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Review:
By 1926 several screen
adaptations of the novels of Rafael Sabatini had proven
enormously successful, notably: Scaramouche (1923)
starring Ramon Novarro, The Sea Hawk (1924) starring
Milton Sills, and Captain Blood (1924), starring J.
Warren Kerrigan. Also by 1926, MGM had the top male
romantic screen star in the world, John Gilbert, under
contract. Gilbert and director King Vidor had made four
pictures together and had just finished back-to-back
productions of The Big Parade (1925) and La Bohème
(1926). MGM decided to pair them again and in 1926
licensed the rights for a ten-year period to Sabatini''s
Bardelys The Magnificent. Production commenced March 22,
1926.
Flash Forward 10 Years - MGM''s
original license of the rights to Sabatini''s novel
expired in 1936. Contractually, MGM was required to
renew it with a payment to Sabatini or to destroy all
the film elements of Bardelys The Magnificent. By 1936
MGM had no use for a silent action/adventure film.
Gilbert''s career was sadly over (he would die in
January, 1936), and they could see no further commercial
prospects for the property. So they chose to destroy all
remaining prints and film elements to Bardelys The
Magnificent including the original negative. Thus began
Bardelys reputation as one of the most famous "lost
films" of the silent era. Tantalizingly, a few moments
survived in Vidor''s Show People (1928) as Marion Davies
and William Haines are shown in a theater watching the
grand love scene from Bardelys featuring Gilbert and
leading lady Eleanor Boardman.
Flash Forward 70 years - In 2006 Serge
Bromberg and Eric Lange of Lobster Films in Paris
discovered an original nitrate print of Bardelys The
Magnificent as part of a large collection of films they
had purchased from a collector. The print was in poor
condition and the third reel of the film (approximately
10 minutes) was missing. Lobster Films quickly began
preserving the deteriorating elements, and set about
reconstructing the missing third reel of the film with
still photographs and footage from the film''s extant
promotional trailer. All title cards were in French, but
by referencing the preserved cutting continuity script,
the original English titles were reproduced and
inserted. Eighty years after its premiere, and seventy
years after its official destruction, Bardelys The
Magnificent can once again be seen by audiences around
the world.
The film is set during the reign of
King Louis XIII of France (Arthur Lubin) in the early
seventeenth century. "In an age of light loves and
lively scandals, a certain gentleman of France excelled
in getting himself talked about - -" In Bardelys
apartment we see his servant Rodenard (Karl Dane) admit
a distressed paramour of Bardelys. She must see him or
die! "That will please him," Rodenard assures her. Enter
Bardelys: "Envied, elegant and superior - - the Marquis
de Bardelys, known to his world as ''The Magnificent''
(John Gilbert)." He reassures the young woman with
caresses, kisses, and sweet words when who should burst
through the door but the woman''s husband! Without
missing a beat, Bardelys unsheathes his sword, continues
to make verbal love to the young lady, parries the blows
of the cuckold, eventually reconciles the couple, and
continues dueling them out the door. As soon as they''re
gone, another beautiful young woman enters seeking the
same reassurances from Bardelys. Later that evening, a
third young lovely at his side, Bardleys presents her
with a locket containing a lock of his hair to assure
her that his affections lay solely with her. Meanwhile
the camera shows many other such ladies clutching
identical lockets, and further we see Rodenard
constructing dozens of others behind the scenes. Yes,
Bardelys is a cad, but as portrayed by John Gilbert he
is also Magnificent!
Meanwhile at the country estate of the
Vicomte de Lavedan (Lionel Belmore), the dastardly Comte
Chatellerault (Roy D''Arcy) "Bardelys'' rival in fashion
and love" is putting the moves on Lavedan''s lovely
young daughter Roxalanne (Eleanor Boardman), but he "had
met with another defeat." Gently threatening Roxalanne
with using his power at court against her father she
replies, "I had only disliked you before, now I must
despise you." When Chatellerault returns to Paris he
finds that his humiliation and defeat at the hands of
Roxalanne is the amusing story of the moment. In a
pique, he challenges Bardelys to win the fair Roxalanne
for himself. All present agree that Bardelys could win
the hand of any young lady in France, but Bardelys
insists that he doesn''t want a wife. Chatellerault ups
the stakes by insisting that, should Bardelys fail,
Chatellerault would gain possession of all his property.
This is such an affront to the honor of a rogue like
Bardelys that the challenge must be met. Even Louis
XIII''s order that Bardelys remain at court, is
disobeyed. Bardleys explains to Louis that his life
belongs to his king, but his honor belongs to himself
alone.
Bardelys and his faithful Rodenard
sneak away from court and begin their journey to
Lavedan''s country estate. Along the way they encounter
Lesperon (Theodore von Eltz), a mortally wounded young
man. He dies in Bardelys arms before he can say much of
anything about his situation. In his pockets are some
letters and a locket containing a miniature painting of
a young woman. That night at the inn some of the king''s
soldiers challenge Bardelys, and thinking the king has
sent them after him, he declares his identity as
Lesperon. Whoops, Lesperon is wanted as a traitor!
