Svengali

Svengali (1931)

He hypnotizes! He thrills...! Any woman caught in his spell must obey.

In late 19th-century Paris, a sinister musical maestro uses hypnotism to control an artist's model named Trilby, turning her into a famous opera singer.

Date of release
1931-05-20
TMDB
6.3 / 10 (68)
Runtime
1h 21m
Genres
Drama, Horror, Romance
Director
Archie Mayo

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Awards: 0 · Nominations: 2

Svengali is a 1931 American pre-Code drama film directed by Archie Mayo. The film stars John Barrymore and Marian Marsh. It is based on the 1894 George du Maurier novel Trilby and was among the many film adaptations of the book. The film was shot from January 12 to February 21, 1931. On its release in the United States, Svengali received some positive reviews but did not perform well at the box office.

Production

Svengali was based on the 1894 George du Maurier novel Trilby. The novel is titled after the story's doomed heroine, but the character that caught the public's attention was the villain Svengali, a Jewish hypnotist and pianist who hypnotizes Trilby into becoming a great vocalist.

Actor John Barrymore had performed on Broadway in early du Maurier adaptations, including the title role in Peter Ibbetson. In November 1930, Louella Parsons reported "the most surprising news of the year" that Warner Bros. had purchased the rights to adapt Trilby and that Barrymore was set to play the role of Svengali.

While on his yacht, Barrymore cabled his ideas for the film to Warner Bros., specifying that Svengali "must be funny and get lots of laughs." Warner Bros. initially wanted Evelyn Laye for the role of Trilby. Stories conflict as to why Laye was not cast; one account holds that the actress wanted to return to England for a vacation while another story claims that Laye was exhausted from overwork and was under treatment in a sanitarium.

The cinematographer was Barney "Chick" McGill, who was director Archie Mayo's cameraman for The Doorway to Hell.

Svengali began shooting in January 1931 at Stage 8 at Warner Bros.' First National lot in Burbank. Filming was completed on February 21. According to daily production notes, the script was unfinished when filming began, with screenwriter J. Grubb Alexander writing the scenes one at a time.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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