Copyright 5 August 1931 by Metro Goldwyn Mayer Distributing Corp. New York opening at the Capitol: 13 November 1931. 8 reels. 72 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: An escape artist is framed for murder by a jealous rival (who actually wants the money rather than the girl).
NOTES: When M-G-M's top male box-office attraction of the late 1920s, made his disastrous, all-talking, star debut in His Glorious Night (1929), M-G-M chief Louis B. Mayer didn't blame the stodgy direction of Lionel Barrymore, or the ridiculously insipid script penned by Willard Mack from the 1928 stage play Olympia by Ferenc Molnar. No, Mayer laid the blame squarely on Gilbert and tried to buy back his contract. Gilbert refused. It is alleged that Gilbert and Mayer came to blows and that the athletic star knocked the studio chief to the ground. This last statement seems more the stuff of legend than fact as Mayer was much the stronger man of the two and could easily have beaten Gilbert to a pulp.
Nonetheless, it is true that Mayer's animosity didn't help Gilbert's career at a time when he needed the studio's support most. It is alleged that Mayer deliberately tried to sabotage Gilbert's efforts to retrieve his popularity, but this furphy is disproved by the facts. That Gilbert was given better scripts, better directors and kinder treatment from M-G-M's sound department is easily proven by the last three films he made under his M-G-M contract: Mervyn LeRoy was borrowed from Warner Bros for Gentleman's Fate (1931); John S. Robertson - who had notched up a number of critical and commercial successes including Tess of the Storm Country (1922) and The Enchanted Cottage (1924) - was assigned to The Phantom of Paris, adapted from a popular novel by Gaston Leroux; whilst Gilbert himself was allowed to write Downstairs (1932). It was the not the studio's fault that these films failed to retrieve Gilbert's former premier reputation.
COMMENT: Although The New York Times felt that the microphone was unkind to John Gilbert's voice in The Phantom of Paris (thus helping to perpetuate the legend that there was something intrinsically wrong with Gilbert's voice), I found little to complain about. True, the recording seemed a little harsh, and Gilbert's acting was a little over-done, particularly in his impersonation scenes. True too that these scenes hardly impress as believable - but that is the fault of the script, not Mr. Gilbert. In these cases, it is usually preferable that the same actor play both roles. It's impossible to credit that both the man's wife and his mistress could be taken in by what seems a very obvious deception.
Nonetheless, Gilbert gives both parts a good stab. And if you can accept this situation, you will find much that is novel and entertaining in this adaptation from Gaston Leroux (whose most famous novel, The Phantom of the Opera, is so well-known today). The plot has enough twists to keep any audience intrigued, Robertson's direction has a bit of style, whilst production values are all we expect of M-G-M.
SYNOPSIS: An escape artist is framed for murder by a jealous rival (who actually wants the money rather than the girl).
NOTES: When M-G-M's top male box-office attraction of the late 1920s, made his disastrous, all-talking, star debut in His Glorious Night (1929), M-G-M chief Louis B. Mayer didn't blame the stodgy direction of Lionel Barrymore, or the ridiculously insipid script penned by Willard Mack from the 1928 stage play Olympia by Ferenc Molnar. No, Mayer laid the blame squarely on Gilbert and tried to buy back his contract. Gilbert refused. It is alleged that Gilbert and Mayer came to blows and that the athletic star knocked the studio chief to the ground. This last statement seems more the stuff of legend than fact as Mayer was much the stronger man of the two and could easily have beaten Gilbert to a pulp.
Nonetheless, it is true that Mayer's animosity didn't help Gilbert's career at a time when he needed the studio's support most. It is alleged that Mayer deliberately tried to sabotage Gilbert's efforts to retrieve his popularity, but this furphy is disproved by the facts. That Gilbert was given better scripts, better directors and kinder treatment from M-G-M's sound department is easily proven by the last three films he made under his M-G-M contract: Mervyn LeRoy was borrowed from Warner Bros for Gentleman's Fate (1931); John S. Robertson - who had notched up a number of critical and commercial successes including Tess of the Storm Country (1922) and The Enchanted Cottage (1924) - was assigned to The Phantom of Paris, adapted from a popular novel by Gaston Leroux; whilst Gilbert himself was allowed to write Downstairs (1932). It was the not the studio's fault that these films failed to retrieve Gilbert's former premier reputation.
COMMENT: Although The New York Times felt that the microphone was unkind to John Gilbert's voice in The Phantom of Paris (thus helping to perpetuate the legend that there was something intrinsically wrong with Gilbert's voice), I found little to complain about. True, the recording seemed a little harsh, and Gilbert's acting was a little over-done, particularly in his impersonation scenes. True too that these scenes hardly impress as believable - but that is the fault of the script, not Mr. Gilbert. In these cases, it is usually preferable that the same actor play both roles. It's impossible to credit that both the man's wife and his mistress could be taken in by what seems a very obvious deception.
Nonetheless, Gilbert gives both parts a good stab. And if you can accept this situation, you will find much that is novel and entertaining in this adaptation from Gaston Leroux (whose most famous novel, The Phantom of the Opera, is so well-known today). The plot has enough twists to keep any audience intrigued, Robertson's direction has a bit of style, whilst production values are all we expect of M-G-M.