Florian
Cast & Crew
Edwin L. Marin
Robert Young
Helen Gilbert
Charles Coburn
Lee Bowman
Reginald Owen
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Florian, a foal in the Lippizan breeding stable of the Emperor Franz Josef of Austria, is the pride of the stable groom, Anton Ervan. Anton asks his childhood friend, the Duchess Diana, to bring the colt to the emperor's attention, and together, the two friends begin to train the prize colt. As Florian emerges as a champion of the royal stables, love blooms between Diana and Anton. Their different classes prevent them from their expressing their feelings, however, and the emperor has other plans for Diana and arranges a marriage between her and the profligate Archduke Oliver. The advent of World War I disrupts the wedding plans, and Oliver is killed on the battlefield while Florian and Anton join the fight for their country. The Austrian Empire topples when the end of the war is followed by revolution, and Anton smuggles Diana across the Swiss border to safety. Upon his return to Austria, Anton is imprisoned, and Florian is sold at auction to Marco Borelli, an American carnival barker who ships the horse to New York. Diana, meanwhile, is told that Anton is dead. Finally freed by the revolutionaries, Anton and his friend, the veterinarian Hofer, set off to America with Hofer's savings to find Florian and build a new life. Meanwhile, Florian is brutally mistreated by Borelli and becomes unmanagable, and Borelli sells him to a junk dealer. After arriving in New York, Anton takes a job teaching riding at an academy and continues his search for Florian. On the night that the horse is to be shipped overseas, Anton finally tracks him down at the freight yard and then guides the horse back to his former greatness. Soon after, Diana, now living in New York, sees a notice of Florian's performance, and rushes to the academy, where the three are joyfully reunited.
Director
Edwin L. Marin
Cast
Robert Young
Helen Gilbert
Charles Coburn
Lee Bowman
Reginald Owen
Lucile Watson
Irina Baronova
Rand Brooks
Soke Sakall
Wm. B. Davidson
George Lloyd
George Irving
Charles Judels
Dick Elliott
Adrian Morris
Jack Joyce
Florian, The Horse
Crew
Adrian
John Burch
Randall Duell
Karl Freund
Cedric Gibbons
Geza Herczeg
Frank Hull
Noel Langley
Ernst Matray
James Kevin Mcguinness
Richard Rosson
Douglas Shearer
Winfield Sheehan
Gile Steele
Franz Waxman
Edwin B. Willis
William Von Wymetal
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
According to the Variety review, 2d unit director Richard Rosson was shooting background footage in Austria for this film when he was arrested by the Gestapo and jailed for thirty-four days on suspicion of espionage. This picture marked ballerina Irina Baronova's American film debut. Florian also marked the American film debut of Hungarian-born character actor S. Z. "Cuddles" Sakall (1884-1955), who was billed onscreen as Soke Sakall.
