Synopsis: This is such a great early sound film from the Warner Brothers studio. The sets by Anton Grot are amazing (there is an eye-popping miniature set of the rooftops of Paris). The sentimental background music used in "Svengali" is Thomas Dunn English's "Ben Bolt", which is played effectively throughout the film and is partially sang twice. The great John Barrymore IS the one and only Svengali and is superb in the role. He captures Svengali's wicked humor and cunningness perfectly. Marian Marsh is ideally cast and simply delightful as the artists model Trilby. She even looks like Trilby as drawn in George Du Maurier's novel. She displays an infectious smile and high-spirited jolliness that other actresses who have played Trilby have failed to deliver (Clara Kimball Young was okay in the 1915 silent version ("Trilby"), but Hildagarde Neff and Jodie Foster weren't at all appealing in the later sound remakes). Mostly everyone else in 1931's "Svengali" give good performances (the exception being Carmel Myers, whose acting dates badly). This 1931 version of "Svengali" will always be a film worth seeing for Barrymore's humorous villain, Marsh's adorable heroine and those glorious expressionistic sets by Anton Grot on the early Warner Brothers sound stages.
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