Customer Reviews

Svengali - Archival DVD Recordable

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Svengali is not generally regarded as one of the great Hollywood classics of the 30s, but remains a very solid, atmospheric, entertaining fantasy-melodrama. John Barrymore is fascinating as the title hypnotist/charlatan, alternately sardonic, chilling, or tender, in a quite restrained and textured performance (especially for 1931). The rest of the cast is adequate, but Barrymore (in an extremely creepy makeup) dominates the film. The opening scene is funny and scary at the same time, and the scene where Svengali "calls" to Trilby at night, across the rooftops of Paris, is a stunner. (And yes, the infamous "nudity" is intact.) The atmosphere, art direction, and photography are often striking, and the usually workmanlike Archie Mayo adds the occasional nice touch.
Roan's restored DVD release easily rates an "excellent" though the print is still not quite flawless. For comparison I cued up my VHS copy (taped off PBS years ago and fairly respectable, or so I thought) and noticed that not only are the running times virtually identical, but that there is some light but noticeable water or chemistry spotting at certain points in the film that corresponds exactly on both prints. Apparently this damage resides in the available master elements. Other than that, if the TV print is at all representative, Roan has cleaned up a huge amount of speckling, scratching, blemishing, etc. Overall the print looks terrific: rich blacks, good tonal scale and shadow and highlight detail; not razor-sharp but very respectable. There is still some very light occasional speckling, vertical scratching, and the aforementioned spotting/staining. But these problems are few and far between and most people probably wouldn't notice unless they were looking for them. It also appears that frames may have occasionally been duplicated to replace missing/damaged ones. I'm guessing here, but every once in a while movements appear slightly "retarded" or "slo-mo", just for a split-second. Hardly noticeable and does not detract from the overall beautiful restoration job. Roan should be commended not only for releasing this neglected film on DVD, but for spending the time and $$ to clean it up so nicely. No extras beyond chapter stops and production notes. If there was even a trailer or anything the DVD would get 5 stars. The movie is a solid 4, leaning toward 5 if you're a student of Hollywood's Golden Age or a Barrymore fan.

I'd never even heard of this film till it showed up one day on early morning television. It's a trip! One of its more distinguishing features is the stylized set design, whereby all the houses look as if they came straight from one of those old Disney films--"Pinocchio", perhaps--with crooked roofs and sloped ceilings and such. The centerpiece of this fever-dream-on-celluloid is a weird Bela Lugosi-ish performance from the great John Barrymore. Whenever Svengali hypnotizes a beautiful young woman to think only of him (to the exclusion of everything--and everybody--else), he turns into a glassy-eyed version of Lugosi's creepy "White Zombie" character. In that film, also made in the early 1930s, a magnetic gaze (and an odd hand gesture) was all it would take for Lugosi to coerce a Haitian town's zombie population to do his bidding. "Svengali" is more of a horror movie than a conventional literary adaptation (of George du Maurier's "Trilby"), but with a delightfully warped sense of humor.

Archie Mayo also directed the excellent "Angel on My Shoulder" (1946), a breezy update of Goethe's "Faust", with Claude Rains as a suitably suave Satan and Paul Muni as Eddie Kagle, the thug who makes a deal with him.

John Barrymore was an authentic acting genius whose movie roles rarely allowed him full expression of his amazing gifts. This film is an exception, allowing Barrymore to escape typecasting as a handsome lover and indulge his love of the bizarre and the strange. His Svengali--charlatan, egotist, and genuinely sinister master of mesmerism--is by turns an object of humor and pathos, a character of his own kind of threadbare but powerful integrity, and one who has become the master of an "occult" art (hypnotism), or perhaps been mastered by it. To watch Barrymore in this film is to see an actor both immerse himself in a role and make it so totally, individually his own that actor and role are indistinguishable. His style is at once completely bizarre and totally believable, totally right. The stylized sets and photography contribute to the strange atmosphere of this classic film, and if a couple of the characters in the film are not so well-acted (especially by today's standards), this doesn't detract from Barrymore's astonishing performance, or from the impact of the film itself. A strange masterpiece that will have you "think only of Svengali...Svengali...Svengali!" END

From the glorious mind of George Du Maurier and the assertive direction of Archie Mayo this film to my mind constitutes one of the best films in that decade. The famous Cabinet of Caligari, Metropolis, The crowd and The Golem were monumental masterworks which anticipated clear and metaphorically the horrible nightmare of the possible consequences of an oppressing State against the individual. Both sinister characters Caligari and Svengali employ the hypnosis device to reach their pretended objectives. Dementia, mind suggestion and intense mental domain; the irrational behavior crowd before the leader. In such short interval of fourteen years these five films were capable to foresee the awful facts derived of the manipulation of the will with perverse goals.

John Barrymore with this acting proved once more why he was one of the giants actors of those ages. Miriam Marsh is absolutely credible in this struggling picture. Fine direction of Archie Mayo and one of my favorite cult movies in any age.

John Barrymore gives a performance for the ages as the title character. His walk, body language, makeup and voice are outstanding and he makes the mesmerist a very tragic character.
The overlooked Archie Mayo does a great directing job for this early sound film and the very green Marion Marsh, helped by Barrymore, is the doomed Trilby. This is Barrymores's greatest hour.

