Voltaire

With this film Voltaire, George Arliss wrapped up his commitment to Warner Brothers playing the 1th century French philosopher Voltaire. As he as in real life Voltaire was a witty and wise fellow who should have been appreciated more than for saying funny things. His king, Louis XV played here by Reginald Owen thinks him an amusing fellow but wishes that Arliss would can the Cassandra like warnings about reform and just entertain the court.

One who does worry about him is our sinister minister Alan Mowbray who worries that Arliss may be gaining too much influence at court. Mowbray is a master of intrigue and the film is about his schemes to disgrace Voltaire.

But as you can imagine Arliss is up to the challenge. As a classical stage actor who also did several silent films he seem to know instinctively what to do for sound. Arliss is the total package, face, voice, gestures, the works in his performances.

It seems that every Arliss film has a pair of young lovers whom Arliss helps through a crisis as well. In this case it's Gordon Westcott and Margaret Lindsay. And I cannot also forget a winning performance by Doris Kenyon as the royal mistress Madame Pompadour..

Arliss's biographical films were Warner Brothers prestige pictures in their day and they hold up well, Watching them is a tutorial in classical acting.

The wigs in this film are an excellent example of "period" hairstyling, with a 1920s/1930s twist.

As with any period piece, the hairdressers working at the time of production must resist the urge to allow contemporary styling methods interfere with being true to the period they are representing. Inevitably, a hybrid of period styling with elements of the modern era is usually the end result.

This is the case for some of the looks in this fantastic adventure through Louis XIV France - in fact there are a few scenes with Voltaire desperately trying to choose a wig before his guests come in.

Regardless of not every piece being perfectly period styled, the wigs in this film are magnificent and an endless source of wonder for a veteran stylist like myself.

When I was little I didn't care for Arliss' movies, since there was no action and he wasn't funny. My parents would watch him and marvel at his movies and his acting skills, all of which were lost on me. Now I am grown up and I appreciate him more than I could ever have imagined. He is the consummate actor who got to Hollywood almost too late - he was very old, even his early pictures - and must have been a treat to watch on the stage, which was his first home. Now I watch all his facial expressions, hand movements, body language and vocal inflection and I am glad we can get to see and hear this top rate actor while he was still able to act. "Voltaire" is a good vehicle for him, the story is fine. A good part of it is probably fiction. Just enjoy him and marvel at his skill.

Those looking for a full biography on the life of the great French philosopher and satirist will be disappointed with this historical take but the impish charm of George Arliss's Voltaire provides for an interesting enough look at the tenuous state of the monarchy and France prior to the reign of terror.

Friend and confidant of King Louis XV Voltaire is not averse to openly criticizing the King for his treatment of the lower classes or hurling accusations at members of his corrupt administration. When Voltaire comes to the defense of a slandered loyal subject his enemies in the court try to get him tossed into the Bastille. Luckily for Voltaire he has the ear of Madame Pompador who has the attention of the King. Count De Sarnac however is a formidable foe and the whim of the King remains in doubt when weighing Voltaire's broadsides and friendship.

Arliss does a deft balancing act of combining eloquence and silliness to address the sober issues at hand in his attempt to vanquish the execrable and duplicitous De Sarnac (played with relish by Alan Mowbray). Along with Paul Muni, Arliss cornered the market for historical bios (Disraeli, Alexander Hamilton, Cardinal Richelieu) in the first decade of sound but unlike the over the top Muni displayed a lot more subtlety and restraint in such portrayals and in Voltaire Arliss gives not only a mellifluous voice to the author of Candide but also the child like glee of a great man serving his passion.

Reading Candide by Voltaire when I was a teenager was life-changing for me; in one go it opened up many new vistas to me back then and remains a piece of all too human knockabout inconsequentiality I delve into regularly decades later. I went through the best of the rest of his work: Zadig, Micromegas, Princess of Babylon etc but never knew much of the finer details of the man himself. After watching this I still don't, but I feel at least I'd know something if Disraeli had played an episode in his life. George Arliss was a great actor who ended up playing many great men on stage and screen, this time Francoise Arouet for Warners with big production values and an earnest populist screenplay getting over the essence of Voltaire to the cinema masses. Were they trying to "teach the People to think" too?

In 1762 at 68 years old Voltaire takes up the case of a man who is apparently executed for nothing - how very true of religion! He chivvies away at the King via Mme de Pompadour to posthumously pardon him and his extant young and beautiful daughter but the wicked Comte de Alan Mowbray manages to bring about Voltaire's arrest for alleged treason instead. It was based on a real series of events, but needless to say partly fictionalised by olde Hollywood. The acting is usually intense but believable, although Douglas Dumbrille as the Eastern King in the play had me involuntarily looking out for Abbott & Costello! As the film lasts only 72 minutes it's all taken at a cracking pace, but I thought it was detailed enough for me to come away with a little more knowledge than I had before. Voltaire was a bit of a wit - a wag in a wig - unfortunately not much wit is on display in here.

If he was living today his interpretation of egalitarianism probably would be equated by many people almost to fascism, so far has our wonderful world been "improved" over the years. Nevertheless, he was a brave man for his time - if he had not lived it would have been necessary to have invented him, as this film did admirably well.