Svengali

SVENGALI is a British-made version of the classic story about the evil hypnotist who creates a famous singer out of a young and untalented girl. In essence this tale is Rasputin in the music world, and it's quite a fun and eventful storyline.

The main reason to enjoy this film is the performance of Donald Wolfit (BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRE) in the title role. He seems to be channelling Bela Lugosi in both look and voice throughout the movie, and his hammy style of acting is a lot of fun; the other actors in the production feel flat by comparison.

The film as a whole isn't perfect - there's a little too much sappy romance going on, and events are never as exciting or dramatic as the producers would hope for - but the lush colours and costumes of the mid 1950s give this the look and feel of an early Hammer Horror outing. Hildegard Knef (later of Hammer's THE LOST CONTINENT) is fine as the youthful protégé, and it's fun to see Terence Morgan (CURSE OF THE MUMMY'S TOMB) before he got typecast as the bad guy.

Apparently this is the tenth(!) screen version of George Du Maurier's "Trilby" but only the second one I have watched myself thus far – the other being the classic 1931 John Barrymore version from Warner Brothers entitled SVENGALI, of course. Presently, I will also be getting to the similarly-titled modernized TV version of 1983 starring Peter O'Toole and Jodie Foster but, for the record, there are two more adaptations I am most interested in, which are Maurice Tourneur's Silent original TRILBY (1915; which is available on DVD from Alpha!) and the "BBC Play Of The Month" TV version from 1976 with Alan Badel. Anyway, back to the version at hand: apart from the truly wretched copy I got saddled with (comprising constant combing and intermittent freezing issues!), I quite liked this handsomely-mounted and literate (if clearly stage-bound and clumsily edited) adaptation that benefits greatly from two excellent central performances: albeit a last-minute replacement for the ailing Robert Newton and clearly overweight for the role of the insufferable Svengali, Donald Wolfit's bizarrely effective combination of Bela Lugosi's looks and Frankie Howerd's voice earned him a nod at the British Film Awards; on the other hand, the overage but beautiful Hildegarde Neff is suitably moving as the innocently sensual gamine Trilby. The rest of the notable cast includes Terence Morgan (as Little Billy), David Kossoff (as Gecko), Noel Purcell (as Trilby's father), Michael Hordern (as Morgan's disapproving minister uncle) and, as starving Parisian painters, Alfie Bass, Harry Secombe and Michael Craig!

A bit over the top with the acting but this may have been deliberate to give it a certain theatre like feel as film acting is usually more subtle than as done on the stage, for a far away audience.

Beautifully shot in glorious saturated colour and the sets were extremely well done with seemingly no expense spared. I failed to spot some of the actors, later to be very much well known, in minor roles here.

There has been several fairly recent instances of singers, performers etc. Being controlled by very much like Svengali managers so the plot is in no way hard to believe.

A very interesting film worth watching.

A better example of over-acting you will struggle to find in this overly theatrical adaptation of George Du Maurier's 1894 novel "Trilby". Hildegard Knef is a young, impressionable, girl who falls under the spell of the almost Rasputin-esque Donald Wolfit in the title role. He hypnotises her to rid her of pesky headaches, and give her the voice of an angel - and soon she becomes an international star of the opera. Robert Newton was originally slated for the lead, but I can't imagine he could have done better than Wolfit, who has the maniacal look (eyes, especially) and pithy dialogue down to a T. The support from Terence Morgan - as her much younger beau "Billee Bagot", Paul Rogers, David Kossoff and the truly wonderful singing of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf keep this entertaining enough, but the staging and style are just to limiting to let this version of a really menacing and evocative story soar.

Svengali, like the Curate's egg, yes it is an interesting rendition, an old story, pretty much still extant if all the stories out there are to be believed. Anyway, here we go, Hildegard Neff, luminous and totally perfect, the rest of the ensemble cast, pretty good, but in my humble opinion the great man, the doyen of the theatre and many.adventures on the silver screen was quite wooden one minute then possessed of the manucc overdone ham on the bone the next. I know this may be heresy to some, but his oeuvre has its brilliant highlights yes, but sometimes I feel his fellow thesis are a little over awed by his classic acting style.. Overall though spotting the other wee gems in there..Alfie Bass.. Harry Seacombe.. Jeremy Brett et al ..make this rewarding.