Svengali
About Svengali
Svengali (John Barrymore) stares Madame Honori into suicide after she leaves her husband. With Gecko (Luis Alberni) he visits the studio of the Laird, Taffy, and Billee and meets the model Trilby O'Ferrall (Marian Marsh). He hypnotizes her while pretending to cure a headache. She and Billee (Bramwell Fletcher) quarrel after he sees her posing nude, and Svengali has her fake her death and leave Paris with him. Five years later she sings as Madame Svengali. Billee's return weakens the spell. In an Egyptian cabaret she sings off-key, Svengali dies asking for her love, and she dies in Billee's arms.
Cast & crew
More about Svengali
Archie Mayo directed. J. Grubb Alexander wrote the screenplay from George du Maurier's 1894 novel Trilby. Jack L. Warner produced it for Warner Bros.-First National. William Holmes edited. Shooting ran from 12 January to 21 February 1931. It opened in New York on 1 May 1931 and in Los Angeles on 22 May 1931.
Themes
Making
Part of the picture was shot on the Phantom Stage at Universal City, the rest at Warner Bros.' First National lot in Burbank.
Reviews
The Film Daily called it creeping, intense, human, and at times believable, and called Barrymore brilliant. Mordaunt Hall in the New York Times wrote that the performance surpassed Barrymore's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Beau Brummel. Variety said he takes care of everything and mentioned Marian Marsh's unbecoming wig. Edwin Schallert in the Los Angeles Times called it a classic revived, with irony and sinister interest.
Look
Barney McGill photographed it, including the hypnotist stare and the cabaret. The work was nominated for the Academy Award for cinematography.
Notes
- Wikipedia gives the worldwide rental as $498,000 against a $499,000 budget, and a loss of $241,000.
- Wikidata lists 85 minutes. The Wikipedia running time is 81 minutes.
- Donald Crisp plays the Laird. Lumsden Hare plays Taffy. Carmel Myers plays Madame Honori.
- Barney McGill was nominated for the Academy Award for cinematography, and Anton Grot for art direction. Neither won.
Scenes
- Svengali's stare sends Madame Honori to her death.
- He hypnotizes Trilby while treating her headache.
- She sings off-key in the Egyptian cabaret as he dies.
Influenced by
- Trilby, novel by George du Maurier (1894)
Also available
- Internet Archive (SvengaliJohnBarrymoreBKCap1931)
