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'{{Infobox Film | name = Arms and the Man | image = | image_size = | caption = | director = | producer = [[George Bernard Shaw]] | writer = | narrator = | starring = | music = | cinematography = | editing = | distributor = | released = [[April 21]], [[1894]] | runtime = | country = | language = | budget = | gross = | preceded_by = | followed_by = | website = | amg_id = | imdb_id = }} '''''Arms and the Man''''' is a [[comedy]] by [[George Bernard Shaw]]. Its title comes from the opening words of [[Virgil]]'s [[Aeneid]]: "Arma virumque cano" (Of arms and the man I sing). ({{perseus|Verg.|A.|1.1}}) The play was first produced on [[April 21]], [[1894]] at the [[Avenue Theatre]], and published in [[1898]] as part of Shaw's ''[[Plays Pleasant]]'' volume, which also included ''[[Candida (play)|Candida]]'', ''[[You Never Can Tell (play)|You Never Can Tell]],'' and ''[[The Man of Destiny]].'' The play was one of Shaw's first commercial successes. He was called onto stage after the curtain, where he received enthusiastic applause. However, amidst the cheers, one audience member booed. Shaw replied, in characteristic fashion: "My dear fellow, I quite agree with you, but what are we two against so many?"<ref>Frezza, Daniel. [http://www.bard.org/education/resources/other/candidaplaywright.html "About the Playwright: George Bernard Shaw"], "Utah Shakespearean Festival," 2007. Accessed [[February 12]], [[2008]]. Shaw's contemporary, [[William Butler Yeats]], was present for the performance, and rendered this quotation differently in his autobiography: "I assure the gentleman in the gallery that he and I are of exactly the same opinion, but what can we do against a whole house who are of the contrary opinion?" (Yeats, ''The Trembling of the Veil, book 4: The Tragic Generation,'' from ''Autobiographies,'' in ''The Collected Works of W. B. Yeats,'' vol. 3, ed. William H. O’Donell and Douglas N. Archibald (New York: Scribner, 1999), 221).</ref> ==Plot summary== The play takes place during the [[1885]] [[Serbo-Bulgarian War]]. Its heroine, Raina (rah-EE-na) Petkoff, is a young [[Bulgaria]]n woman engaged to Sergius Saranoff, one of the heroes of that war, whom she idealizes. One night, a [[Switzerland|Swiss]] voluntary soldier in the Serbian army, Bluntschli, bursts through her bedroom window and begs her to hide him, so that he is not killed. Raina complies, though she thinks the man a coward, especially when he tells her that he does not carry pistol cartridges, but chocolates. When the battle dies down, Raina and her mother sneak Bluntschli out of the house, disguised in an old housecoat. The war ends and Sergius returns to Raina, but also flirts with her insolent servant girl Louka (a [[soubrette]] role), who they think is engaged to the loyal house servant Nicola. Raina begins to find Sergius both foolhardy and tiresome, but she hides it. Bluntschli unexpectedly returns so that he can give back the old housecoat, but also so that he can see her. Raina and her mother are shocked, especially when her father and Sergius reveal that they have met Bluntschli before and invite him to stay for lunch and to help them with troop movements. Afterwards, left alone with Bluntschli, Raina realizes that he sees through her romantic posturing but that he respects her as a woman, as Sergius does not. She tells him that she had left a portrait of herself in the pocket of the coat, inscribed "To my chocolate-cream soldier," but Bluntschli says that he didn't find it and that it must still be in the coat pocket.Bluntschli gets a note informing him of his fathers death and revealing to him his enomorous wealth. Louka then tells Sergius that Bluntschli is the man who Raina protected and that Raina is really in love with him, so Sergius challenges him to a duel, but the men avoid fighting and Sergius and Raina break off their engagement (with some relief on both sides). Raina's father discovers the portrait in the pocket of his housecoat but Raina and Bluntschli trick him by taking out the portrait before he finds it again and only tell him that his mind is playing tricks on him. After Bluntschli reveals the whole story to Major Petkoff, Sergius proposes marriage to Louka (to Mrs. Petkoff's horror). Nicola quietly and gallantly lets Sergius have her, and Bluntschli, recognising Nicola's dedication and ability, determines to offer him a job as a hotel manager. News arrives that Bluntschli's father has just died, leaving him a grand inheritance of Swiss luxury hotels. Raina, having realized the hollowness of her romantic ideals and her fiancé's values, protests that she would prefer her poor "chocolate-cream soldier" to this wealthy businessman. Bluntschli says that he is still the same