Cyrano's "My White Plume" monologue

[Bluebuthappy182]

"You knew they were your tears."

"The blood was his."

Oh man doesn't this scene just rip your heart out.

[RGN07]

The script writer should be rewarded not with an Oscar or any tangible award, but with immortality.

[1CrazyWicca]

Puerto Rican Jose Ferrer... :)

[darkcloudakachor]

"No, but that is not in the story. When beauty says "I love you" to the beast all his ugliness changed and dissolved like magic but you see I am still the same."

[ZolotayaKoshka]

It is interesting to compare this version to the French 1990 (can be found on YT under the title "Cyrano De Bergerac (1990) Cyrano's Death scene French with Engish subs").

[kewkew2]

Dam this movie gets me all the time. One of the greatest plays/movie ever told

[DrewTfulvfc]

I think this scene is beautiful between cyrano and roxane

[punkym50]

Beautiful....

[jamesoffutt]

He should have never left the hospital like that, other than that, he died. He probably died from brain trauma.

[eric30du56]

Bad translation.

"Panache is a word of French origin that carries the connotation of a flamboyant manner and reckless courage.

The literal translation is a plume, such as is worn on a hat or a helmet, but the reference is to King Henry IV of France. Pleasure-loving and cynical, but a brave military leader and the best-loved of the kings of France, he was famed for wearing a striking white plume in his helmet and for his war cry: "Follow my white plume!" (Fr. "Ralliez-vous à mon panache blanc!").

[ShadowedDessler]

i have loved a girl like this, but then the girl actor is not very realistic to this world. A normal girls reaction to this measure of love is fear and uninterested.

[callingit]

favorite literary work of all time. Ferrer, a master!

[fzaiko]

It doesn't get any better than this. How does it go in "Man of La Mancha" - "To love pure and chaste from afar"??? Both Cyrano and Don Quixote had what they wanted, the love of their chosen, but did not take it, too fixated on their own faults.....

[NijenK99]

what does he say right before "...and my roses." ? I'm trying to learn this as a monologue and I can never catch that line.

[screaminghellion]

@NijenK99 "All my laurels you have (ribben?) away." Cant make out the other word. Might have been "driven away"

[dravox]

@screaminghellion: "riven" away. Meaning "torn" or "ripped" away.

[screaminghellion]

@dravox Ah that makes sense. Thank you good sir. I just learned a new word.

[Anjuli50]

"I had never known womanhood and its sweetness but for you. My mother did not love to look at me. I never had a sister. Later on I feared the mistress with a mockery behind her smile. But you...because of you, I have had one friend; not...quite...all a friend. Across my life, one whispering, silken gown..."

[Anjuli50]

Actually there is a great deal of this that is changed from the original Brian Hooker translation. It should read: "Behold me ambushed, taken in the rear, my battlefield a gutter, my noble foe -- a lackey with a log of wood. It seems too logical, I have missed everything, even my death."  And after Roxanne goes for the nuns: "No, no, do not go away. I may not still be here when you return. They are going in to pray now, there is the bell. A little harmony is all I need. Listen..."

[Anjuli50]

I hate to be a cynic, and I have loved this play since I memorized it at the age of 4 off my mother's album of the movie soundtrack -- but it is my experience that men do not love this way -- or perhaps it is the only way they love, from a distance, never following through on their feelings, or never feeling this deeply. Or perhaps it is just that no one has ever loved me as Cyrano loved Roxanne. What a pity never to experience this love from either direction...

[Albertarecords7ny]

"...And tonight when I enter before God, my salute shall sweep away the stars from the blue threshold; one thing without stain, un-spotted from the world, in spite of doom, mine own, and that is..."

My God, My Right!

[Phersephoie]

amazing story...

[Albertarecords7ny]

I so absolutely love this movie; Jose Ferrer is beyond perfection!

[Tlamatines]

Cyrano, humble gentleman character portrait of men who know how to love.

The espiritulidad emerges from the soul and the body resonates with their feelings and emotions. Death, a crucial point to evaluate life. Cyrano, died with sorrow because it was judged by people in their appearance, not character. Thanks for the lesson Cyrano .- For life is love. Thanks for posting this movie.

[Bluebuthappy182]

"They were your tears"

"The blood was his."

Ahhh man it rips your heart out.

[phyllistownley]

OMG.....where are true heroes now? asking thru my tears......

[robertclemon]

the irony is etched painfully on his face, soo beautifully....Bravo Cyrano, ....in such a voice.....

[kazar4u]

i fell in love with Mala Powers.she so unique and genuine rare american beauty.

[KickazzRedhead]

This scene breaks my heart & makes me weep every time I view it, but in good ways. I don't think the love of a man for a woman has ever been before - or since been expressed so precisely. His pain of a her love not returned; her understanding of that & how she lost him twice. It's good to know such beauty & art like this will never fade. Pity those who view this & 'don't get it'.

[tastyhorses]

John Wayne..1 character in many costumes. Jimmy Stewart, same thing, Clint Eastwood, same thing, Charles Bronson, All of them. Not really actors. Closest thing we have nowadays is Johnny Depp.  And Keanu Reeves if he can shed the Matrix thing.

