Susanna

I Am Suzanne is recognized by many puppeteers as a milestone for puppet movies. Yet, very few have seen it. I worked with the Yale Puppeteers in the late fifties, sixties, seventies and eighties into their very senior years. So being the youngest of their troop, the "Turnabouters", I have many recollections. There are few of us left. Perhaps only Gene Maiden and myself, Charles Taylor, have the knowledge of details regarding the Yale Puppeteers.

I always wondered how the portrait puppets were created. My apprenticeship with Harry Burnett led me to believe that the fine portrait work was beyond his ability. There are clues in Punch's Progress,and Small Wonder, the biographies of the Yale Puppeteers and the latter book including Turnabout Theater. by Forman Brown, that led me to believe that work was carried out with someone with finer sculpting ability . Harry Burnett would have made the bodies, hands and heads of most of the characters but definitely not the true likeness of the puppets representing well known "portrait" personalities.

Harry gave me photographs of Lillian Harvey and Gene Raymond with their puppets. Many years later I happened on the puppet figure of Lilian Harvey without her head. I am pleased to have the headless puppet in my collection. Perhaps one day I can replicate the head to go with the torso. It is possible that the portrait puppets of Lilian Harvey and Gene Raymond were in the possession of the actors. Although, during the mid to late fifties, much of the puppets and personal possessions of the Yale puppeteers were stored in an elephant van by Jimmy Woods owner of Jungle Land. Vandals broke into the unguarded van and photographs, negatives, and antiques were strewn about the field. Many of the puppets had been stolen. This was between 1956 and 1959. Perhaps that is how the Lillian Harvey puppet "lost" her head! Many of these objects had been wrapped in newspaper and stored in boxes. We found some items had been pulled out of their wrappings tearing priceless antiques. I have a set of crèche figures that stood in the Turnabout Theater. Hat brims and small details were destroyed when they were pulled out and so they were left behind in the field. Other objects were totally lost. Fortunately, there were so many items that the thieves didn't scratch the depth of their treasures!

You can see a photograph of the Lilian Harvey and Gene Raymond puppets by going on line and type in Turnabout Theater then go to the Los Angeles Library | Regional History | Turnabout Theater - Then go to TT-001-804 no neg. It's many pages in but worth looking at the fun pictures of the Turnabout Theater family and Yale Puppeteers history. You'll see me in there too!

Another excellent source of information regarding I Am Suzanne, The Yale Puppeteers, Turnabout Theater would be Alan Cook of COPA, Conservatory of Puppetry Arts. Just type COPA puppets.

A young puppeteer falls for a dancer in a Svengali-like relationship with her overbearing manager. Unique and quirky early musical featuring Germany-based British star Lilian Harvey, whose life was worthy of a film of its own. Not sure why she never succeeded in the States because on the strength of her performance and personality here she certainly had all the necessary qualities. It's the puppets that make this otherwise ordinary romance memorable, though, especially in a nightmare sequence (which features creepy human puppets as well). Leslie Banks and Georgia Caine share an amusingly comical relationship as Harvey's manager and dance instructor. Not often you see the kind of tinting you find here in a talking picture

Tony (Gene Raymond) is a poor but likable puppeteer. While his marionettes are charming, his audience is tiny. One day he sees the vivacious Suzanne (Lillian Harvey) performing on stage and he's enchanted...so enchanted that he wants to design a puppet after her. However, her manager won't allow Tony or anyone to get close to his protégé and this is because he carefully manipulates her and degrades her talent in order to keep her believing she needs him to be a success! This guy, the Baron (Leslie Banks), is a real jerk and when he asks her to marry him, you assume it's not out of love but more a business proposition to keep her under his wing. Tony is convinced the Baron doesn't love Suzanne and tells her...at which time her concentration is disrupted and she takes a terrible fall during the show.

For the next several months, Tony takes care of Suzanne and nurses her back to health...even though it appears she'll never dance again. Slowly, very slowly, she begins to recover--during which time she learns puppetry from Tony. Sadly, during all this time the Baron never sees her. After all, she's no longer of use to him. But when he learns she's recovering, this manipulative jerk springs into action...and does his best to sow seeds of discord in the blossoming relationship between Suzanne and Tony. Tony himself doesn't help it any when he starts to take it for granted that Suzanne no longer wants a life on the stage but with him and his marionettes. What's next?

This is a very charming picture and your heart aches for poor Suzanne. After all, she never is allowed by anyone to choose what she wants. Plus, she's so neglected and mistreated by the Baron-- and this is a sharp contrast to the amazing and very sweet marionette shows throughout the film. My only quibble is some of these sequences go on a bit too long. Still, it's an unusual film and somewhat reminiscent of both "Svengali" and "Lili". Well worth seeing...and oddly, a very pink movie since someone thought it was a good idea to tint this black & white film!

You have probably never seen a movie like "I Am Suzanne!" Read the summary and you will get a feel for it, and it will save me from trying to explain why this is such a rewarding, heartwarming film - and those are adjectives I seldom use. I just wonder where the idea came for this picture - 'original' is hardly the word to describe it.

I think it is basically a love story and would be rated 'G' today, as it would have great appeal to children; think "Hans Christian Andersen" (1953) but minus puppets, and that would approximate the depth of the plot. The principals are childlike, and behave like children would think adults behave. Bland 30's leading man Gene Raymond is the puppeteer who thinks his marionettes are almost real, and Lilian Harvey is an unhappy dancer. They fall in love, although she is a greater success than he; few come to see his puppet shows and she is a celebrity.

Special mention should be made of the Yale Puppeteers, the real stars of the piece. When they are on-camera they steal the show, as much as possible for dolls on strings. So good are the Puppeteers that the dolls come to life in the several different set pieces they are in. I always thought puppeteers just stood above the puppet stage, but here they have intricate walkways to follow the movements of the puppets. The whole novel effect of the picture is fascinating and might have been better with a replacement for Raymond. Also if Fox spent a few more dollars on the production.

This one is worth it if you can find it. It comes in one-strip color but my copy was slightly blurry. Find a good movie pirate and buy it.

After he lost out in a power struggle at Paramount, Jesse Lasky went to Fox, where he produced some innovative pictures that were not particularly successful at the box office. This is one of them.

Most of what is interesting about this movie is the opportunity to see the handiwork of a couple of marionette companies of the era. Otherwise, there is one clear case of miscasting (Gene Raymond is supposed to be the neurotic scion of five generations of puppeteers who has a better relationship with his puppets than human when he looks and acts like a college football star) and some more subtle mistakes in acting and directing: Lilian Harvey is directed in the opening scenes as so withdrawn that I thought she might be playing an idiot, but as she gains in self control and knowledge, she becomes audible. Leslie Banks is quite amusing in a brief foray into the colonies and Georgia Caine handles the confidante-out-for-herself role very well.

Although this is a visually striking film, there are script problems. There is an interesting subtext about the relationship of identity and control as various people insist that they are Suzanne, the Lilian Harvey character, before the matter is sorted out. Had the film makers had a little more confidence in their audience, this might have turned into a better movie.