DVD-R Note: This product is manufactured on demand when ordered from Amazon.com. [Learn more]
 Trade In This Movies & TV Item for $1.38
Trade in When a Man Loves for a $1.38 Amazon.com Gift Card that can be redeemed for millions of items store wide. See more Movies & TV eligible for trade-in
|
Frequently Bought Together
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Editorial Reviews
Studio: Warner Bros. Digital Dist Release Date: 06/23/2011
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Almost made me glad the French aristocracy was guillotined,
This review is from: When a Man Loves (DVD)
OK, I admit it, it makes me completely glad they were all guillotined.
This transitional silent is really a visual work of art. I say transitional because it is one of Warner Brothers first Vitaphone films back when Warners was still using sound just to bring sound effects and synchronized music to silents. No talking was going on yet. The location is 18th century France about 20 years before the French Revolution. Our protagonists are a young man of aristocratic descent who is studying for the priesthood, Chevalier Fabien des Grieux (John Barrymore) and the unfortunate Manon Lescaut (Delores Costello). She's unfortunate because she actually trusts her brother (Warner Oland) who has two alternate plans for her - either sell her to the highest bidder to help him continue his gambling habit, or dispose of her in a nunnery. Fabien overhears the brother's plotting, rescues Manon, and the two flee to Paris. Because the brother found an aristocratic buyer for his sister's companionship he won't give up so easy on retrieving his meal ticket. A week after the young lovers have arrived in Paris, he finds Manon and convinces her that it is best for Fabien if she leaves him so he can return to his studies for the priesthood and regain his father's good graces. What follows is a remarkable adventure with Fabien first losing and then regaining his faith in Manon, him turning from the studying for the priesthood to gambling as a profession, and a turn of treachery by Manon's discarded former protector/consort that has them both destined for a life of slavery in Louisiana. The focus and sympathy are kept on the two young lovers for several reasons. For one, the actors themselves have remarkable chemistry - they were actually married for several years - and also, they are the only two members of the cast that don't resemble grotesque gargoyles. The poor of Paris are shown as disheveled, greasy, drunken, and ready to assault any maiden that crosses their paths. The aristocracy of Paris are shown as decadent, perfumed, powdered and rouged to the point of looking like corpses, and also ready to assault any maiden that crosses their paths. Thus even in pre-revolutionary France the poor and rich seem to have at least one thing in common. The cruel twists of fate could make long stretches of this movie a bit of a downer if it were not for the fun of watching Barrymore in his prime playing - at various times - the protector, the swashbuckler, the broken-hearted when he loses Manon, ecstatic when he gets her back. Plus Barrymore could say more with a roll of his eyes or a gesture than many actors could say with an entire soliloquy. Highly recommended. This DVD-R version of the film is in great shape. The synchronized score sounds very good and there are minimal artifacts and scratches in the video. It actually was restored by UCLA several years ago, and that restoration is the version you are getting here. Do note that there are no extras and no chapter stops. You may only move forwards and backwards in ten minute increments.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Barrymore in a Monastary,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
Rarely seen; perhaps forgotten, 1927's "When a Man Loves" is now available in a new pristine DVD transfer; either from Amazon, or directly from Warner Bros. on-line. It has been restored by UCLA Archives. Damaged-shortened scenes are extended into a "slo-mo" for a more cohesive presentation of this 17th century costume-adventure drama. As Fabien des Grieux, Barrymore gives a somewhat restrained performance. Dolores Costello(soon to be his second wife) is beautiful as Manon Lescaut, the woman who inspires Fabien to desert his studies for the priesthood. Warner Oland hams it up as Manon's brother, a sly fellow who is somehow impossible to hate. Oland would return in a few years as Charlie Chan. Manon becomes the mistress of an old count and then freely spends Fabien's money when she returns to him. Finally, Manon is arrested as a whore and chained, to be shipped to a penal colony in Louisiana. Who will save her now?Detailed by one of his biographers, here Barrymore strikes several classical poses; considered to have been made famous by 19th century Shakespearean actor John Kemble. That is; he will speak, react, and then freeze for some 15 seconds, perhaps only fluttering his eyelids. The effect is striking, as in "The Sea Beast". But sadly, here, the result is jarring, as Barrymore's style clashes with the young 24-year-old Dolores Costello's silent era melodramatics. Watch closely for young Myrna Loy in a 5-second shot in the ball-room sequence. And don't miss Tom Santschi as the convict boat captain in the rowdy, exciting finish. Brawny and muscular, Santschi claimed to have appeared in 245 films. The last film in Barrymore's Warner Bros. contract, "When a Man Loves" is an all-out epic. While not a great film, it is close to being a classic. Never again, and surely never before; would movie audiences glare at Barrymore in repose, kneeling quietly in a monastary chapel; whispering prayers to a distant, holy God.
4.0 out of 5 stars
A note about the music,
By minacciosa "minacciosa" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: When a Man Loves (DVD)
The other reviews here ably capture salient information about this film. What needs to be noted is that the film also has distinction in its technical execution, because apparently this film was the first to employ an originally composed music soundtrack fully synchronized to the narrative action. Who was the composer of the music, and therefore a pioneer in the art of film scoring? None other than Henry Kimball Hadley Hadley: Symphony No. 4 / The Ocean / The Culprit Fay. Hadley was the most celebrated and performed composer of his day (1871-1937), as well as being a sought-after conductor. Hadley's fame was such that he became the first international jet-set composer/conductor, being hailed in Europe and Asia upon his becoming the first American to conduct the Berlin Philharmonic, other European orchestras and also orchestras in Japan and China. With the success of Hadley's operas and dramatic works (such as "Cleopatra's Night" at the Metropolitan Opera) and performances of his orchestral works to audiences worldwide, it was not a stretch for the producers of "When A Man Loves" to invite him to participate in such a high profile project. Hadley's music for this film is a perfect fit, enhancing the action and providing wonderful interest on its own merits. One must consider the technical difficulty in precisely marrying music to image at that point in time (1927). Had the score itself been without distinction, that accomplishment on its own would be worthy of notice. That the score is so good is a gift to modern enthusiasts of films from this era, along with anyone interested in the development of film scoring. The entire product is well worth your time.Along with pretty much every other work by Henry Hadley, this score begs for a modern recording. Let's hope it will happen, but good luck locating the material.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
