Svengali, 1931
Seen on CUNY Television, 26 July 1997
Early sound movies were plagued with a variety of problems. The new technology caused many creative setbacks for the film industry. One was where to place the camera so the actors' voices could be recorded properly. This resulted in many awkward scenes with everyone talking into telephones, or even vases. Imagine everyone in the shot gathered around the vase to discuss the matters at hand.
Seeing Svengali shows a mastering of the new technology after four years. The story of the hypnotic maestro Svengali (John Barrymore) who loves the much-younger Trilby (Marian Marsh) is well suited to constant close-ups. The story itself is rather silly--the only way Svengali can get this woman into his life is by constantly hypnotizing her and stealing her away from her true love, the poor painter Billy.
Marian Marsh, as Trilby, is dreadful. Meryl Streep she ain't. Sound movies had produced a new problem: Actors have to memorize and perform the spoken word credibly. Luckily, John Barrymore more than makes up for this. His performance is wonderful, and it looks like most of the lines are written for him. When a theater owner complains of all the broken engagements, and says the crowd will kill him, Barrymore responds, "I will give you a military funeral."
The true star of Svengali is its style. The sets are in the same vein as The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari and other German Expressionists. Evocative, soundless longshots alternate superbly with the intense light-and-shadow close-ups. All this was before high-tech, and how they get Svengali's eyes to glow when he casts his spell is amazing. What the story lacks in plot and action is more than made up in the little touches, like the pan to the cat catching the mouse after Svengali has called Trilby to his rooms from across town in the middle of the night. The use of models will seem unsophisticated by the standards of special effects today, but they lend tremendously.
Note: This film was refilmed several times. One hilarious noteworthy one starred Peter O'Toole and Jodie Foster, in which he declares, upon hearing her sing, "She has a voice like raw meat!"
Copyright (c) 1997 Seth J. Bookey, New York, NY, 10021, sethbook@panix.com
More movie reviews by Seth Bookey are available at http://www.geocities.com/Athens/2679/kino.html
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