rfells@icfa.org
Iscritto in data apr 2001
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Valutazione di rfells@icfa.org
I appreciate the comments made so far on this film but most seem to judge this film in a vacuum and without any background on the silent film genre, a medium quite different from sound films. One commenter even criticized the film for being in black & white. Come now, that's rather silly.
DON JUAN belongs to the great tradition of silent film swashbucklers during the 1920s of which Douglas Fairbanks was the King (and who self-financed his films). Beginning in 1920, Fairbanks effectively switched gears from his modern dress satires of American foibles he made during 1916 to 1919, to literally recreating his boyhood daydreams of being an action hero of Days of Old. The public responded enthusiastically and Doug made a fortune. But his films reaffirmed a kind of rigid moral system and both his character and the heroine were invariably chaste. Clearly, other film makers who were a bit more daring sensed an opportunity to go further than Fairbanks had been willing to go and Warner Bros. struck while the iron was hot in 1926 with DON JUAN.
Compared to the Fairbanks films such as Three Musketeers (1921), Robin Hood (1922), Thief of Bagdad (1924), and Don Q, Son of Zorro (1925), which are to this day excellent films, DON JUAN seemed like a revelation with its sexually overt protagonist and equally overt female characters (when Lucretia Borgia first sees Don Juan, a close up shows her clearly eyeing his crotch!). In addition, John Barrymore (aided occasionally by a stunt double) provided a sufficient number of athletic stunts that would satisfy most Fairbanks fans. DON JUAN was and remains a most exhilarating film with a unique conclusion that combines a chain reaction of swashbuckling events.
I must take exception to the most recent commenter's claim that actor Willard Louis, who played Juan's servant Pedrillo, died mid-point in filming. Poor Mr. Louis indeed perished from typhoid fever but either after filming had been completed or at least after his work was completed. He appears throughout the film and his presence during the film's final moments would have been unnecessary. However, if the previous reviewer wanted to question Joseph Swickard's disappearance from the film (he played Mary Astor's father), I would agree that his sudden departure from the story was strange. However, Mr. Swickard lived and appeared in films for many more years so perhaps in DON JUAN he was merely the victim of the film editor who needed to tighten up the story. At any rate, it is a great film and the original Vitaphone music score interprets the action so well that all the young composers who are hired by Turner Classic Movies to provide new scores to silent films ought to be required to see - and hear - DON JUAN to fully comprehend the relationship between silent film and its musical accompaniment.
DON JUAN belongs to the great tradition of silent film swashbucklers during the 1920s of which Douglas Fairbanks was the King (and who self-financed his films). Beginning in 1920, Fairbanks effectively switched gears from his modern dress satires of American foibles he made during 1916 to 1919, to literally recreating his boyhood daydreams of being an action hero of Days of Old. The public responded enthusiastically and Doug made a fortune. But his films reaffirmed a kind of rigid moral system and both his character and the heroine were invariably chaste. Clearly, other film makers who were a bit more daring sensed an opportunity to go further than Fairbanks had been willing to go and Warner Bros. struck while the iron was hot in 1926 with DON JUAN.
Compared to the Fairbanks films such as Three Musketeers (1921), Robin Hood (1922), Thief of Bagdad (1924), and Don Q, Son of Zorro (1925), which are to this day excellent films, DON JUAN seemed like a revelation with its sexually overt protagonist and equally overt female characters (when Lucretia Borgia first sees Don Juan, a close up shows her clearly eyeing his crotch!). In addition, John Barrymore (aided occasionally by a stunt double) provided a sufficient number of athletic stunts that would satisfy most Fairbanks fans. DON JUAN was and remains a most exhilarating film with a unique conclusion that combines a chain reaction of swashbuckling events.
