Svengali (1931)

It's Sunday which can only mean one thing and that is that it's time for another Sunday At The Classics where we view films that were made before the 1970's. The old days were a different time and cinema changed going into the 1970's and there is a whole cavalcade of films to see especially when they star legendary names like today's film does. The film that I am talking about is 1931's Romantic Horror classic Svengali which was directed by Archie Mayo (The Adventures Of Marco Polo) and it's based off of the novel by George L. Du Maurier. The film stars the legendary John Barrymore (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) as the title character and broke down composer Svengali. You see Svengali is the butt of most people's jokes in France since he is a broke composer barely affording to live. All of that will change for Svengali though when he meets the beautiful and charismatic Trilby O'Farrell (Marian Marsh) who has the voice of an angel, but unfortunately Svengali has to use hypnotism to control her. Unfortunately for Svengali, he can't get through to her heart even through hypnotism. The film also stars Bramwell Fletcher (The Mummy) as Billie, Donald Crisp (How Green Was My Valley) as The Laird, Luis Alberni (The Count Of Monte Cristo) as Gecko, Lumsden Hare (The Three Musketeers) as Monsieur Taffy, and Carmel Myers (Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ) as Madame Honori.

One thing is for certain and that is I want to know how they made John Barrymore's eyes go all white the way they did back in 1931? That was one of the coolest scenes in the film and one of the creepiest moments where you were sitting there like can his eyes change back already as it made you uncomfortable. I posted the pic next to this paragraph with Barrymore looking like a cross between Rob Zombie in the Living Dead Girl video and Bela Lugosi in Dracula. They were unfortunately only able to pull this off once in the film because the other time looked like it was straight out of Dracula with the lights going dim on the face except for the eyes. The film isn't very scary, but it what it really is about is a man who is so desperate for love and fame that he will go to any length to get versus the one who just naturally wants it to happen. So, the rest of the film is a wild goose chase as Svengali's powers begin to work against him because he can't buy love with his secret powers. The acting in the film for the most part was pretty good all around, but John Barrymore was the true star of the film as he just oozed of machismo in this film and he was charismatic as well. The only close to touching him in this film was of course Marian Marsh and her performance as the lovable Trilby. I definitely suggest checking this one out for all you cinephiles out there. I am going to give the film an B+ for a final grade.