Call of the Flesh

A brash cantina singer in Sevilla heeds the CALL OF THE FLESH when he romances a young postulant from a nearby convent.

Sometimes movie studios make most unwise decisions, resulting in ramifications that can be quite detrimental to the careers of even their biggest stars. CALL OF THE FLESH is a case in point. Good production values & fine performances can not save this film from its one fatal flaw: it is difficult to like, or even tolerate, the hero.

Ramon Novarro, usually quite the pleasant fellow, here is forced to play a repellent rogue who quickly irritates the audience with his cruel treatment of those who love him most. Oozing a smarmy charm, he alternately smirks & pouts his way through the plot, until his eventual - and much belated - regeneration. Novarro's undoubted acting abilities enable him to deliver a fine performance, but mischievousness mixed with too much meanness can result in viewer apathy.

This did not help his career. The fad for the Latin Lover was wearing mighty thin already and would soon be completely eclipsed by the All American Hero, and Novarro's sexual ambiguity was always a bit of a problem for the MGM front office. The advent of Sound, while finally revealing his strong singing voice, also exhibited his Mexican accent, making it difficult to cast him in traditional roles. The Studio simply couldn't come up with a definitive screen persona for him, and so Novarro was made into their ethnic chameleon, playing everything from Chinese to Arab to Navajo.

Novarro's costars come through very well. Dorothy Jordan is radiant as the innocent young woman who loves him with every fiber of her being; she delivers a heart touching, memorable performance. Flamboyant & hammy, Scottish actor Ernest Torrence is terrific as Novarro's friend & mentor - although one has to wonder just why he was willing to put up with so much nonsense from the little squirt. Equally adept at drama or comedy, Torrence's theatrical mannerisms and the contortions of his great homely face make him both entertaining to the audience and an enjoyable contrast to handsome Novarro. French actress Renée Adorée, in her final film, stirs up the flames in her role as Novarro's musical partner & lover. (Ill health would bring about the early deaths of both Torrence & Adorée in 1933 - he at 54 and she at 35. Today, these two fine performers are virtually forgotten.)

Mention should be made of Mathilde Comont, hilarious as a rotund little diva turned landlady.

Novarro is in good voice throughout, which is fortunate as the plot keeps him singing interminably.

I watched The Call of the Flesh and enjoyed it despite the dueling accents. Ramon Novarro plays a saucy singer who teams with Renee Adoree to appear at local cantinas and is pushed by his friend (Ernest Torrence) to get serious about opera. But then he meets a "runaway" from a convent (Dorothy Jordan) who knows nothing of the world. He falls in love and dumps Adoree. But Adoree gets even by finding Jordan's military brother who tracks them down and sends her back to the convent. Meanwhile Novarro is turned down by a local opera house because he's never had his heart broken and his singing has no soul. Torrence buys a night for Novarro to sing at the opera and he grudgingly does to, bringing down the house. But his heart is so broken he's actually dying until Adoree takes action.

Novarro is quite good here, especially when singing. A few of the dramatic scenes are badly done, but the rest of the film is lively. Novarro co-wrote the song "Lonely" with Herbert Stothart. I have no idea what Novarro sings in the finale but he's good despite having rather thin high notes. It's quite a shock to see Torrence break out in song, but the burly Scottish actor, a dependable heavy in silent films, was a trained opera singer. Jordan and Adoree handle the music well.

There's a great scene where Torrence at the piano joins Novarro in a burst of song only to be joined by the landlady (Mathilde Comont). It all seems so spontaneous.

Sadly this was Adoree's final film. Her other talkie was Redemption with John Gilbert.

