Svengali

John Barrymore gave his best performance in the era of sound film with the 1931 Warner Brothers release of Svengali. Svengali was based on the George du Maurier novel and was a star turn for various actors on both the London and New York stages. Barrymore was in his second contract with Warner Brothers over the course of the mid 1920s and early 1930s. John Barrymore's persona in the 1920 silent films he acted in were very much swashbuckling in nature ( for a man already having his vitality drained by alcoholism). Warner Brothers profited by the pictures he made under his first contract. But Barrymore bolted for United Artists as soon as he could. This makes a second contract with Warners and Barrymore curious, but Jack Warner wanted to make pictures and money and that where Barrymore comes in yet again. John Barrymore's prestige was still strong because of his work on Broadway. Svengali comes in near the end of the second contract with Warners. The atmosphere of the film is appropriately Grand Guignol in nature. Archie Mayo was a better than journeyman director and the art direction by Anton Gort is superb. Fred Jackson's special effects of Barrymore's eyes becoming glowing orbs when he hypnotizes "Trilby" was very effective in creeping audiences out. The story is basic theater as Svengali know a good thing when he sees one and attaches himself to Trilby. Svengali had been played in the past as an evil and sinister relationship with Trilby. John Barrymore plays his Svengali as a dirty, smelly bearded "maestro" with a sardonic sense of humor. He is amoral, opportunistic with a soul full of lust for women. He has the aura of evil about him, yet displays such a joie de vire about life. Svengali is repellant, yet magnetic and charasmatic. The cast are competent professional actors dealing with early sound film issues ( Donald Crisp had a solid acting career!) The one weakness of the cast is Marian Marsh as Trilby. She was attractive, but just too young an actress to fully give credit to the part and to reacting to Barrymore's overwhelming Svengali. Yet she grows as the film goes on. Her heart belongs to "Little Billy", yet gradually comes under the dark control of Svengali. This is a story of unrequited love as Trilby grows in stature and as a concert diva, she grows in the brightness of life as Svengali is becoming more diminished and aging before our eyes. He pours his heart hypnotizing her to make her an artist and his heart has only so much to give, literally. Little Billy follows them across the continent of Europe as Trilby reaches the heights of concert performance and Svengali overreaches himself in "managing" her career. Eventually the peak is reached and the tragic descent starts for both Svengali and Trilby. The end is full of pathos and tragedy as Trilby chooses to join Svengali in death than remain with Little Billy in life. Svengali finally finds love as a complicated story comes to an end.Warner Brothers was getting their feet settled in early sound and turning out films such as Little Cesear and The Public Enemy. Svengali was one of their early sound film gems. Barrymore gives his role such intensity and panache that it lights up the screen. This mirrored his work onstage. John Barrymore rose from giving glib and winning performances as an accomplished light comedian on Broadway to becoming the greatest American stage actor of the 20th Century. He displayed such versatility and verve in his work. Ahead for him was were Counselor at Law, Grand Hotel, A Bill of Divorcement, Topaze and Twentieth Century. John Barrymore should have won the 1931 Best Actor Oscar for this performance,but ironically was beat out by his brother Lionel, for his performance as the alcoholic attorney in MGM's A Free Soul. John Barrymore was never rewarded for the great work he did in film. Alcoholism destroyed his career and his life and that was as great a tragedy as his epic performance as Shakespeare's Hamlet. Constance Collier, who played with Barrymore in Peter Ibbetson on Broadway in 1916, and as Gertrude in Barrymore's Hamlet at the Haymaker in London in 1925 was eloquent in her remembrance of John Barrymore's art, " He was the greatest of all the actors I ever saw, and I knew Irving and Tree and so many of the great ones. He had a wild soul and no one could discipline him. Yet he was avid for criticism. He would say ' Don't tell me if I'm good. Tell me when you feel I am bad and where.' But that always the way with greatness. He had something in his eye, an almost mystic light, that only men of genius have."

