Disraeli (film)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
Original title Disraeli
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1929
length 89 minutes
Rod
Director Alfred E. Green
script Julian Josephson
production Warner Brothers
music Louis Silvers
camera Lee Garmes
occupation

Disraeli is a biopic American film about Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli starring George Arliss . George Arliss won the Oscar for best actor for his interpretation of the role .

action

Benjamin Disraeli is Prime Minister and is in conflict with the liberal opposition leader William Ewart Gladstone . Both are arguing above all about which policy Great Britain should take with regard to the recently completed Suez Canal , which will be of considerable importance for the sea route to India and thus the colony of the kingdom. When the Egyptian ruler Ismael Pasha gets into financial difficulties, Disraeli single-handedly plans to take over the majority of shares in the Canal. His political opponents torpedo the plan that a Russian spy made public. The Bank of England denied the premier the necessary credit for the transaction, so he had to turn to the immensely wealthy Jewish banker Hugh Meyers. In order to secure British rule over India, the Prime Minister has Queen Victoria crowned Empress of India. At the height of his power, the Queen did him the unique honor of appearing in person at a reception on Downing Street.

background

George Arliss , who began his stage career in 1887, already had a successful career in silent film behind him. With the advent of the sound film , most film studios were looking for suitable actors who could meet the requirements of the new medium and therefore hired a large number of theater actors. In 1928, at the age of 61, Arliss decided to take up a financially very lucrative offer of $ 100,000 for three Warner Brothers sound films . The company was very successful thanks to the innovation of the Vitaphone sound system and had acquired, among other things, the rival company First National . Warner Brothers were known for mass-producing their films in no time on a budget. A maximum of 15 days of shooting and a total cost of seldom more than 125,000 US dollars were the rule for the majority of films, and top management only rarely invested the appropriate resources in time and money for so-called prestige productions.

These exceptions included the films with George Arliss, who was hired for a high fee and entitled to the addition of "Mister" in front of his first name in promotions for his films, a high honor that the studio only allowed a few stars, including John Barrymore and Ruth Chatterton , who was named "Miss". Arliss initially limited himself to making remakes of his silent film successes. He had already played the role of Benjamin Disraeli on stage several decades ago and a film version was from 1921. The plot takes a number of liberties with regard to the actual events. For example, it was not the banker Hugh Myers but the Rotschildt family who financed the Suez share deal. The film is a good example of the style of directing that was prevalent during the early sound film era. The staging remains static, if only because of the still primitive recording technology, and the actors move as little as possible in order not to step out of the limited radius of the underpowered microphones. The result then often looks like a photographed stage play. George Arliss' method of representation is also still deeply rooted in the gesture-based technique of silent films. The actor was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor at the 1930 Academy Awards (November) for both Disraeli and The Green Goddess , and ultimately won the Disraeli award . The Green Goddess was shot before Disraeli , but was not brought into distribution until mid-1930.

The young Joan Bennett , then with her natural blonde hair color, played one of her first major roles in the film. She had made her debut alongside Ronald Colman in Bulldog Drummond a few months earlier .

Theatrical release

At $ 872,000 to manufacture, "Disraeli" was a very expensive production for Warner Brothers. The film proved popular at the box office and ended up with total box office revenues of $ 1,498,000 and a profit for the studio of $ 626,000.

criticism

The New York Times was very gracious in writing about the film.

"Mr. Arliss is in his element and he brings such skill and conviction into his interpretation [..] that it is a joy. [..] His pronunciation and intonation are clear and Mr. Arliss does not show the slightest fear in the vicinity of this telltale tool, the microphone. "

Awards

The film went to the 1930 Academy Awards (November) with three nominations and won the George Arliss Award

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ^ Robert M. Fells: "George Arliss: The Man Who Played God". P. 35.
  2. ^ Robert M. Fells: "George Arliss: The Man Who Played God". P. 42.
  3. ↑ Mr. Arliss is on his mettle and he lends to the romantic conception [..] an artistry and vigor that is a joy to behold. [...] Mr. Arliss's diction is smooth and he achieves the climaxes with a characteristic savoir faire. [..] The tonal quality of the voices is capital and Mr. Arliss betrays not the slightest anxiety concerning the propinquity of that frequently treacherous device, the microphone.