TV Debut of John Barrymore’s “New” 1927 epic: WHEN A MAN LOVES It is a rare treat to view a “new” 1927 John Barrymore film so Turner Classic Movies has performed a wonderful service for John Barrymore fans (at least in the states) with its Dec. 10, 2006 TCM premiere of the Warner Bros. epic, WHEN A MAN LOVES. This long-unavailable film, made at the pinnacle of the silent film era, co-stars the Great Profile with his real-life lady love of the time, Delores Costello. JB had discovered Costello on the Warner lot a year or so earlier and insisted she be assigned as the love interest in 1926’s THE SEA BEAST, a rather fanciful adaptation of “Moby Dick.” The film became a big hit and JB wanted DC for the heroine in his next Warners film, DON JUAN. However, Mary Astor had already been placed under contract and perhaps even announced for the film so Warners had to deny Barrymore this initial attempt for a re-teaming. Ironically, Astor herself was a former lover of JB who thought DON JUAN might serve as their reunion – until she found out about Costello! DON JUAN has happily been in general circulation for some years and is on home video as well. More than its historical importance as the first feature film with a recorded and synchronized musical score, DON JUAN also turns out to be an exciting swashbuckler in the style of the Douglas Fairbanks films of that time (MARK OF ZORRO, THIEF OF BAGDAD), but much more risqué sexually than Fairbanks ever would have permitted in his own films. The next Barrymore film for Warners after DJ would finally pair him again with Delores Costello and the studio agreed to produce a highly romantic tale that boasted an impressive pedigree in literature, on the stage, and even in opera: “Manon Lescaut.” JB’s role as the Chevalier Des Grieux had been played in opera by no less than Enrico Caruso just a few years earlier so Warners knew they had a property that was presold to an eager public. The story takes place in the mid-18th century and involves the Parisian adventures of a beautiful young woman (Manon Lescaut) as she sleeps her way to the top of fashionable society. Des Grieux is a young man headed to the seminary who becomes smitten with Manon and very quickly forgets his priestly vocation. Scenarist Bess Meredyth, who had written by THE SEA BEAST and DON JUAN for Warners, reworked Abbe Prevost’s original story to make Des Grieux more of the main character and softened Manon’s rather selfish impulses to make her character more sympathetic to movie audiences. But just as Ahab perished in every version of “Moby Dick” except THE SEA BEAST, so did Manon expire in every version of her tale except in WHEN A MAN LOVES. The retitled fable follows Manon as usual to her deportation from France to the New World aboard a ship of “fallen women.” However in WAML, Barrymore incites a mutiny of the prisoners onboard (studio casting must have scoured California for the most vicious looking men) and then escapes with his love leaving to their fates of unspeakable mayhem and murder all the “fallen women.” It would be difficult to find a more gruesome and heavy-handed finale to such an exquisitely romantic tale. Clearly, Barrymore’s penchant for the macabre overwhelms the conclusion of this film. Both today and in 1927, viewers might anticipate an exciting follow up to DON JUAN, both in terms of swashbuckling action and music score. Alas, WHEN A MAN LOVES suffers from comparison in both categories. WAML’s plot is not nearly as clever as the twists and turns in DJ. If the viewer is at all familiar with any of the earlier incarnations of the Prevost story, there aren’t too many surprises either until the bizarre finale aboard the slave ship. The large cast of supporting characters in DJ is absent from WAML although Warner Oland (who played Cesare Borgia in DJ) is effective as Manon’s scheming brother who functions as her pimp. Sam De Grasse is the lecherous nobleman who desires Manon but his character is not developed, especially when compared to DJ’s villain played by Montague Love. The overall pacing of WAML is more relaxed than DJ, although the action becomes almost frantic near the end. WAML also lacks the “set pieces” that made DJ so memorable such as DJ’s prologue involving his father, Don Jose, and his unfaithful mother; the opening comical interlude when Juan first appears; the near-showdown between Juan and the villain prior to the Intermission; and of course the famous sword duel between JB and Montague Love. The sword play in WAML has Barrymore fighting five and six swordsmen at a time and is not nearly as effective as the mano a mano sequence in DJ (not to mention Barrymore’s unforgettable leap down the staircase on top of Mr. Love). As in THE SEA BEAST and DON JUAN, JB’s pet monkey Clementine makes a brief appearance although another animal, a cat, has a much bigger role! Musically, DON JUAN has a wonderfully thematic score with signature melodies for Juan, his love Adrianna, and other characters. The composers, Dr. William Axt and David Mendoza, were specialists in their day for scoring silent films. By contrast, WAML has an original score composed by Henry Hadley, who had conducted the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in recording the Axt-Mendoza score for DON JUAN. Perhaps Hadley felt that the DJ score was too old fashioned, even by 1926 standards (a valid criticism), and offered to compose a more “modern” score that avoided obvious “toe-tapping” melodies. In that sense, the score for WAML is indeed more modern and anticipates the direction that film music scores would take in later decades. Alas, it’s just not as entertaining as the DJ score. The NY Philharmonic is also missing from WAML but the performance is handled competently by the members of Warners studio Vitaphone Orchestra, who appear onscreen at the conclusion of the film to acknowledge the audience’s applause. Nice touch. Dramatically, Barrymore’s Des Grieux is different from his cynical Don Juan and his fatalistic Ahab. Des Grieux is a young naïf and makes a compatible soulmate to young Manon, who is also quite naïve in the ways of the world upon their first meeting. Manon becomes “experienced” much to Des Grieux’s disgust but the impression she first made upon him when they were two innocents cannot be forgotten by him. The big question seems to be: can virginity be reclaimed? Against the fictional plot is the subtext of JB and DC in the thralls of their real-life romance. Although Barrymore was twice Costello’s age (he was about 44 to her 22), biographers seem in agreement that Delores’s mother kept a strict watch over her and indeed, their presumably unrequited love at this point in their relationship was consummated only by their play acting in the film. Delores Costello became a reasonably popular star in the last couple of years of the silent film era in the late 1920s. She was not so much an actress with a distinct personality as she was an ethereal image that the surreal nature of silent film enshrined in a way that talkies never could. Her voice would be her undoing professionally, not because it was deficient particularly, but simply because no human voice could possibly match her divine image on the silver screen. JB and DC married in November 1928 after he proved to her mother that he could stop drinking for six months. In fact, Mrs. Costello (who was only about three years older than JB) effectively wielded the moral and physical clout to keep Barrymore clean and sober. Sadly, her sudden death only six months after their marriage removed from Barrymore’s life the one person who might have saved him from the personal and professional disgrace of his final years, which were less than a decade in the future. JB and DC had two children but divorced in 1935, their marriage another victim of his alcohol abuse. In a sense, WHEN A MAN LOVES is a time capsule preserving this couple at the beginning of their relationship when a bright future for them seemed not only possible, but assured. They were two beautiful people living, at least for the moment, charmed lives. Perhaps for that reason alone, this film deserves a special place in the hearts of Barrymore admirers. By Bob Fells |
