Bardelys le magnifique

Well first of all, M. BEAUCAIRE is Booth Tarkington and not Sabatini but it's still a pleasure to see this as an early entry in the MGM Sabatini cycle, along with a couple of Scaramouches, especially when it had been lost for so long. The copy seems incomplete outside the missing reel. Where is Edward Connelly's Cardinal Richelieu? The subject is not a good match with the talents of King Vidor. La BOHEME is a much better film and it appears perverse to have him do it, when Victor Seastrom, one of the originators and masters of the costume movie was on the MGM pay roll.

Vidor gives it good try and seems to have a nice rapport with the leads. Gilbert was at his peak and radiates star power here and Eleanor Boardman is a nice departure from heroines in ringlets. Their relationship makes the piece agreeable and the action climax, while it is sub Fairbanks, is ingeniously staged, making great use of the lances and having some striking downward shots.

This is an agreeable missing piece in the film history jig saw.

Bardelys The Magnificent which put John Gilbert in strong competition with Douglas Fairbanks for screen's best silent swashbuckler is based on a novel by Rafael Sabatini who gave us much good material for those action adventure swashbucklers on the silent screen and in sound. We're far more familiar with work like Captain Blood, The Sea Hawk, and The Black Swan. Sad Bardelys The Magnificent never got a sound remake, the role would have fit either Tyrone Power or Errol Flynn perfectly. Especially Flynn because the story has elements of Don Juan which Flynn so successfully brought to the screen.

As the Don Juan of France, Gilbert as Bardelys is tricked into a wager with his court rival Roy D'Arcy that he can't get the hand of a young woman widely known for her virtue in those bawdy times of the court of Louis XIII. Later on through a combination of circumstances Gilbert arrives at Eleanor Boardman's estate incognito in the guise of a rebel to Louis XIII. He woos and wins her and as is usual in these romance stories actually falls for her. But you can already see he's got some real problems to win her.

John Gilbert was as dashing as any of the other noted swashbucklers of the screen. When dialog was given him when talkies started it was in these kind of roles that his voice did not record well and his career took a tumble. But seeing this you have no doubt of why he was considered a great screen lover. Eleanor Boardman is as virtuous as Mary Pickford or Lillian Gish ever were in their films and she wound up marrying the director of Bardelys The Magnificent, King Vidor.

For completists the restoration of Bardelys The Magnificent is of great interest to fans of John Wayne. The Duke no doubt under his real name of Marion Michael Morrison was an extra in this film. But with all the men wearing beards and mustaches as befit the period, I doubt you could spot him in crowd scenes. And Lou Costello probably under his birth name of Louis Cristillo is also an extra.

For Costello this would prove ironical because the actor playing Louis XIII is Arthur Lubin who later became a director of some note and he directed several early Abbott&Costello features, most notably their breakthrough film, Buck Privates.

The action highlight of the screen is John Gilbert's escape from the gallows which rivals anything that Douglas Fairbanks did in his film. There is some really clever use of a pike to aid Gilbert in his escape and I wonder if Gilbert did any of that work himself. No doubt MGM frowned on injuring his rather expensive body with these deeds.

Of course the real beneficiary of this restoration is John Gilbert and the legacy of work did for the big screen. Bardelys The Magnificent is an expertly staged well done piece of cinema.

I thought this was a great film. It's got everything. There's plenty of tongue-in-cheek humor (as with Sabbatini's MONSIEUR BEAUCAIRE, one of Valentino's more underrated films) and also some terrific action sequences.

John Gilbert and Eleanor Boardman are great together. Roy D'Arcy has another memorable role as the bad guy (see THE MERRY WIDOW). Karl Dane and George K. Arthur provide comic relief (so does Gino Corrado in the opening duel sequence). Lionel Belmore and Emily Fitzroy are solid as the Lavedans. Try to find John Wayne and Lou Costello as extras.

The missing reel (?) seems to leave us without the story of Lesperon (whom Gilbert masquerades as), but the missing footage doesn't ruin the story.

As has been pointed out, the river seen among the willows is lushly romantic and beautifully done and reminds one of scenes from SUNRISE. The escape scene is terrific with great closeups of Gilbert as he swings on tapestries from the castle walls. It would be interesting to know how they shot these scenes.

There are enough comic and action scenes here to dispel the image of John Gilbert as merely some pale and insipid "great lover" of the silent screen. Gilbert was a solid actor who had appeared in around 70 films by 1926. Gilbert did everything: westerns like HELL'S HINGES with William S. Hart, sports films like THE BUSHER with Charles Ray and Colleen Moore, comic roles like the manic hayseed dancer in HEART O' THE HILLS with Mary Pickford. When he finally reached stardom in the early 1920s, Gilbert continued to explore a full range of roles. He was also a writer and director.

BARDELYS THE MAGNIFICENT ranks among Gilbert's best and most entertaining silent films.

John Gilbert and Elenor Boardman make a beautiful pair, and their scene at the lake, boating under willow trees, is romantic and rather steamy for 1926. That scene alone makes the film worth watching, and it's fun to see the dashing Gilbert later make a great escape, scramble up a castle, and engage in sword fights that may remind you of Errol Flynn a decade later. Gilbert seems underrated today given how popular he was in the 1920's, and his personal story - clashing with studio head Louis B. Mayer over his high salary ($250,000 for each of six films), his near marriage to Greta Garbo in what would have been a double ceremony with Boardman and director King Vidor, etc - is fascinating. While the film has its moments, it also trundles along at a slow pace, and the plot is rather mundane, so keep your expectations grounded.

"In an age of light loves and lively scandals, a certain gentleman of France excelled in the noble art of getting himself talked about," introduces us to womanizing swashbuckler John Gilbert (as Bardelys). When Mr. Gilbert meets beautiful and rich Eleanor Boardman (as Roxalanne), he is dared to settle down and get married, on a bet. However, Gilbert's "rival in fashion and love" Roy D'Arcy (as Chatellerault) is also determined to win Ms. Boardman's hand, on orders from the King...

If "Bardelys the Magnificent" had not been lost for most of the 20th century, it would have built a reputation as a highly regarded and influential classic. The MGM personnel is first class, led by director King Vidor and cameraman William Daniels. Writer Dorothy Farnum gives Rafael Sabatini's story a very witty adaptation. Comic relievers George K. Arthur (the original Mike Myers) and Karl Dane are used well; it was after this film that they teamed up as a successful comic duo.

Gilbert's rambunctious sensuality is at its peak. It may not have been discussed, but Greta Garbo admired this film and had Gilbert do a version of his "Bardelys" character for "Queen Christina" (1933); her relationship with Gilbert has been documented, but she was also close with underrated co-star Boardman and Mr. Daniels, who photographed both films. A great cast and crew doesn't always guarantee high art in motion pictures, but it happens here. Everyone and everything is stupendous.

Some great moments tease along the way to a majestic (approximately five minute long) sequence involving Gilbert's escape from beheading. Don't miss this part (after about 75 minutes of running time), you'll want to play it again. Helping make "Bardelys" magnificent, the "3-D"-like escape sequence is certainly one of Mr. Vidor's greatest accomplishments. Thanks to everyone who worked with Eric Lange, Serge Bromberg and David Shepard in making "Bardelys the Magnificent" available.

********** Bardelys the Magnificent (9/30/26) King Vidor ~ John Gilbert, Eleanor Boardman, Roy D'Arcy, George K. Arthur