I must take exception to the most recent commenter's claim that actor Willard Louis, who played Juan's servant Pedrillo, died mid-point in filming. Poor Mr. Louis indeed perished from typhoid fever but either after filming had been completed or at least after his work was completed. He appears throughout the film and his presence during the film's final moments would have been unnecessary. However, if the previous reviewer wanted to question Joseph Swickard's disappearance from the film (he played Mary Astor's father), I would agree that his sudden departure from the story was strange. However, Mr. Swickard lived and appeared in films for many more years so perhaps in DON JUAN he was merely the victim of the film editor who needed to tighten up the story. At any rate, it is a great film and the original Vitaphone music score interprets the action so well that all the young composers who are hired by Turner Classic Movies to provide new scores to silent films ought to be required to see - and hear - DON JUAN to fully comprehend the relationship between silent film and its musical accompaniment.
Film critic Andrew Sarris once said that HISTORY IS MADE A NIGHT is the most romantic title in all of film history, and I'm happy to report that this movie lives up to its reputation. An independent production made by former MGM producer Walter Wanger, the film reputedly cost nearly a million dollars - a huge sum in 1937 - and the money really shows on the screen. Leads Charles Boyar and Jean Arthur have such a wonderful screen chemistry between them that it's surprising that they never made another film together. Director Frank Borzage was a specialist in romantic films and here he adroitly blends romantic drama, comedy and even tragedy into a seemless garment.
The plot is surprisingly complex but unfolds in a logical manner. A theme running throughout the story is mistaken identity and characters relying on mistaken information. Boyar thinks he's killed a man, but we know he didn't. Jean Arthur thinks he's thief, but we know he isn't. Arthur's husband thinks she's cheating on him, but we know she isn't. If you wonder how these and other plot points make any sense, you just have to see this film.
Composer Alfred Newman provided a charming theme for the film and I am surprised that it has never been issued in a modern recording of movie mood music. Leo Carrillo supplied hilarious support as Boyar's friend and the ill-fated Colin Clive gave a haunted, tormented performance as the villain. Clive is remembered today as the first Dr. Frankenstein in the first two of Universal's series, FRANKENSTEIN (1931) and BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935). By the time he made this film, a frail-looking Clive was only months away from his own death in June 1937 caused by alcoholism. His performance is all the more poignant as a result.
The film is climaxed by a Titanic-like shipwreck (huge ocean liner on its maiden voyage collides with an iceberg) leading to a final misunderstanding that results in an ironic but satisfying conclusion. The special effects work by James Basevi, while primitive by today's computer graphics standards, is nonetheless impressive. My only complaint is the relatively poor quality of the film print that is available on video today. Considering the fine restoration work that has been done on other films such as HIS GIRL FRIDAY, a restored HISTORY IS MADE AT NIGHT should be on some company's priority list.
The plot is surprisingly complex but unfolds in a logical manner. A theme running throughout the story is mistaken identity and characters relying on mistaken information. Boyar thinks he's killed a man, but we know he didn't. Jean Arthur thinks he's thief, but we know he isn't. Arthur's husband thinks she's cheating on him, but we know she isn't. If you wonder how these and other plot points make any sense, you just have to see this film.
Composer Alfred Newman provided a charming theme for the film and I am surprised that it has never been issued in a modern recording of movie mood music. Leo Carrillo supplied hilarious support as Boyar's friend and the ill-fated Colin Clive gave a haunted, tormented performance as the villain. Clive is remembered today as the first Dr. Frankenstein in the first two of Universal's series, FRANKENSTEIN (1931) and BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935). By the time he made this film, a frail-looking Clive was only months away from his own death in June 1937 caused by alcoholism. His performance is all the more poignant as a result.
The film is climaxed by a Titanic-like shipwreck (huge ocean liner on its maiden voyage collides with an iceberg) leading to a final misunderstanding that results in an ironic but satisfying conclusion. The special effects work by James Basevi, while primitive by today's computer graphics standards, is nonetheless impressive. My only complaint is the relatively poor quality of the film print that is available on video today. Considering the fine restoration work that has been done on other films such as HIS GIRL FRIDAY, a restored HISTORY IS MADE AT NIGHT should be on some company's priority list.