When a Man Loves

I must admit I've only seen one clip, of this rumored to be picturesque silent, on an old HBO documentary on the 1920s. That was in the early 1980s. This film treatment on the much filmed Manon Lescaut romance story is known to exist. It is not a lost film yet it is almost never seen even though it would presumably be owned by Turner Classics being a Warner Bros. silent. This was the film in which Ethel Barrymore upon seeing commented that her brother John Barrymore basically threw his part away in order for Dolores Costello, then Barrymore's girlfriend and soon to be wife, to standout and shine. Costello was then concurrently starring in Warner's "Old San Francisco"(1927), which had a Vitaphone pre-recorded soundtrack. WAML was John Barrymore's third and final film in a three picture deal with Warner Brothers and it followed the better know Don Juan. WAML had a Vitaphone pre-recorded soundtrack with musical score & sound effects, the same as Don Juan. Vitaphone was the pioneer system where the music, sound effects, speech etc. was recorded on an LP type of wax disc rather than the later standard of film. Byron Haskin, WAML's Cinematographer, said in an interview that this was a wonderful story to photograph and was superior to Don Juan photographically in many respects IHHO. Incidentally director Alan Crosland seemed to be involved with all things Vitaphone & Warner Brothers at this time. He was not only the director of WAML but the aforementioned Old San Francisco & Don Juan as well as the talking film breakthrough The Jazz Singer. Maybe one day Turner Classics will surprise everyone and resurrect WAML, a late silent/major studio obscurity. Perhaps some kind of restoration is in order and that includes the original pre-recorded soundtrack if it exists. I'm sure it's as gorgeous as Don Juan's soundtrack.

Before John Barrymore left for United Artist, he had one last movie to make to fulfill his three-picture contract with Warner Brothers. He starred along with his future wife Dolores Costello in February 1927's "When a Man Loves," a period piece based on Abbe Prevost's 1731 novel Manon Lescaut.

Warner Brothers continued with its experimentation into sound films with "When a Man Loves," the studio's third disc-on-sound Vitaphone picture. At its February 4, 1927 premier, the New York City theater audience failed to pay attention to the empty musical pit usually filled with an orchestra. So crisp was the music coming out of the house's speakers they completely forgot about the lack of musicians. Just as the film concluded, there appeared a brief 15-second clip of the Vitaphone Symphony Orchestra with its conductor on the screen. It was then the patrons realized all the music was pre-recorded and synchronized to the movie. They went nuts.

French nobleman Fabian des Grieux (John Barrymore) is training for the priesthood. However, he comes to the rescue of the beautiful Manon Lescaut (Dolores Costello), whose brother André (Warner Oland) is trying to sell her to Comte Guillot de Morfontaine (Sam De Grasse).

This is pretty long for a silent film at 110 minutes, but it goes by very quickly. Barrymore is excellent (if a tad melodramatic), and Dolores Costello is radiant. Warner Oland is entertaining as the slimy brother, and Sam De Grasse is good as the villain. There's a good sword fight, and the production design and costumes are fantastic. An uncredited Myrna Loy can be seen briefly towards the end.

First time viewing. 4/5

"This medal, sent by the Bishop himself, will protect you against temptations of the flesh."

Haha, that sure lasted a long time. This is an epic period drama, 1927 style, (very loosely) based on the 18th century novel Manon Lescaut, and stars John Barrymore and Dolores Costello. It's got about everything you might want in such a film - romance, costumes, swashbuckling, and general adventure. It's 111 minutes long which can sometimes be painful in a silent film given the era's slower pace, but this one moved along pretty well and had many entertaining scenes.

Early on, the pure-hearted characters (the young people who fall for each other at first sight, Barrymore and Costello) seem to be contrasted with people wise to the ways of the world (a scheming brother, lecherous Comte, and even a winking maid, Marcelle Corday). However, these "pure" characters enjoy a blissful carnal relationship despite not being married, something that wouldn't have been possible under the Production Code seven years later. Barrymore's character is also good at cheating at cards, kills a man, and leads an insurrection. Between these things and his tender moments with Costello, like the one where he steams up the screen by slowly leaning down to kiss her, we get an interesting, three-dimensional person. Costello's character is not really afforded that same luxury, existing mostly to be lusted over by a string of powerful men, including the Comte, the King, and even the captain of convict ship. Barrymore fends off the men trying to assail her as they come, channeling Douglas Fairbanks at times. The pair's chemistry is undeniable, and they would marry in real life a year later (hey, these are Drew Barrymore's grandparents we're watching here).

What made the film for me were the scenes with unsavory characters, like when Barrymore enters the subterranean den of iniquity (and then orders a glass of milk for the cat). While the court of Louis XV and the gambling salon filled with powdered wigs and polite society appear very different, the leers and knowing glances in those places were nice parallels to the earlier scene. We also get saucy prostitutes being rounded up with for deportation to that far-away colony called Louisiana, and a cage full of prisoners who Barrymore incites like a deranged monkey. There is a darkness to its ending too, at least for those aboard the ship, where we see women being thrown over the shoulders of a fearsome bunch of marauding criminals (apparently Myrna Loy was one of those aboard!). Overall, it's a tad melodramatic but the energy at the end and the fun I had along the way had me rounding my review score up.

The story of Manon Lescaut has been retold several times since the good Abbé first wrote it. It's a tragedy with all sorts of moral overtones, what with the Chevalier besotted by his love for the gold digging Manon who nonetheless loves him back in her own way. This film version is somewhat faithful to the original albeit considerably cleaned up for us puritanical Americans. Already a shocker when it was first published in 1731 many of the sordid details, especially Manon's prostitution, was barely hinted at and the tragic ending completely left out. What's left is a period drama with considerable posturing and glaring, great costumes and great production values. The first half is rather slow and drawn out. With Manon's prostitution left out it's a little difficult to evoke the emotions needed to connect a viewer to a show. But once she's arrested and sentenced to the colonies the film takes off with a bang. From then on it's a roller-coaster ride, lots of action, pathos, drama. It never lets up. This part makes the whole thing worth seeing. One last thing: I'm a fan of Drew Barrymore and it was kind of fun to see her grandparents together on the screen. I sure hope she continues the dynasty.