For those who are interested to catch a glimpse of the legendary John Barrymore - before he basically became a parody - this film from 1931 is a good choice. In the title role, Barrymore is still quite mesmorising and the photography is interesting. Svengali, of course is that immortal teacher of female singers who can work wonders via his hypnotic glare: Trilby is his newest conquest: she becomes the toast of Europe as Madame Svengali, the singer - all because of his supernatural powers. Marian Marsh makes a visually perfect Trilby but her acting isn't nearly on a par with her benefactor - but then few actresses could really do much with such a mealy, whacko role. Barney McGill's inspired photography won him an AA nomination. Based upon the nearly immortal novel by George Du Maurier, this was - rather unbelievably - first filmed in 1896 (!) by Biograph as TRILBY AND LITTLE BILLEE. Later, in 1915 Equitable filmed the story with Clara Kimball Young and Wilton Lackaye (what a name!) : it was directed by Maurice Tourneur.

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!

"Svengali" is a great movie; the art direction, camera work and lighting is top notch, as is the performance by Barrymore. No bad ratings there - the movie is ace, and should (in my opinion) really be on par with some other classical horror movies like "Dracula" and "Frankenstein" when it comes to popularity and availability!

But alas! This so called "remastered" DVD edition is, sadly enough, nothing like the movie itself. It's low fare; an "unfinished" edition. The sound track is often low or distorted, there are visible marks and spots on the picture in many scenes, and suddenly - out of the blue - a small logo for TCM pops up on the screen. OK, now we understand!

NB: My rating of this product may seem a tad high, but I'm slightly torn between my love for the movie, and my disliking of the DVD. So: The movie "Svengali" gets 4.5 stars, but this DVD edition gets only 1.5 star.

Svengali may not be at or even close to the top of the lists of movies people want to see soon; but it should be. Despite the fact that the sets look rather fabricated; the acting by John Barrymore, Marian Marsh and Bramwell Fletcher is stunning in this incredible movie with its fascinating plot. Although the action proceeds at a somewhat leisurely pace the movie never feels boring or slow; the character development is wonderful for an 81 minute movie. The choreography and the cinematography are very well done and the script was very well written, too. In addition, the quality of the print is excellent especially considering the age of this film.

When the action starts, we meet pianist and vocal teacher Svengali who is really much more interested in hypnotism to use women to get their money or romantic time alone with them. In fact, when one woman tells him she's left her husband without any money, he hypnotizes her to kill herself--and she does! His sidekick Gecko (Luis Alberni) tries to be his more sensible counterpart but Svengali essentially controls Gecko, too. Svengali and Gecko rent an apartment in the same Parisian building as their neighbors "The Laird" (Donald Crisp) and Monsieur Taffy (Lumsden Hare).

One day a beautiful model comes to the artists' studio in the same building to work as a model. Trilby (Marian Marsh) is young and beautiful even though she has "a past;" but despite it all a young man named Billie (Bramwell Fletcher) falls passionately in love with Trilby. Svengali, however, wants Trilby for his own; and he systematically hypnotizes Trilby to forget Billie, love him instead--and tour with Svengali on the operatic concert circuit in Europe as Madame Svengali. Billie is crushed that Trilby would leave him and all appears hopeless when Trilby's clothing is found near the river while her body is supposedly lying in the morgue.

The plot could go in several different directions from here; but I assure you the way things develop the film will hold your attention.

The DVD has a still photo gallery as a bonus feature; and you can choose scene selection to review any scenes you want.

Svengali stunned me with its plot and the acting just couldn't be better. John Barrymore is truly at his finest here; he gives a most convincing performance as do the others. I highly recommend this film for fans of the actors in this movie and people who enjoy dramas with suspense and even horror.

Such a story could only be committed to celluloid during the precode era. John Barrymore, as Svengali, makes us empathize with him as we are presented with a very complex villain.

The opening twenty minutes or so of the film are pretty much light-hearted comic fare as Svengali is presented as a fortune-hunter when it comes to his women pupils and also a very creative panhandler when it comes to his British artist acquaintances also living in the artists' section of Paris. The movie takes a sharp turn into darker territory when Svengali uses his hypnotic hold on young model Trilby to turn her into a singing sensation. He can make her do anything he wants through his hypnotic powers - even marry him. However, when he lets her out of her trance she feels nothing for him. There is a particularly touching scene in which Svengali talks to "the real" Trilby and she says that she has tried to love him but simply does not. Frustrated, he quickly puts her into a trance, and his marionette parrots back her love for him. Heartbroken, he realizes all that is happening when she speaks her affection is that he is talking to himself. As time passes it is interesting to see how Svengali ages, as the weight of holding back Trilby's true will seems to be slowly killing him. The ending is not sewed up neatly at all, and it is a bit shocking to see how it breaks off.

The best parts of this film are John Barrymore's great performance as Svengali and also the art design. If you've ever seen The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari, the art design is quite similar to that, especially in the first part of the film in Paris. The windows and doors all have odd shapes and angles, as the visual style of the whole film takes on a nightmarish and surreal quality.

Sadly, this out of print Roan DVD is the only acceptable commercial product I've found. The rest are either poor public domain copies or outright pirated copies from TCM. Unfortunately, the scalpers know this and charge outrageous prices for this version.