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- Movie Night at the Playboy Mansion - Disraeli
Movie Night at the Playboy Mansion - Disraeli
| November 20, 2009 Tomorrow night: Charles Laughton, with Merle Oberon, Robert Donat and Elsa Lancaster, in his Academy Award winning performance in “THE PRIVATE LIFE OF HENRY VIII.” On Sunday: John Cusack, Woody Harrelson and Danny Glover in “2012.” Plus a new episode of “The Girls Next Door.” Next week, come spend the Thanksgiving weekend with the “Family!” On Friday: Ray Liotta, Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci in Martin Scorcese’s “GOODFELLAS.” And on Saturday: Robert DeNiro, Sharon Stone and Joe Pesci in Martin Scorcese’s “CASINO.” Tonight: From the Dawn of Sound—George Arliss and Joan Bennet in the 1929 film biography “DISRAELI.” Benjamin Disraeli was one of the most famous men of his time. He was the Prime Minister of Great Britain when that country ruled the world, and a personal confidant of Queen Victoria. Nicknamed “Dizzy,” Disraeli was born in 1804 and died in 1881. The distinguished British actor George Arliss lived in the time of Disraeli. He was 12 when Disraeli died. Arliss made his London stage debut at the age of 18. In 1902, an American tour brought him great success and he stayed for 20 years, to appear in many Broadway productions and silent films. He was particularly popular in his stage portrayals of such historical figures as Voltaire, Cardinal Richelieu, Disraeli and Alexander Hamilton—characters he would later portray on the screen. In 1921, he made a silent screen version of “DISRAELI” for United Artists, co-starring his wife Florence. Mr. Arliss, as he was always respectively billed, also produced. In 1927, Warner Bros. revolutionized the motion picture industry with Al Jolson in “THE JAZZ SINGER.” With the arrival of sound, the studios turned to the stage for fresh talent. For the “Talkies,” they needed actors who could talk. Jack Warner and his assistant, Darryl Zanuck, saw George Arliss in Shakespeare’s “MERCHANT OF VENICE” at the Biltmore Theatre here in L.A. After the performance, they met Arliss at the nearby Biltmore Hotel with a business proposition. Warner remembered the 1921 silent version of “DISRAELI,” and wanted to sign Arliss for an expensive, all-talking remake. Harry Warner, who ran the business end of Warner Bros., later confided to Arliss that he hadn’t expected “DISRAELI” to make any money. It was meant to be a prestige picture—a loss leader intended to lure other talent through the studio’s gate. Harry Warner was mistaken. The picture proved to be a blockbuster! If the acting style seems somewhat antiquated and stagey by today’s standards—it must be understood that in 1929, the film we will see tonight was universally acclaimed by all as a commercial, critical and artistic success. After which, Mr. Arliss was acclaimed “The First Gentleman of the Screen.” And rewarded by Warner Bros. with a contract that called for the extraordinary salary of $10,000 a week. “DISRAELI” was really a one-man show, but the film co-starred a 19-year-old Joan Bennett, who had come to prominence early that same year playing opposite Ronald Colman in Samuel Goldwyn’s production of “BULLDOG DRUMMOND.” Joan Bennett was the younger sister of Constance Bennett, then on the verge of becoming the highest paid actress in Hollywood. “When I worked with George Arliss,” Joan Bennett recalled in her autobiography in 1970, “he was almost a legend and I was hopelessly in awe of him. He had a reputation for perfection that was well deserved... He was a sweet and gentle man, but absolutely inflexible in his working schedule. “On the very stroke of 5 O’clock, he doffed his toupee, handed it to his valet and walked out. It was the signal that Mr. Arliss was through, and no amount of cajoling or pleas for ‘just one more take’ had any effect whatever.” Arliss enjoyed total autonomy over all his films, and cast “DISRAELI” himself, including the selection of his wife for the same part she had played in the silent version. Warner Bros. held an elaborate premiere for “DISRAELI” at the Warner Bros. Theatre in New York on October 2, 1929. “DISRAELI” had been playing to packed houses for three days when, on October 5, the New York Times reported how women in the audience of a theatre nearby “giggled and laughed” during love scenes in John Gilbert’s first Talkie. Gilbert’s career was finished. On October 24, 1929, Hal Roach released Jean Harlow so she could sign with Howard Hughes, and re-film much of the footage for “HELL’S ANGELS” with sound. Greta Nissen, whom Harlow had replaced, was finished. On October 29, 1929 Wall Street laid its famous egg, plunging the nation into the infamous Depression that brought the Roaring Twenties to a crashing halt. The party was finished. On November 1, 1929, “DISRAELI” went into general domestic release. Silent movies were finished. Variety declared: “Disraeli was, in life, a novelist, wit, dandy, lover, Prime Minister of England and the most famous and brilliant Jew of his generation. History books are full of him. He was an amazing person. Arliss has made Disraeli, the statesman, vivid and appealing...a continuous delight. “While it’s possibly true that some of the peasants who won’t get the smartness, or appreciate the shades of the Arliss technique, not to mention a plot that concerns the diplomatic imperatives of possessing the Suez Canal, it seems certain that the deluxe audiences will take to ‘Disraeli’ in a big way. “It is difficult to gauge from New York the probabilities of Sheboygan’s reaction, but when ‘Disraeli’ reaches the smaller communities, the response from the literate element should be enthusiastic. They haven’t ever tasted such dramatic caviar in a talking picture.” For Variety, “the Bible of show business,” this constituted an unreservedly rave review. The great John Barrymore, himself, called “DISRAELI,” “Extraordinary...delightful, beautifully directed with exceptional skill.” The director was Alfred E. Green. Later, he would make “THE JOLSON STORY” for Columbia. “DISRAELI” was one of the biggest hits of 1929. The production had cost $318,000. The whopping worldwide gross in 1929 dollars was $1,498,000 to yield a stunning net profit of $605,000. That meant a royal return on investment of 190%. This at a time when individual bank depositors were receiving no interest on their money, and actually losing their principal when banks failed. The Arliss career flourished in the early ‘30s. He was responsible for the launch of the career of Bette Davis when he cast her in her first important role as his leading lady in “THE MAN WHO PLAYED GOD” (1932). He retired from the movies in 1937, at the age of 69, when his wife lost her eyesight. He died in 1946, at the age of 78. And now—from the distant past—from 1929—George Arliss in “DISRAELI.” |
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Mar 22, 2010
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