Svengali (1931)

Pretty Good

Overrated

Just so...so bad

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

1931: Greatest year for horror ever? It certainly produced some of the most iconic films of the genre, such as "Dracula," "Frankenstein," "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," "M," and, much further down the list, "Svengali." Despite its reputation, "Svengali" isn't really a horror movie. The story resides squarely in the world of Gothic melodrama. George du Maurier's novel "Trilby" was as much about the bohemian scene of 1850s France as it was about the wicked hypnotist and his attempt to manipulate the beautiful but tone-deaf Trilby into being his personal diva. There's some of that in the movie, with awkward comic relief coming from the other tenets of the apartment. As you'd expect, Svengali is only one corner of a love triangle. Before coming under the hypnotist's influence, Trilby is in love with some guy named Billie. Billie is an ineffective hero and does little beside react to those around him. The romance still works, thanks to Marian Marsh's charming performance. A scene between the two involving a pie is especially memorable.The horrific content is negligible but "Svengali" does pile on some impressive black-and-white atmosphere. A sequence about forty minutes in seriously impresses. The camera spins around Svengali's room. His eyes have gone completely white, deep in hypnotic trance. We pan out of the apartment, across the city, to Trilby's home. This visually illustrates the man's influence over her. It's also extremely creepy, the wind blowing and a church bell ominously chiming being the only sounds during the scene. It's hard to tell how much of an influence "Dracula" had on this film but the close-ups on John Barrymore's eyes glowing as he works his powers seem to purposely recall similar shots of Lugosi in the same year's film.Which brings us to the second thing the movie has going for: John Barrymore's performance. Barrymore establishes the character's sinister intent early. After seducing another music student, and discovering she's not as rich as she let on, Svengali hypnotizes her into suicide. However, we only see Barrymore looming over the girl, his back to the camera. He cuts an intimidating figure. His manipulation of Trilby plays out in an especially cruel manner, like in a scene where he reminds her of her promiscuous past. However, he's not a heartless monster. Svengali legitimately loves her. After hypnotizing her into being his wife, he finds the charade unfulfilling. Mesmerizing the girl takes a great physical toll on the man and eventually cost him his life, his subconscious guilt manifesting itself.The ending is surprisingly downbeat. The hero proves how useless he is by failing to rescue his lady. Even as he lay dying, Svengali reaches out to his true love. While a little thin, "Svengali" is a moody character study, well shot and with an impressive lead performance. It might not be as strong as some of 1931's other classics but I liked it all the same.

A classic (not completely faithful) adaptation of George de Maurier's famous 1890s novel "Trilby", "Svengali" of 1931 is an interesting and fantastically shot film that should not be approached with the wrong expectations. An avid fan of Classic Horror cinema, I expected this film to be exactly that, but found it to be regrettably low on the Horror part. "Svengali" was directed by the famous Archie Mayo, who is certainly best known of his Slapstick Comedies, and while this film is a Drama with some Horror elements, the film is nonetheless full of sudden outbursts of Slapstick. The set-pieces are great and the cinematography is astonishing for the time, including one sequence with a camera movement that must have been revolutionary in 1931. John Barrymore was doubtlessly one of the most outstanding actors of the classic era of film, and his performance carries the film. Furthermore, the innocent beauty of the 18-year-old Marian Marsh is overwhelming.Svengali (Barrymore), an ingenious but ruthless musician and hypnotist hypnotizes the beautiful young model Tribly (Marsh) into becoming a singer, abandoning her fiancé and marrying Svengali. While his hypnotic powers control her singing voice, they can not force her to love him...The film's greatest aspects are the fantastic cinematography, Barrymore and Marsh. Personally, I found the plot to be needlessly stretched at times. The humorous outbursts may be enjoyed by fans of classic slapstick cinema, but in a sentimental sense rather than for the actual humor's sake. Two Scottish characters are obviously only there for providing gags. There are a few genuinely eerie moments, most of them focusing on Svengali when he uses his hypnotic powers. While Svengali is villainous (he causes a woman to commit suicide in the beginning), he doesn't really act villainous enough for most of the time to be scary. At some points in the film, he seems to be a comic figure, which effectively reduces his creepiness. Besides Barrymore and Marsh, the performances aren't that good. This is not to say that "Svengali" isn't a good movie. It is. Before seeing it, one should be aware however, that one is about to watch a partly slow-moving drama rather than a Horror film. Barrymore is still great, and the young Marian Marsh is unearthly beautiful.Overall "Svengali" is recommended to my fellow fans of the classic era of film, though not one of the essentials in my opinion. For total perfection in a Classic Horror film about mind-control, I highly recommend Victor Halperlin's masterpiece "White Zombie" of 1932 starring the great Bela Lugosi in his greatest and creepiest role.

Svengali (John Barrymore) is an eccentric mystical music teacher/pianist who makes his daily bread giving singing lessons to aspiring students in Paris. His long hair, forked beard, and piercing eyes make the unusual instructor a prime target of ridicule among the local townsfolk. One day a stunning and earthy young model named Trilby (Marian Marsh, perfectly cast and the living picture of the girl you heard about in the song "You're Sixteen") makes her way into the life of Billee (Bramwell Fletcher from the 1932 MUMMY), and wins his devotion. But like all the red-blooded men in this tale, the sly Svengali takes a liking to her himself, and hypnotizes the girl into following him. It's always exciting to discover an old classic from Hollywood's Golden Age that still captivates. SVENGALI is only borderline horror at best, yet it remains a true gem, an absorbing achievement in every way: from the powerful lead performance of Barrymore, to the delicious beauty of 16 year-old Marian Marsh, to the bizarre set designs of Anton Grot, to the wonderful direction by Archie Mayo. This is when movies were movies. *** out of ****

A bit old fashioned, Svengali still holds the interest throughout because of its star the great John Barrymore. It's one of his best screen roles.Not noted for his personal hygiene, Svengali is a rogue of all trades, a teacher of music and singing, a good magician, and a master at hypnotism. Apparently only women seem to succumb to the mesmerizing however, or he prefers to use it on them only.He's not a man with too many scruples as we see when he casually tosses Carmel Myers aside after she leaves her husband for him. But when it comes to a new pupil, Trilby O'Farrel, it's not quite clear who the one is who is enslaving who.Tone deaf, but with a throat and palate Barrymore discovers could be the voice of a great singer, he weaves his greatest mesmerizing spell upon the unsuspecting Marian Marsh as Trilby. She becomes his greatest success, but he must never leave her side. He also with his abilities takes her away from struggling artist Bramwell Fletcher.Svengali received two Academy Award nominations, for Art Direction and Cinematography. John Barrymore did not receive one, a pity in my humble opinion. One person who really appreciated Barrymore's performance was his brother. You can clearly see traces of John's Svengali in Lionel Barrymore's Rasputin in Rasputin and the Empress.John Barrymore also got to work with Bramwell Fletcher in this who became his posthumous son-in-law. A few months after Barrymore died in 1942, Fletcher married Diana Barrymore for a few years. His character in the film Too Much, Too Soon about Diana Barrymore's tragic life is played by Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.I wouldn't mind seeing an updated version of Svengali, perhaps one with a gay twist. Turn that one over in your minds. Until then this one will do nicely.