[wazzapgangsta]

@tastyhorses

Keanu Reeves has played the same character since "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure". He has to be a paragon of the emotionless actor.

[tastyhorses]

why are there no actors of this caliber today? Why are there no plays or movies of this quality today? Our collective taste is all in our mouths. We need more of this and soon.

[killuminati43]

But society wont get it. Its long gone. To the nitwits its quite simple: Why become a fine actor, when you can become a crappy actor and star in a "reality show" and earn a good living. Face it..... its over. All you can do is mourn. Great actors are dying out.

[ShawDAMAN]

Agreed. No actor or film of this caliber today. One of the few film scenes that can bring tears to my eyes (I'm not a very emotional person.)

The look on his face at 2:30 when he sees the letter he wrote so long ago. The pain, the sadness, the longing, the crushingly bitter but beautiful irony- "farewell Roxanne because today I die-" it's all there. And his reading of it is just amazing.

[ArseneLupinX]

such a story such passion. " it was his blood". What is this world comming to today with all of this nonsense thatwe hear where are the people like that. that talk like that and love like that

[Tangetastic]

♥! :'(

[xhen12]

this scene is amazing

[leonamayor67]

Bravo Jose Ferrer!! You had perpetued yourself with this masterpiece!! Bravisimo!

[farlun]

bravo bravo

[robertclemon]

My own hearts own,I shall never leave you, I swear....

[robertclemon]

I do wish it....today, forshadowing subperb

[robertclemon]

Please someone tell me what he says after seeng his old enemies falsehood, then what?... ..............compromise cowardness,,,,,...vanity... help a brother out... the second enemy is what?

[nozar7]

Falsehood, prejudice, compromise, cowardice.

[robertclemon]

Prejudice,... thank you so much

[robertclemon]

How fate loves a jest, Behold me ambushed, taken unawares, my noble foe a lacky, the battlefield the gutter.... all my laurels you have driven away..... save, my white plume.

[picaVpica]

when i was 14 i was in the crowd scene for royal shakespeare company's version of this in 1997.

it has never left me as a desire.

I yearn for that panache.

[KickazzRedhead]

I too cry every time I see this particular scene. So beautiful yet so tragic.

[robertclemon]

And why so great a no?... the same no from the balcony sceen where the veil of night made all things dimly beautiful, beautiful weave. Love is grand.

[JerryKantrell]

This scene makes me cry every time.

[robertclemon]

My hero since the fifties, values you dont see often enough, independance,individuality,cou­rage,soldier,poet , critic,and, lover.... send in the clowns.

[chaconne1]

Let's not forget Cyrano is a classic play by Edmond Rostand. The screenplay was by Carl Foreman, not much different from the Brian Hooker translation. Cyrano presenta a common archetype among us; fear of loving and rejection. Seldom said and acted so beautifully...

[love2men4life]

Never seen this film. Have to now. Cyrano has been my hero and idol since high school.

[nozar7]

Cyrano's my hero

[Paladin1441]

Jose Ferrer brought De Bergerac to life, His charisma, and personality and panache. Mister Ferrer not only gave an excellent performance, NO one can ever come close to this role.

[audio454]

I saw this for the first time today. I was just what I was looking for on an early saturday morning. I had to laugh, though. My recorder cut it off just when she had realized the words were his. I was hoping to find the ending on YouTube. Thanks for posting it.

[ohsotony]

I have loved Cyrano, Jose's portrayal, since the age of 6. I have measured every person I have known by his nobility, in a world where that is an archaic word, much less ideal for behavior. I found Cyrano in Nick Robertson, my late fiancee. Ironicly, like Cyrano, he died, too. Because of Cyrano I have never judged people by looks, but by their character. Thank you Cyrano/Rostand for the lesson that has enriched my life. Thank you for posting this film.

[chaconne1]

I too first watched Cyrano when I was about 8 years old. I have lived by his principles quite well. Nobility, passion, romance, being true to oneself, freedom, ( "never to write a line I could not call my own...". I suspect Cyrano has influenced your life positively. I'm sorry for your loss, and I hope Nick benefitted from Cyrano as you did.

[Healer2K]

[What a death scene. wow.] Isn't it interesting how people try to deny that the media do not influence us? I also saw this film when I was around 8 years old. It resonated with me then, as I could relate to Cyrano quite strongly. But it very likely also influenced me. It showed me that I was not alone in my values [and those of both my parents]. Nobility, Truth, Freedom indeed.

[oblongatta]

I love this.

[art724]

Ferrer is Cyrano.  This is the saddest story ever told.

[rocknrollfawn]

That's why I like it...unrequited love...story of my life...lol.

[art724]

Tell me about it!!!

[BushidoBen]

you have a giant nose too ????

[Healer2K]

Sad, yet with a molecule of joy: Cyrano did not die before Roxanne learned the truth. Yes, he died. Yes, they could have spent those 14 years together, etc.. But he also could have died without Roxanne knowing the truth. There is something to be said for his having that gift, before he died. He had a woman call him, "My love".

[hadedorus]

thank you...

[rocknrollfawn]

I will certainly do that soon! This movie has much to say about life. Circumstances remind me of it so often. And NOONE can compare to Jose Ferrer!