By no means a "B" film in budget, but definitely one in story and technique. After seeing this effort, it's remarkably easy to understand why Novarro's stellar career declined so rapidly and dramatically in the sound era. It's not that there's anything wrong with his voice, it's just that his acting seems so ludicrously inept and his personality so colorless and lacking in charisma. Mind you, if you turn off the sound, then Novarro's gestures and even his persona appear quite acceptable. But with sound in this film, he's just ridiculous! True, the script itself is a load of old romantic melodrama that's about impossible to stomach, let alone get involved in. The only way to rescue this sort of operettish stew from the throw-out pot, is to pep it up with flair and imagination. Unfortunately, Charles Brabin is not this sort of chef – at least not here. He did learn his lesson, but here his direction is little more than disinterested and/or routine. Even the sets lack the pictorial qualities we usually associate with Cedric Gibbons. The sound recording of course is poor. But at least the photography in the present wholly black-and-white version telecast by TCM retains appeal.

I watched "Call of the Flesh" (1930) a romantic, musical melodrama with touches of comedy, that was a huge surprise for me. Surprise, because after watching "In Gay Madrid" (1930) filmed and released earlier the same year and after re-reading the pertinent passages from André Soares' very good Bio on Novarro "Beyond Paradise" my expectations were low, since Mr. Soares believes "In Gay Madrid" (1930) to be the best film that Novarro made with co-star Dorothy Jordan. (the other one was "Devil-May-Care" (1929)). Well, I am sorry to totally disagree, but for me "Call of the Flesh" is simply one of Novarro's best talkies along with "The Barbarian" (1933), "The Cat and the Fiddle" (1934) and "Daybreak" (1931) - I'm not counting "Mata-Hari" (1931) because it's a Garbo vehicle and not really Ramon's film.

Mr. Soares and some other reviewers felt that Novarro plays an obnoxious, difficult to tolerate character, especially at the beginning of the film, but I found him most amusing and likable in a way. A sort of immature, mischievous, full-of-life young lad -much more appealing than Haines' truly obnoxious characters. Novarro is very charming and natural, in spite that some times he could be perceived by some to be a little bit "too much". For me he's fine.

On the other hand, the chemistry between him and Dorothy Jordan is far more effective here than in the previous film I saw. Ms. Jordan really redeemed herself in my eyes in terms of acting. She's no Duse, but she did fine and she conveys the innocence and charm of a naive convent girl who falls for life outside the convent and for Novarro. The musical interludes, singing and dancing are much better in this film and it has better production values. In terms of cinematography, camera movement, pacing and editing it's "eons" beyond "In Gay Madrid" (1930); definitely Charles Brabin and his crew did a much better job that Bob Z. Leonard and his' in the aforementioned film. "Call of the Flesh" (1930) doesn't look at all stilted, stiff and creaky like "In Gay Madrid" (1930) did. Probably by the time they filmed the former the crew at MGM had already learnt how to overcome those shortcomings.

"Call of the Flesh" also benefits from an overall superior supporting cast, with Ernest Torrence fantastic as Novarro's mentor; ailing, lovely Rénée Adorée very moving as Novarro's fiery lover "Lolita" and Mathilde Comont hilarious as Novarro's landlady in Madrid.

Adorée was gravely ill with TBC and was in very bad condition during the making of the film (and one can see it; she looks very frail and thin). In fact she and Ernest Torrence died a couple of years after this film was finished. I think that it was her final film.

There are two alternate versions of this film: in Spanish and French, which I don't know if they are still extant, but I'd love to see.

I was so surprised by this film (maybe, because I didn't really expect much), I enjoyed the romance, the musical interludes, the comedic touches, even the Operatic Arias (although like Jeanette MacDonald people who know about Opera, say that Novarro hasn't got a voice of a caliber enough to tackle such a challenge) and I was sincerely moved by the scenes towards the ending.

All in all, a rewarding experience.

This is one of my favorite films of all time. I loved every character, and every actor and actress. The film is charming. It is serious, funny, heartwarming; and the music is both charming and beautiful. This story must have been written with Ramon Novarro, Dorothy Jordan, and Renee Adoree in mind; but the whole cast is "perfect". I wish that this film will someday be available on video. Some may find this film naive or too simplistic, but it's innocence and sincerity overwhelm me.