"Svengali" starring John Barrymore and Marian Marsh

This blog was begun Monday night, March 30th and completed the next day :

Tonight's film was "Svengali"(1931), starring John Barrymore and Marian Marsh. Like you, I know of the proverbial use of that name to mean a man who manipulates another person, usually a woman and often a young one, through mind control or psychological exploitation. We've all heard the name "Svengali" used as a descriptive noun, as in "He is a Svengali", but after seeing the movie, I had to look it up to see if Svengali was a real person, like Grigori Rasputin, who he resembles in personality and, in this movie, in likeness. I discovered he was a fictional character created by French author George du Maurier for his 1895 novel "Trilby", about a young Irish girl who is seduced, then dominated by Svengali, a pianist with hypnotic powers.

John Barrymore brings him absolutely to life in the movie. If you've ever wondered why Barrymore is considered one of the greatest actors of all-time, this role is an excellent example. He turns Svengali into a real person (which is why I had to look it up), investing him with all sorts of little mannerisms and quirks, even a wry sense of humor, and his eastern European accent sounds authentic. As the movie opens, he is giving a singing lesson to Madame Honori (Carmel Myers), accompanying her on piano as she runs up and down the scales. Her voice is shrill enough to cause Gecko (Luis Alberni), Svengali's violinist roommate, to run from their apartment, but Svengali humors the woman because she is married to a wealthy man. After the lesson, their dialogue reveals that Madame Honori is having an affair with Svengali. "I've left my husband", she announces. This is fine with Svengali until he asks about her divorce settlement. When she replies that there won't be one ("I'd never take money from that beast"!), he changes his tone. He was only tolerating her for a chance at the fortune, though she thought he was in love with her. Now, Svengali only wants to be rid of her. He looks deeply into her eyes until she is hypnotised. Then she runs out the door. The next thing we hear is that her body was found floating in the river.

After this opening sequence, the movie takes a humorous turn. Svengali and Gecko are talented musicians, but poor, and as usual they are late on their rent. Svengali has an idea to "borrow" money from some painter friends of theirs who live across the street. The three painters - a Scot and two Englishmen - are moderately successful in their trade, and welcome Svengali and Gecko upon their arrival. They are boisterous gents, however, and before Svengali can explain the purpose of his visit, they chide him over his hygenic habits, or lack of same. "Aye, when was the last time you had a bath old chap"? Not recently, it appears. The painters spontaneously grab Svengali, stripping off his clothes in a roughhouse way. They throw him into a bathtub full of suds and then leave the house, taking the clothes with them. "Ahh, now he'll not be able to follow us", says the Scotsman as they head to the local pub, "nor ask us for any money"! The painters share a laugh over their prank, but it is Svengali who has the last laugh. With the help of Gecko, he finds a suit belonging to one of the painters. It fits him perfectly, and inside a pocket is a coin purse, with enough money to not only pay their rent, but all their other bills too, with enough left over to go to the pub and get drunk. There, they run into the painters, who aren't mad at Svengali and Gecko but admire their reprisal in a "touche" kind of way.

One day, while the painters are out, Svengali and Gecko "let themselves in" to their studio to look for more money. While inside, they hear a knock at the door. Svengali answers; it is a young model named Trilby (Marian Marsh) who has come to pose for a portrait. Rather than inform her that the painters aren't home, he pretends to be the one who hired her. Svengali knows he can use his powers of telepathy on the impressionable Trilby, and immediately sets out to do so, pretending to paint her while he spouts hypnotic "sweet nothings" into her ears. Suddenly Gecko rushes into the room to inform him that the painters are on their way back. He's been outside as a lookout. "They'll be here any moment"!, he warns. Svengali and Gecko quickly depart, but the die has been cast. He's got his mental hooks into Trilby just enough to make her want to see him again, and when she does she will become his captive. Before long, Svengali has Trilby entirely under his spell. He has even turned her into a fantastic opera singer, which in turn has made him her Maestro. They will tour the world together, playing famous halls to packed houses. Trilby will even marry Svengali, but there will be one man who is on to his scam; the young Englishman who was intended to paint her that day, now five years in the past. His name is Billie, and Billie will never forget. He was in love with Trilby. Now, he follows her from city to city, attending all her performances with Svengali, waiting and hoping to get her back. Svengali sees him in the audience but only sneers. Billie isn't worth the effort of a confrontation, so totally is Trilby in his thrall.

What will become of young Trilby, and......what will become of Svengali? Though he seems infallible, he does have a heart condition that is exacerbated every time he uses his hypnosis, which is the only thing keeping Trilby under his power.

Though it has traces of horror and is presented as a thriller, "Svengali" is really a love story, and at the film's end a touching one, at that. Perhaps it would be more appropriate to call it an "unrequited love story" about a man who desires love but is incapable of giving it, but a love story it is, and Marian Marsh is wonderful in the lead role as Trilby, only 18 when she made this movie but holding her own with the great John Barrymore in scene after scene. Barrymore, for his part is nothing short of tremendous as previously noted, and the supporting cast, including Donald Crisp as one of the painters, is superb as well. The art direction accentuates the subject matter, the sets look right out of a German Expressionist film and the lighting is appropriately shadowed and grim. The story may not go in the direction you anticipate. If, like me, you were expecting an examination of ultimate evil, or a portrayal of a total sociopath like the aforementioned Rasputin, "Svengali" doesn't quite go there. Though he is no prince, and certainly a bad guy, Barrymore fills him with too much humanity to make him a caricature. It turns out he's got feelings just like the rest of us. Two Big Thumbs Up for "Svengali". /////

That's all for the moment. I'm hanging in there and staying inside, except for my walks and a trip to the store every few days. Tomorrow I'm scheduled to sit with Pearl for an hour or two while her daughter does some shopping. I was originally supposed to return to work as her caregiver tomorrow, but now it looks like her daughter will be here until the quarantine is lifted, so I'm only "on call" and stuck inside The Tiny Apartment for now. Ah well.......it could be worse and I'm not complaining. Tonight I will draw again, finish my Neil Peart book and then watch another movie. See you a little later at the Usual Time. Stay well.

Tons and tons (and tons) of love!  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)