Der König der Bernina

Ernst Lubitsch had directed his last silent movie earlier in 1929, his May 1929's "Eternal Love." John Barrymore stars as a Swiss mountain man who lives off the land by hunting prey with his trusty rifle. He finds himself in trouble when the French army demands everyone in the city turn in their firearms. He refuses, sending its entire city's residents against him. The Hans Kraly script, adapted from Jakob Christoph Heer's novel, 'Der Korig der Bemina,' involves a love-triangle. German actress Camilla Horn pays Ciglia, who loves Marcus (Barrymore). However, the lusty Pia (Mona Rico) literally throws her body at Marcus. In a weak moment, he succumbs to her advances. This was Mona Rico's cinematic debut. The Mexican-born actress was in ten films before leaving the industry in 1941.

The storyline, despite not being a typical Lubitsch rom-com, had its advantages in production. The German director got to film in the stunning mountains of Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada, bringing home memories of his days in the Alps. As with most directors in the last year of silent movies, Lubitsch showed an extreme comfort level by photographing one of his most visually stunning features he ever made. "Eternal Love" demonstrated that cameras without the hindrance of early cumbersome sound equipment could be transported to any geographical setting to achieve eye-popping results.

The problem with silent films, often, is that techniques or stories that seemed innovative at the time are old-hat and clichéd by the time a modern audience sees them. While the story of "Eternal Love" falls into that category of cliché--if you can't tell what's going to happen next at any given moment, you haven't seen enough movies--it's redeemed by its sets, its performances, and its director.

Those familiar with John Barrymore from his talking-picture roles, when mostly he was playing a caricature of himself, will be taken aback at his handsome intensity (except when he's wearing too much make-up). The two female leads, Camilla Horn and Mona Rico, are beautiful as well, although of the ice-queen and the lusty peasant varieties: Horn is like a Raphael Madonna, while Rico is more of a Caravaggio.

So, Barrymore loves Horn, while Rico lusts for Barrymore--and poor Victor Varconi moons after Horn in the background. Just as Horn gets her guardian's consent to a marriage with Barrymore, however, strong drink and a willing woman trap Barrymore into a marriage with Rico. (It is somehow unsurprising that strong drink should be Barrymore's downfall.) Varconi gets to comfort the grieving Horn--but how will it all end? Well, badly.

Along the way, however, Lubitsch manages some nice comic touches--especially at a village carnivale, to which Barrymore wears a pair of checked bell-bottoms that would have been at home in Haight-Ashbury during the Summer of Love. And he gets terrific performances out of his actors, especially Varconi, who throws a wonderful sidelong glance at Barrymore during the trapped man's nuptial procession. Varconi and Horn also have some terrific moments when Horn betrays her still-burning love for Barrymore after she learns he's missing in a mountain blizzard.

The movie is short and the scenery is magnificent, so if the prospect of some big stars in their prime isn't enough, there's plenty to fall back on!

Eternal Love (1929)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A strong cast saves this melodrama from pretty much killing itself. Set in Switzerland, the rebel Marcus (John Barrymore) would do anything for the woman (Camilla Horn) he loves but in a drunken state he sleeps with another. The Reverend makes Marcus marry this woman, which might be the end of his relationship with his true love but soon fate steps in. This later day silent isn't nearly as bad as one might think but there's no question that the screenplay goes overboard on the melodrama and the questionable ending almost kills things. I think fans of the stars as well as the director will want to check this film out but it's questionable what impact it will have on them. We'll start with Barrymore but he once again turns in a very strong performance and you can't help but feel that he is this character. I thought he handled the more athletic aspects of the film quite well and he certainly knows how to milk every ounce of drama out of a scene. Just check out his eyes during the scene where he's forced to marry the woman he doesn't love. Horn is also very good in her role as she perfectly captures the innocence of her character and Mona Rico is pitch-perfect as the "other" woman with the more sexual nature. Speaking of sex, this film offers quite a bit of stuff that would certainly not be film-able in upcoming years including the sexual act while Barrymore is drunk off his mind. We even have the two married people coming together towards the end, which is yet another act that would have been looked down on. Lubitsch's direction handles everything fairly well but what really impressed me were the visuals. There are several tracking shots that look incredibly good including one where we follow Barrymore walking through the mountains. The performances and direction make this worth sitting through but I'm sure many will be howling at the ending. The silent film was released with a Movie Tone track, which includes the music as well as several sound effects including wind gusts, knocking, gun shots and a few other things.

Ernst Lubitsch was one of the great masters of cinema - and his silent films are every bit as good as his talkies.

ETERNAL LOVE is one of the most passionate and moving love stories I have ever seen - with an ending that made me gasp.

John Barrymore gives one of his best ever performances here, and I now understand why he was considered such a matinee idol. Camilla Horn is also extraordinary, and possesses a rare and fragile beauty. In fact all the performances are great.

Silent films convey the passion of love so much more convincingly than most talkies. Somehow words often make this sort of intense passion comical on the screen. But here, with a divine original music score, the love is magical. Lubitsch had his "touch" in drama as much as in comedy. SEE THIS FILM!!!

I'm pretty familiar with Barrymore's silent work, but other than "Lady Windemere's Fan" I had never seen a silent Lubitsch film before. It was not what I was expecting and that does not mean I was unpleasantly surprised. Lubitsch is well known for his unique "touch", and in my experience of watching his sound films that meant incorporating clever dialogue with insinuation. Without the power of speech, this Lubitsch silent film has all of the power of one of his talking films by using facial expression and some well-placed props.

Barrymore plays a hunter who is basically a loner who is in love with Ciglia, the niece of the town priest. How two such different people could fall in love is not shown in the film, but early on they do declare their love to one another, the occupying French army is driven from the area, and all seems to be well. The problem is that there is a wild girl of the village that has her heart set on capturing Barrymore by any means. Compounding difficulties is a respectable but bland fellow who also loves Ciglia and wants to marry her. These two rivals can't seem to understand that love can't be bought and it can't be trapped. The French being driven from the town is the cause of a great celebration that involves a masked ball and a great deal of liquor. It is this celebration that sets off a series of catastrophes for the young lovers.

What really stood out for me in this film were the very few intertitles used. The film really doesn't need them. Remember that 1929 was the last year that silent films were being made in the U.S. with the exception of a few holdouts like Murnau and Chaplin. It's interesting to look at this film and then compare it to "The Love Parade", a Lubitsch sound film made at the end of the same year - 1929. It is so sophisticated in its technique you'd think Lubitsch had been making sound films for ten years. His special touch was not hindered by the coming of sound - he didn't miss a step.