Customer Reviews

Disraeli [VHS]

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"Stagey" it is but thats the point. Disraeli is a man of wit and guile and a tongue that is always at the ready with a clever twist of phrase or turn of logic. Arliss makes this history lesson very enjoyable. And the history lesson is a good one. The struggle over the Suez canal crystallizes a growing mistrust between the growing empires of west(England) and east(Russia),in the middle is Egypt and her poverty has made her sell her "ditch in the sand" to the highest bidder. To England that ditch is the key to keeping India. It is all played like a drawing room comedy of errors though with Russian spies and coded messages and nasty antisemite English bankers who refuse to back the prime ministers plan, at first, and with a love story thrown in to boot. Lots of great lines if not great visuals. It was all filmed on just a few sets but that just makes you listen all the more carefully. A smart film that will please the discerning historian as well as the drawing room wit in you.

"The less a politician does the fewer mistakes he makes." The actual line is "prime minister" in place of "politician" but the same amused skepticism holds true. The speaker is British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, played by George Arliss. Disraeli was a clever and ambitious politician, heartily disliked by a great section of the English ruling class because he was born a Jew, "not one of us, you know," cleverer than anyone, and with a vision of British imperial destiny that encouraged many and made many more nervous. George Arliss was as much a film phenomenon as Dizzy was a political marvel. Arliss gained a great stage reputation in England, came to America and repeated the trick on Broadway, made a handful of silent films to acclaim and, with his first talking movie, this one, won an Academy Award for best actor. He was a slight man without an ounce of fat on his bones. He looked his age. He had a narrow skull, prominent cheekbones, thin lips and a regal nose. With a commanding acting style and diction as precise as an accountant's penmanship, Arliss is definitely old school by today's standards. I'll tell you something. When he's on screen you don't notice anyone else. When he's off screen, you realize you're waiting for him to reappear. From Disraeli in 1929 to his last movie, Dr. Syn, in 1937 when he was 69, he became the most successful older actor Hollywood has ever seen, before or since. He made 19 movies in those eight years, many of them historical dramas. He played everything from the Duke of Wellington to Cardinal Richelieu to Voltaire to Alexander Hamilton. His wife had played opposite him in a number of his stage and film vehicles. Her sight had been failing and when at last she became blind in 1937, he immediately left acting. They returned to London and spent the rest of their days in honored retirement. He died in 1946; she followed him four years later.

Why all this about a long gone and long forgotten actor? Partly it's because what makes his movies so watchable (I've seen three) is him. He knew exactly what he was doing and he is memorable at it. Mainly it's because he had a remarkable life as an actor and should be remembered by at least a few. As Santayana said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to miss out on a lot of good stuff," or something like that.

Disraeli was a proven success for Arliss. He played the drama many times on stage and again in a silent version. It's the story of Disraeli's determination to secure ownership of the Suez Canal for Britain. Among other advantages, the canal will provide a short and secure route to India and beyond. The Bank of England opposes him. Imperial Russia is out to thwart him using spies and skullduggery. And he has a window of opportunity of only three weeks to seal the deal. Disraeli uses every trick and every bluff he can think of to impose his will. And he still has time to encourage the love match between two young people he is quite fond of. We have the lovely, 19-year-old Lady Clarissa Pevensey (played by the lovely, 19-year-old Joan Bennett) and the well-intentioned but stuffy 25-year-old Lord Charles Deeford (Anthony Bushell). All turns out well, and Queen Victoria is pleased.

The movie is dated, declarative and stagy. Still, Arliss gives his man so much charm and wit, so much cleverness and power that the movie becomes something more than an artifact. So, if nothing else, consider watching it to observe a great actor. Or at least to see a teen-aged Joan Bennett. The VHS tape shows the movie's age, but it is still easy to watch. In one or two places the audio seems to fade out for a moment or two. The tape can probably be tracked down. Unfortunately, almost nothing of Arliss' work is easily available.

George Arliss (1868-1946) portrays the titular British Prime Minister whose statesmanship (he secured Suez Canal) was equaled by his matchmaking skills. The film was nominated for three AA, including Best Picture and Best Writing and Arliss won the Oscar for the Best Actor of 1929. The acclaimed biographical film relates the colourful life of Benjamin Disraeli, a Jew who became the Prime Minister of England during the reign of Queen Victoria. The story focuses particualarly on Disraeli's effort the obtain control of the Suez Canal for Great Britain - but a female spy is in the scenerio......George Arliss portrayed Disraeli many times on the stage, and here he brilliantly reprises his role. One of the earliest of Warner's prestigious biographies of Great Men, DISRAELI set a high standard for future such movies. It's amazing to watch the great old trouper of the English stage play his role with zesty aplomb and chemistry between he and his real-life wife Florence is captivating. Although Arliss had an undeniable hamminess quality about his acting, it is nevertheless hamminess of the first calibre! Blonde Joan Bennett was young (19) and inexperienced here, and her playing of Lady Clarissa is merely adequate.

When George Arliss reprised his stage role of Benjamin Disraeli for Hollywood in 1929, sound pictures had just begun to be made and Arliss was one of the few silent stars that made a successful transition. Arliss' experience on the stage was a clear factor in his ability to enunciate with crackling precision a man who could announce how weak he was in one scene and then be able to shift verbal gears in the next to slice apart his adversaries.

