The Fighting Guardsman is a 1945 American historical adventure film directed by Henry Levin and starring Willard Parker, Anita Louise, Janis Carter and John Loder. Distributed by Columbia Pictures, it is a swashbuckler based on the 1857 novel The Companions of Jehu by Alexandre Dumas.
Plot A French baron leads rebels like a Robin Hood, stealing Louis XVI's taxes to give to the poor. He is love with an aristocrat woman, Amelie, whose brother Gaston is determined to catch the thief.
Cast Willard Parker as Roland, also known as the Baron de Saint-Hermaine Anita Louise as Amelie de Montrevel Janis Carter as Christine Roualt John Loder as Sir John Tanlay Edgar Buchanan as Pepe George Macready as Gaston de Montrevel Lloyd Corrigan as King Louis XVI Shelley Winters as Nanette Edith Evanson as Madame Paquin Mauritz Hugo as Andre Ray Teal as Albert Maurice Tauzin as Edouard de Montrevel Victor Kilian as Montebar Elisabeth Risdon as Madame de Montrevel Ted Hecht as Emile Ian Wolfeas Prefect Berton John Cason as Baptiste Ethan Laidlaw as Jacques Gino Corrado as Roualt
Production It was Parker's first lead role; he made it on his return from the army. Leslie Brooks was to play a key role but fell ill and was replaced by Janis Carter. Filming started in December 1944.
Reception Variety said "Film, despite its period setting, is an overdressed cops-and-robbers opera with plenty of flintlock and saber play to provide the major source of interest... Henry Levin's direction strives too hard for swashbuckling effects and while the film-goes at a fast clip, it falls foo casily into hokey lines. Attempts to set off Parker as a superman capable of takine on a dozen adversaries imultaneously often brings titters. Acting is routine."
References
External links
Complete pressbook at Internet Archive The Fighting Guardsman at Letterbox DVD The Fighting Guardsman at TCMDB