This 1931 film is a classic in terms of the visuals & sets, transcendant beauty of the lead female, marvelous acting by John Barrymore as the quite complex Svengali, and positive dated feel. While the supporting actors are generally bad and the plot lurches cumbersomely, the positives generally outweigh the negatives.I won't ruin the story too much. The movie is basically about a wierd musician guy who uniquely falls for a girl who every guy wants, but because of his skill and intelligence finds ways of manipulating her into his life. There is use of hypnotism and psychological jousting. Often the line blurs between the two. The ending is rediculously abrupt and unfair to the audience, and the would-be "hero" (the virtuous guy who attempts to get the girl out of Svengali's clutches) doesn't seem to be able to decide whether or not he is pathetic or heroic throughout the whole movie (I still don't know what the actor was trying to do). This kind of ambiguity only works when it is on purpose; in this case it was just bad acting.Marian Marsh is an adequate actress who fortunately possessed the only required aspects for "Trilby": beauty, convincing smile, youthfulness. Her acting was ok but then her part didn't really call for much complexity.Complexity in acting was definitely required for the lead rold: Svengali. John Barrymore is fantastic and puts more subtlety into the wretched script than was even intended. He is not a monster, he is a complex and bitter human with a soft spot for beautiful girls that have good voices. I guess that means that King Kong was not really a monster either. Actually, that is a good comparison. Svengali is probably much more similar to King Kong than Dracula. Dracula used his powers to dominate; King Kong used his powers to acquire. If you look at the movie as more of a transformation of Svengali than a "monster" movie, I think you'll enjoy it better. But this is a movie less about Svengali's transformation than it is about how a woman can pierce the heart of a man. In the end, the result and ending is less important than the theme: men will do anything for the woman they love.As for the transfer... The Roan Group Archival dvd is fantastic. The sound and picture are beautiful. The Alpha video dvd pales in comparison, as the DVD framing of the print removed much of the shots, the print used was faded and fuzzy, and the sound had a large hiss and was muffled the whole time. I don't know what the Roan Group did, but the picture looked much better, the frame wasn't cut up, and the sound was far more clear. Its odd, because the same print was obviously used (the same film damage during the nude scene was apparent, albeit reduced in the Roan version). The alpha video also lists an incorrect running time at 64 minutes when both dvds run 90.If you love a classic and bizarre love stories, pick up the Roan dvd of this movie: Svengali!

John Barrymore, an accomplished actor, is excellent in this film version of Trilby, an 1895 novel by George Du Maurier. Two major films were made of the successful but flawed anti-Semitic book Trilby. The first is the silent 1915 film called Trilby. Both films make changes in their presentation of the novel. Each deletes the flaws of the multitude of French which non-French speakers could not understand, and more importantly ceases to describe Svengali as a despicable Jew. In fact, there is not even a hint that he is Jewish. I suggest that people interested in reading a review of this film also read my review of Du Maurier’s book Trilby and that of the 1915 film.This film gives its primary focus on the musician and hypnotist Svengali. Some of the changes in this film are: it is not Billie’s mother who talks Billie out of marrying Trilby, but Svengali does it. He also, unlike the book, arranges that her disappearance from Billie’s life appears to be suicide by drowning. While in the book and the 1915 film the hypnotized Trilby is called La Svengali, she is also more explicitly called Madam Svengali in this film. Also, unlike the others, Svengali has the power, like Dracula, to influence the behavior of women even from a great distance. One scene in this film seems to suggest that after being with Svengali for years and having been under his control, she refused to have sex with him; then, strangely, he causes her through hypnoses to want sex with him, but he feels sick and is unable to do it. The ending of this 1931 film is totally unlike the novel and the 1915 version, and is a sad ending.

one of the last films made at "warner bros." before his contract expired, "svengali" is certainly a different kind of film for the studio and for john barrymore. there are elements of melodrama, thrills and maybe even a touch of the macabre. this sort of film reminds me of lon chaney snr. however, the plot is rather loose and doesn't quite hold the film together and the direction seems to be rather uninspired. the supporting cast are quite good, with donald crisp taking the acting honours in that department. john barrymore dominates from beginning to end as the rather unbalanced and dangerous musicial genius who has a young diva under his spell. the setting is france, set in about the 1800s. the set design is very professional, helped by some good camerawork. not a classic by any means but this film still has moments of power and imagination. i understand that "svengali" was remade about a year later as "the mad genius," also with barrymore and given a modern setting in america. i hope that film surfaces on dvd at some point.

I enjoyed this old 1931 movie with John Barrymore in fine form

very pleased

Always great

Früher Tonfilm-Horrorklassiker mit einem überragenden John Barrymore als dämonischen Impressario, der eine jungeKünstlerin unter Hypnose setzt und für seine Zwecke mißbraucht, mit tragischen Konsequenzen für alle Beteiligten.Für Freunde des Genres unverzichtbar und auf einer Stufe mit "Dracula"und "Frankenstein"(ebenfalls beide 1931 gedreht) zu nennen.