Old English

I'm sure George Arliss would approve of my heading, because that's what he was - a distinguished star of the London stage before coming to Hollywood. In fact, in this picture he is listed as MR. George Arliss. I think only Paul Muni was referred to as MR for a time.

There is no question who the star of the picture is. The camera favors him with countless close-ups and fixes upon his every movement, and in return he uses every acting trick he can summon and he is delightful. He tends toward ham every so often and it's a treat to watch. Here he is an old bank president 'on his last legs', as several creditors try to pry him from his job. The movie's title is his nickname among his colleagues.

The role is well within his capability and plays like a filmed stage play as there is not much camera movement, due probably to primitive 30's camera technique combining with sound. There are also no exterior shots and takes place strictly on a soundstage. I recommend it because it is fascinating to watch a master thespian at work, although it may not be as good as some. Disraeli (1929) and Cardinal Richelieu (1935) are better.

"Old English" is a 1930 Warner Bros. film adapted from a stage play. Both the play and the film star George Arliss (1868-1946) who was a major star on the stage and in the silent and the early talkie period, with films like "Disraeli" (1921 and 1929) and "Voltaire" (1933). He won the Academy Award for "Disraeli" (1929) and was nominated again for "The Green Goddess" (1930).

Arliss plays an 80 year old English ship builder, though he was only 60 when the film was done. The following year he was cast as young Alexander Hamilton playing a man in his 30s. In both cases he seemed more his age than the role he was playing.

Arliss was so well regarded by Warner Bros. his name is even larger than the title of the film and he is referred to as "Mr. George Arliss".

Arliss was very much a silent film actor, and while he did do well in some talkies (e.g., 1929s "Disraeli"), his silent film gestures are omnipresent. In a filmed stage play, which is essentially what this is, the silent film acting and the static camera work are a bit too much. Arliss is one of the few silent film stars who made a smooth transition to talkies, and his career continued for many years.

I'm a big fan of Arliss but this film is not one of his better works.

In 1930 the top grossing films were "All Quiet on the Western Front", Eddie Cantor's "Whoopee", "Hell's Angels", "Animal Crackers", and Harold Lloyd's "Feet First". "All Quiet" was the big Oscar winner (Picture, Director). Other notable films released that year include "The Divorce" (Norma Shearer won the Oscar), Garbo's "Anna Christie", Wallace Beery's "Big House" and "Min and Bill", John Wayne's massive failure "The Big Trail", and Howard Hawks' "Dawn Patrol",

OLD English and especially the tour de force performance of George Arliss in his final original role for the Broadway stage, is here meticulously preserved, if in slightly truncated form, for a grateful nation (the film was a major hit in its day, confirming a distinguished film career for the aging Arliss) by Warner Brothers' Vitaphone film department as the movies started to talk in earnest.

Of course Arliss' transition from stage to film can be accused by 21st Century "know-it-alls" as being too much a filmed stage play as Arliss, playing a shipping magnate nearing the end of his life cuts questionable deals to make sure the family of an illegitimate son from earlier in his life is left well provided for (and some folk claim this story is somehow "dated"?!?). That very faithfulness to the origins in Galsworthy's stage play was one of the film's major virtues when made, and whatever performance technique Arliss displays that children today may find "arch," in 1930 was a virtual masterclass in carefully crafted subtlety compared to the acting style which dominated the time on stage and screen - hence Arliss' major, well earned - and well remembered even today among the genuinely knowledgeable - film stardom from 1921 to 1937 when he deigned to commute in from his London home.

While Arliss' 25 films are today not particularly well distributed because of the changing tastes of the times, there are three PAGES of them listed on DVD on Amazon at this writing, every one of them worth considering! Galsworthy's "The Forsythe Saga" would be a massive hit twice for the BBC and PBS television many years later trading on the same cultural values - but it was free on TV and the remake was in color, yet it never achieved the classic status that OLD English on stage and film held for over a decade in the 20's and 30's.

This beautiful document in a must-see for any serious student of the modern stage and early film; while probably not for the pseudo-film fan or latter day dilettante who expects car chases, sex and explosions as their "entertainment," it is required viewing for those who thus far only know Mr. Arliss for his justly famous (and Oscar winning) interpretation of DISRAELI the year before, repeating one of his most famous stage roles for the SECOND time on screen!

I love George Arliss films and try to catch them every time TCM shows one. This being said, not all Arliss films are great...and a few, like this one, are really not very good at all.

The story is about Sylvaus Heythorp (Arliss)...a seemingly rich businessman from a prominent British family. He's just reached 80 and the film appears to be set about 1870 (more or less). Despite his public image, however, he's a four-flusher--a guy who has huge debts and no intention to pay them. His family spends money like it grows on trees and Sylvanus does nothing to dissuade them. And, when one of his creditors tries to get paid, he seems completely indifferent.

Arliss plays something he never played in other films...a complete jerk! This is a HUGE problem with the film, as the biggest reason to watch him act is his amazing likability, such as in THE WORKING MAN or in THE KING'S VACATION. Instead, he's useless...and the audience feels little connection with the guy. Additionally, the film suffers because the supporting cast is often horrible-- particularly the old man who sells him his ships. And, finally, sometimes Arliss is THE show and hams it up a bit too much--such as the too long and too indulgent dining and drinking scene. All in all, a sadly disappointing film with little to offer.

62 year old George Arliss is aged some 20 years to play an aged shipping tycoon who's now deeply in debt in Old English. I found it ironic that Arliss who did this on Broadway in the 1924-25 season for 183 performances was aged for this part and for Alexander Hamilton he was rather ludicrously made younger. Of course in the Hamilton part Arliss was much younger when he did it on stage.

At this point in life Arliss wants to provide something for his grandchildren who are the children of his illegitimate son, the son's wife Doris Lloyd is having a rough go of it. But he's got one creditor in Murray Kinnell who wants his debt settled before all and there's his daughter from his marriage Ethel Griffies who gives him no pleasure in his old age.

The play was written by John Galsworthy better known of course for The Forsyte Saga and you can see some similarities there. But the production itself is too slow and too stage oriented. A couple of outdoor shots don't really do the trick to make it a movie.

Still Arliss, old fashioned as he is is always a treat to watch.