person, and the play ends with Raina proclaiming her love for him and Bluntschli, with Swiss precision, both clearing up the major's troop movement problems and informing everyone that he will return to be married to Raina exactly two weeks from Tuesday. ==Subsequent productions== *The first [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] production opened on September 17, 1894 at [[New York City]]'s [[Herald Square Theatre]]. Since then there have been six Broadway revivals, two of which are listed below. *The most prestigious London revival was directed by [[John Burrell]] for The [[Old Vic Theatre|Old Vic]] Company at the [[Noël Coward Theatre|New Theatre]], which opened on [[5 September]] [[1944]], starring [[Ralph Richardson]] (Bluntschli), [[Margaret Leighton]] (Raina Petkoff) [[Joyce Redman]] (Louka) and [[Laurence Olivier]] (Major Sergius Saranoff). "Olivier thought Sergius a humbug, a buffoon, a blackguard, a coward, 'a bloody awful part' until [[Tyrone Guthrie]] said he would never succeed in the role until he learned to love Sergius. Olivier, spurred and moustachioed, was high camp": Robert Tanitch<ref>London Stage in the 20th Century, by Robert Tanitch, Haus (2007) ISBN 9781904950745</ref>. *A revival production ran at [[New York City]]'s Arena Theatre from October 19, 1950 to January 21, 1951, for a total of 108 performances. The cast included [[Lee Grant]] as "Raina", [[Francis Lederer]] as "Bluntschli" and [[Sam Wanamaker]] as "Sergius". *[[Marlon Brando]]'s final stage appearance was in ''Arms and the Man'' in 1953. He gathered friends who were fellow actors into a company for a summer stock production. He chose to play Sergius while [[William Redfield]] starred as Bluntschli. *In 1985 [[John Malkovich]] directed a revival production at [[New York City]]'s [[Circle in the Square Theatre]] starring [[Kevin Kline]] as "Bluntschli" (later replaced by Malkovich after Kline's departure), [[Glenne Headly]] as "Raina" and [[Raúl Juliá]] as "Sergius". The production ran from May 30 to September 1, 1985, for a total of 109 performances. *The [[BBC]] produced a [http://www.bbcamericashop.com/default.asp?cpa=product&id=3734&ctl=81&cc=21242&tt= made-for-TV version] in [[1989]], directed by [[James Cellan Jones]], starring [[Helena Bonham Carter]] as "Raina", [[Pip Torrens]] as "Bluntschli", [[Patrick Ryecart]] as "Sergius" and [[Patsy Kensit]] as "Louka". ==Adaptations == * Shaw sold the rights to adapt the play into a Viennese [[operetta]], certain that it would never be produced. However, it became an international hit as ''[[The Chocolate Soldier]]'' ([[1908 in music|1908]]), and Shaw vowed never to sell musicalization rights again. His estate eventually relented, allowing the production of ''[[My Fair Lady]]'' based on his ''Pygmalion''. * A British film adaptation of [[1932 in film|1932]] was directed by [[Cecil Lewis]]. It starred [[Barry Jones (actor)|Barry Jones]] as Bluntschli and [[Anne Grey]] as Raina. * A filmed version of ''Arms and the Man'' in [[German language|German]] entitled ''[[Arms and the Man (film)|Helden]]'' ("Heroes") starring [[O. W. Fischer]] and [[Liselotte Pulver]] was runner up for the [[Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film]] in [[1958 in film|1958]]. * An audio version was produced by the [[BBC]] starring [[Sir Ralph Richardson]] as "Captain Bluntschli" and [[Sir John Gielgud]] as "Major Sergius Saranoff". * An audio version was produced in 1999 by the [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]] starring [[Simon Bradbury]] as "Captain Bluntschli", [[Elizabeth Brown]] as "Raina" and [[Andrew Gillies]] as "Major Saranoff". * An audio version was produced in 2006 by the [[L.A. Theatre Works]] starring [[Jeremy Sisto]] as "Captain Bluntschli", [[Anne Heche]] as "Raina" and [[Teri Garr]] as "Catherine". * An second [[BBC]] audio version was produced in 1984 and broadcast on [[BBC Radio 7]] in February 2009 starring [[Andrew Sachs]] as "Captain Bluntschli" and [[Gary Bonds]] as "Major Saranoff". * A [[musical theatre|musical]] by [[Udo Jürgens]], ''Helden, Helden'', which is also based on Shaw's play, premiered at the [[Theater an der Wien]], [[Vienna]], [[Austria]] in [[1973 in music|1973]]. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0862646/ {{wikisource|Arms and the Man (Shaw)|Arms and the Man}} * [http://www.articlemyriad.com/51.htm Scholarly article on ''Arms and the Man''] * [http://www.artsalive.ca/pdf/eth/activities/arms_guide.pdf Study guide for ''Arms and the Man''] ==References== <references/> {{George Bernard Shaw}} [[Category:1894 plays]] [[Category:George Bernard Shaw plays]] [[Category:1932 films]] [[Category:1958 films]] [[Category:Black and white films]] [[Category:1989 films]] [[de:Helden]] [[nl:Arms and the Man]]'