Bardelys makes his getaway but is wounded in the
altercation. He arrives at Lavedan''s estate and faints
at Roxalanne''s feet. She tends to his wounds and, when
he wakes up, he is smitten. The king''s soldiers burst
in looking for Lesperon, but Roxalanne hides him. Once
the soldiers depart Roxalanne, cautious after her run in
with Chatellerault, orders him away. He is too weak
however and falls from a wall. When Bardelys awakens the
next morning, he finds himself in bed at Lavedan''s and
everyone assumes that he is Lesperon. From there he
makes a remarkably slow recovery as he and Roxalanne
find themselves more and more attracted to one another.
But a jealous neighbor, St. Eustache (George K. Arthur),
thinks there''s something fishy about this Lesperon and
is determined to get to the bottom of the situation.
Bardelys The Magnificent is not a
masterpiece. However, it is a highly entertaining film
with so many of the people involved in its production at
the peak of their artistry and popularity. Vidor and
Gilbert''s incredibly successful The Big Parade of the
previous year had not only catapulted them into the top
ranks of the industry but had provided MGM with the
cachet to compete with the top studios of the day. MGM
producer Irving Thalberg recognized talent and committed
the studio''s resources to make Bardelys The Magnificent
one of the studio''s major productions of the year. John
Gilbert, after a ten-year apprenticeship in dozens of
films, had finally become a major movie star after
appearing in both Erich von Stroheim''s The Merry Widow
and Vidor''s The Big Parade the previous year. He and
Vidor teamed again with La Bohème in 1926, then
Bardelys, and his next film, also released that year,
would be his first teaming with the Swedish sensation
Greta Garbo in Flesh and the Devil. By the end of the
decade King Vidor could arguably be said to have
eclipsed D.W. Griffith as the master American director
with his films The Crowd (1928), The Patsy (1928), Show
People (1928) and Hallelujah (1929).
Also released in 1926 were the
similarly themed Don Juan featuring John Barrymore and
The Black Pirate with Douglas Fairbanks. One can see in
Bardelys The Magnificent an attempt to not only
capitalize on a successful genre, but one-up Fairbanks
and Barrymore. The final action piece of the film has
Gilbert doing all kinds of amazing death-defying
maneuvers a la Fairbanks. It is a dizzying, exhilarating
sequence and, if not better, then certainly as much fun
as anything Fairbanks ever did. Gilbert''s opening scene
seems to throw down the romantic gauntlet at
Barrymore''s feet with a "Come on, can you do this?"
sort of attitude. As Photoplay magazine stated in a
contemporary review, "So long as King Vidor and John
Gilbert take Rafael Sabatini''s story seriously, this
picture remains just another costume production,
smoothly told, artfully acted, but not guaranteed to
give any ticket-seller a nervous breakdown. But when
star and director say, ''Come, come, enough of this
seventeenth century intrigue. Let''s make a comic
movie,'' then it snaps into great entertainment."
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Carl Sandburg concurred,
"You are comfortable either way you take it, as a
gorgeous romance or a sly and thrilling satire on
romance."
One must also make mention of the
lovely Eleanor Boardman as Roxalanne. She and Vidor were
married soon after this picture was completed (in a
ceremony that was planned as a double wedding that was
also to include John Gilbert and Greta Garbo). She is
probably best remembered as Mary in King Vidor''s The
Crowd in 1928. She also appeared with Gilbert again in
Fred Niblo''s Redemption (1930), but by then both of
their careers were on the wane. In Bardelys she is very
beautiful but in a contemporary sort of way. She
underplays her role, and both she and Gilbert deliver
really very modern performances. On the other side of
the performance spectrum is Roy D''Arcy''s
Chatellerault, a nasty villain if ever there was one.
His performance is over-the-top but in the very best
possible way. Karl Dane and George K. Arthur handle
their comedic roles with panache. The two do not appear
on screen together in Bardelys, but were teamed in a
successful series of comedic films of the day. Able
support was also given by Lionel Belmore and Emily
Fitzroy as Papa and Mama Lavedan, and Arthur Lubin makes
a wonderfully foppish King Louis XIII.
I was amazed that Bardelys The
Magnificent looks as good as it does considering the age
of the sole remaining print. Of course there is some
wear evident, but the print looks surprisingly clear and
crisp. The contrast has bled somewhat, but still this is
a remarkably viewable print. A few scenes have been
artfully tinted in keeping with the period and there are
no evident jumps in the picture. The recreated English
title cards are integrated seamlessly into the
presentation and even look like title cards of the
studio and period. The reconstructed reel three is very
well done and does not take one out of the film. The
film is presented at a projection speed of twenty
frames-per-second sparing us the jerky, sped-up
abomination which is the bane of all silent film
enthusiasts. A nice orchestral score has been compiled
by Rodney Sauer and performed by the Mont Alto Motion
Picture Orchestra. An alternate piano score composed and
played by Antonio Coppola is also available.
The Midnight Palace
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