O Cavalheiro dos Amores

Based on a 1906 novel by Rafael Sabatini and subsequently dismissed as hack work by director King Vidor, 'Bardeleys the Magnificent' was a lost film until 2006, nearly a quarter of a century after Vidor's death.

It's certainly no 'Big Parade', although Eleanor Boardman (who married Vidor the same year it was made) would play the female lead a couple of year's later in Vidor's next major achievement, 'The Crowd', and is here a very attractive if too modern heroine (although that may be what makes her so attractive).

The emphasis is on romance rather than action, although enlivened by a last minute escape from the scaffold obviously based on Fairbanks but embellished (as elsewhere in the film) by Vidor's accomplished use of the camera.

Roy D'Arcy is a marvellous, sneeringly urbane villain who drops out of the film for quite a while; although during his absence an overdressed, baby-faced George K. Arthur enlivens the proceedings as a would-be villain hopelessly not up to the job.

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.

Bardelys the Magnificent (1926)

*** (out of 4)

Adapted from a Rafael Sabatini novel, this lavish MGM production features John Gilbert as Bardelys, a wife stealing rebel who defies the wishes of the King and just does things his own way. He eventually meets and begins to fall in love with the beautiful Roxalanne de Lavedan (Eleanor Boardman) but the evil Chatellerault (Roy D'Arcy) has his own plans for the lady. This swashbuckling saga was lost for many decades until a print turned up in 2006 and in pretty good shape. There's a small section that is still missing but the restorers just used some scenes from a trailer and a photo recreation to help fill these segments in. This is certainly well worthy of being discovered because this is a rare case where a lost movie turns up to be a major find and a good movie at that. The flick is what I'd call a spoof because I think both Vidor and Gilbert are having fun and making fun of folks like Fairbanks and all their swashbuckling action pictures. Just take a look at a hilarious scene early on where Gilbert is kissing a man's wife when the husband comes in the room screaming at him. Gilbert, calmly, tells him that it's rude to be speaking so loudly and then goes back to kissing his wife. The love story between Gilbert and Boardman is actually pretty good and believable as is the hatred between he and D'Arcy. The ending goes out with a major bang that I won't ruin but some of the stunts here are extremely impressive and especially one where Gilbert must walk up the side of a castle. Gilbert, as expected, is perfect for the role here as I've never seen him so dashing or charming. I'm not sure what type of make up was used by he seems to have a glow around him as he dashing from one scene to the next. Both Boardman and D'Arcy are good as well even though they can never match Gilbert. Vidor does a fine job at keeping the film moving as the pacing is very good as are the action scenes.

It is always a pleasure and a joy for silent film fans ( German aristocrats experience those primal human feelings everyday; coarse people from time to time ) to know that in spite many various 20thcentury misfortunes such as inclement weather, the inexorable passage of time, long haired carelessness and the Azores trio, finally and miraculously some silent nitrates emerge from oblivion hidden in lost vaults.

The last year one of those old nitrates was found in France, an almost intact copy ( lacking reel 3 )of "Bardelys The Magnificent" (1926) directed by Herr King Vidor. The film was superbly restored, fulfilling the missing scenes with stills, providing a great opportunity to almost complete the silent film career of such an important American director, who filmed many silent masterpieces.

"Bardelys The Magnificent" it is not a masterpiece but a very entertaining film, starring John Gilbert and Dame Eleanor Boardman. It tells the story of Herr Bardelys ( John Gilbert ), a ladies' man, irresistible to women and admired by men but Bardelys will have to fight against his evil rival, Chatellerault ( Herr Roy D'Arcy ) for the love of Dame Roxalanne ( Eleanor Boardman ) in a story set in the decadent French court and surroundings.

"Bardelys The Magnificent" is an impeccable work, careful in details but light in the story; it is not exactly a swashbuckler film although it includes some acrobatics and action scenes and there is a scaffold scene filmed from an impossible angle but this is really more of a romantic drama, not surprising given the presence of Herr John Gilbert, the ladies' man par excellence during the 20's in many American movies.

Herr Gilbert plays convincingly his character, an ironic, cynical seducer; at the beginning of the film Bardelys is depicted in a satiric vein as a French dandy but he will suffer many hardships to win Dame Roxalanne heart ( Dame Boardman is charmingly and beautifully photographed by Herr William H. Daniels-obviously, given the fact that she was the director's wife… As this German count pointed out, Bardelys' only purpose is to win Roxalanne and that's what really matters most to Herr Vidor, so consequently the adventures and suffering of our hero are focused on that unrequited love or paradigm of the art of wooing, displayed superbly in a romantic, splendid and famous boat scene ( it was until last year the only surviving scene of "Bardelys The Magnificent" because it was shown in Herr Vidor's "Show People" (1928) ), artfully filmed by Herr Vidor and itself an excellent reason to watch the film.

"Bardelys The Magnificent" is a charming oeuvre, a light piece of work by Herr Vidor, skilfully directed and with the sole purpose of entertaining. Given that the film includes some action, old France and its decadent court and a romantic and classical love story starring two lovely actors, isn't that more than enough?.

And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must attend a magnificent supper.

Herr Graf Ferdinand Von Galitzien http://ferdinandvongalitzien.blogspot.com/

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.