Svengali (1931)
Directed by Archie Mayo

Film Review

Archie Mayo's atmospheric production of Svengali may not have been the first screen adaptation of George Du Maurier's famous 1894 Gothic novel Trilby but it is almost certainly the best, if only for John Barrymore's mesmeric and utterly creepy portrayal of the title character.  The first half of the film is very different in tone to the novel, eschewing the latter's Gothic mood for comedy, but there are plenty of chills along the way as Svengali puts his mind control skills to despicable use.  The expressionistic set design and high contrast lighting add to the film's unsettling atmosphere, in a way that is more than vaguely reminiscent of Robert Wiene's Das Cabinet des Dr Caligari (1920).  The film owes its status as a classic of the horror genre to some blood-curdling close-ups of Barrymore as he hypnotises his victims, his irises disappearing to leave a blind stare of nightmare-inducing proportions.  In long shot, Barrymore's Svengali is a stock comic villain; in close-up he is utterly terrifying.

Mayo directed many notable films in his time but he can hardly be described as the most inventive or daring of filmmakers.  Svengali contains one notable sequence that runs contrary to this impression, an unbroken take in which the camera slowly pulls back from a close-up on the villain's face, passes through the latticed pane of an upstairs window, spins through 180 degrees, cruises purposefully over the rooftops of Paris before veering towards another window, that of Trilby's bedroom.  Not only was this a major technical feat for the time but it is the most inventive and effective way of showing the extent of Svengali's power to take over and control another person's mind.  The film has some other inspired touches, but nothing to match the sheer brilliance of this indescribably spooky sequence.  Svengali was such a hit at the American box office that Warner Brothers hastily signed up John Barrymore and Marsh Marian for another horror film, The Mad Genius (1931).

Film Synopsis

In late 19th century Paris, Svengali ekes out a modest existence as a music teacher and pianist.  He hopes that by marrying a wealthy woman he will be able to enjoy a more comfortable mode of living, but when his victim leaves her husband without a penny to her name he has no choice but to hypnotise her into drowning herself.  Hypnosis is another of Svengali's talents.  As he tries to extort some money from his fellow boarders, Svengali meets an attractive young model named Trilby.  The latter is impressed when the strange man cures her of a headache by hypnotising her but she soon realises that she is losing her will to him.  Lured away from the man she really loves, a young teacher named Billee, Trilby flees Paris with Svengali and in no time she is his wife and a famous opera singer.  When Billee next sees Trilby she is entirely subservient to Svengali's will, as if she has been possessed by him...