls.
Juarez
and Maximilian opened in Berlin at the Deutsche Theatre in
February of 1926. An article in the New
York Times on February 21, 1926
that was written by Special Correspondence from Berlin claims “Mexican Official
and Historian Praises Work of Werfel, German Dramatist.”
The New York production
of Juarez and Maximilian was created
by The Theatre Guild and it opened October 11, 1926. It played for forty-eight
performances. The script was translated by Ruth Langner (1899-1959) and the
production starred Alfred Lunt as Maximillian, Clare Eames as Carlotta, and
Edward G. Robinson as Porfirio Diaz. The cast included other well-known actors
such as Morris Carnovsky, Cheryl Crawford, Dudley Digges and Sanford Meisner. Langner’s
translation of Juarez and Maximilian was
published in 1926 by Simon and Schuster for the Theatre Guild.
Darius Milhaud
(1892-1974) created his opera titled Maximilian
in 1930. The story is based on Werfel’s Juarez
and Maximilian. It was announced in the New
York Times on August 16, 1931 that Milhaud’s opera was scheduled to be performed at Vienna
Staatsoper.
The film rights for
Werfel’s play were purchased in 1938 by Warner Brothers. The script was
reworked and the film titled Juarez
was premiered in New York City on June 10, 1939. Bette Davis played Carlota of
Mexico, Brian Aherne was Maximilian, Paul Muni starred as Benito Juarez and
Claude Raines was Napoleon III. The
roles begin to give clues to how extensively the script was altered.
Werfel’s historic play
was applauded both in Europe and in North America. It retold the story of
Maximilian’s reign in Mexico that appeared to have been forgotten in the
intervening sixty-eight years. During the Epilogue, Werfel used this piece of
history to remind his audience that “the only legitimate thing on earth is
bestial obscene ambition” or “implacable power.”
No comments:
Post a Comment