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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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