Arliss was nearing sixty when he was tapped by director Alfred Green for the lead as English Prime Minister Disraeli, who was entrusted by Queen Victoria to secure for England the maritime rights of the Suez Canal. The Russians of course, under the Tsar, had their own ideas about that and the Tsar sent a female spy to make sure that Disraeli's plans came to naught. DISRAELI is not a film of special effects or sweeping montages. Instead, director Green mostly relied on Arliss's oral virtuosity and a few set pieces to place the audience right there on Downing Street. Arliss was a deserved winner for best actor and his real life wife Florence Arliss played his screen wife. Their chemistry was palpable even if by modern standards their connection was more metaphysical than purely physical. Arliss carried very nearly the entire film although Joan Bennett, who as a 19 year old neophyte, showed much of the screen persona that later came to mark her cinematic essence. DISRAELI is a fine film that encapsulates an often overlooked yet crucial time when England was still dreaming of overseas empires. That director Green and Arliss made this history lesson thoroughly enjoyable is a testamount to their individual skills.

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alanjj (ajacobs@pli.edu) New York, New York

Date: 25 September 1999 Summary: Historical, sophisticated, entertaining

I was surprised to see this film at my local chain video shop. I couldn't believe that anyone would ever have made a film about such a character, who barely moves from his office. Fortunately, he's got a nice yard to roam around in. Not an action hero.

What you've got here is a play with snappy dialog brought to film with great stage actors. And that's not bad at all. The camera movement and sound are primitive (this is a 1929 film, after all) but you never lose interest. The filmmakers have wisely chosen to focus on one particularly pivotal incident in the history of the world: a transfer in ownership of the right to construct and maintain the Suez Canal. They focus on the key character in the drama: Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli. In the course of a few weeks when this drama takes place, we get to see what was appealing about this man, how he handled the prejudices against a Jew leading a country of Anglicans, and how his personal life was intertwined with his carrying out his mission.

I have no idea how much of this is true. I assume that the bare facts of the Suez Canal affair are accurate. And this film brings to life the intrigue and romance of the life of a man at the central of English political life at a time when British power reached its zenith.

A fine movie.

Please note I saw this on TV so I can't comment on the quality of the video transfer.

George Arliss was one of the great actors of his day, often playing important historical figures. In this he reminds me of the great Paul Muni whose career had a similar arc (Muni played Louis Pasteur, Emile Zola, and other notables, including a wonderful job playing Frederick Chopin's eccentric and humorous piano teacher in the movie, A Song to Remember).

Here Arliss brings his great talents to playing the brilliant and ambitious Benjamin Disraeli, a man who is almost too intelligent, cunning, witty, charming and articulate to be believed. No one in England was his match, not even Gladstone, probably, who was certainly no slouch.

Disraeli is determined to acquire the Suez Canal, which was a financial disaster for the French since it cost too much, but was still Britain's key to keeping India, and so he wants to buy it from impoverished Egypt. Disraeli uses every ounce of his cunning and wit and intelligence to cajole, charm, browbeat, and intrigue his way into a deal with the bankers who dislike him for being a Jew, but even worse, think the whole idea is crazy and refuse to fund it. But Disraeli will not be deterred and in the end he gets his way, and the Queen's approval as well.

The movie is shot in just a few grand looking interiors, in some ways not so different from a stage play where Arliss first made his name. Arliss has tremendous on-screen presence, dominating every scene despite being a slightly built man, and his diction is so precise and sharp that you could cut glass with it. An interesting piece of trivia, he won the Academy award for this movie, his first talkie. This is truly a wonderful old movie, more of a stage play than a typical film, but it loses none of its interest and power for that.

This is one of the few very early talkies that is neither a musical nor an overly dull stage production. It is a fascinating look into a very brief episode in the professional life of British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli - specifically his effort in obtaining the Suez Canal for Great Britain. Arliss gives a well-deserved Academy Award winning performance as the prime minister, and he is so adept at dialogue and with conveying his mood with glances and small gestures and the pace of the film is so brisk that you hardly notice the 1929 movie camera that cannot budge an inch. In this short 90 minute film Disraeli plays matchmaker, mentor, breaker of a spy ring, and master dealmaker with a sophistocation of dialogue and acting that is rarely seen in films for another ten years. Particularly moving is the portrayal of Disraeli's relationship with his wife, played by Arliss' actual wife to whom he was wed in 1899 until his death. The mutual respect and tenderness the couple show for one another is quite touching.

The audio and video of this film is really in bad shape. There is very bad background hissing in the audio which can make the dialogue - so important to the development of the plot - sometimes difficult to understand. The video doesn't have much scratchiness to it, but there are periods of time when blurry areas will appear on the screen that can be quite distracting. This film is quite enjoyable 80 years after it was made. Seeing that it is much more than a rickety curio, it would be nice to see Warner Home Video clean up the film technically as much as is possible and put it on DVD.

I agree with the favorable ratings given to this film and especially with the preceding comments of Mr. DeRiemer. Arliss was something special!

The man had style. When he was working on a film, at precisely 5 PM his butler would appear on the set. The actor would immediately stop, bid everyone good evening and depart for home. The moguls and the public ate that sort of thing up--but only from him. His best role in Hollywood was that of "the great English actor."

Years later, another Disraeli film was made with a major British stage star in the lead, I forget which. Gielgud? Perhaps Redgrave? It was a turkey. No-one has ever had the screen geezer charisma of George Arliss.

George Arliss plays a role in an unexpected literary venue. In "The Maltese Falcon," Joel Cairo turns up in Sam Spade's office to demand the black bird. Not long after that, Spade is going through the wallet of the now unconscious Cairo. Among other things, he finds a ticket for a performance at a Geary Street theater of "The Merchant of Venice" in which Arliss portrays Shylock. That dates the action of the book to November 1929.

I agree with all the points made in the previous five-star review and will add only that this is also a lesson in leadership and the practical usefulness of a personal code of morality. If only a modern Disraeli would run for President and save us from the likes of Gore and Bush Jr.