(1931)
Dir - Archie Mayo
Overall: GOOD
Warner Bros. contributed one of their own entries into the early talkie, supernatural horror boom with their adaptation of George du Maurier's novel Trilby, here titled Svengali. The story had been brought to the screen four times previously, but the John Barrymore-stared version here has become the most enduring. Like several early films in the sound era, Svengali utilizes very little incidental music and a few long, silent scenes take their time to play out, appropriately building up a sort of menace. As far as anything truly horrifying going on, there really is not that much present here. Barrymore's title character is more eccentric and pitiful than truly dangerous and he starts out playing him more as a quirky buffoon, making his inevitable downfall rather sad and touching. His creepy, glossed over eyes represent a good, starling image for this era in horror cinema as well. The cinematography by Barney McGill is rather strong and there are some German Expressionism inspired sets used near the beginning, where people's Paris flats seem to be carved out of brightly lit, underground caves.
(1935)
Dir - Karl Freund
Overall: GOOD
German cinematographer extraordinaire Karl Freund, (The Mummy), ended his directional career after only seven previous movies in three years with the Hands of Orlac remake Mad Love. Also serving as Peter Lorre's American debut, the film is a vast improvement over the German, silent original and it is a bona fide triumph for Lorre. As the of course mad, brilliant surgeon Dr. Gogol, Lorre is prefect and exudes his usual combination of equally diabolical and pathetic qualities. His character was non-existent from the previous film version and centering the movie around him, (and ergo giving Lorre the ideal setting to shine), proves an excellent move. Colin Clive is rather pushed aside though and the story toys with the concept of madness a little too lazily one could argue, but it is briskly told and again, puts Lorre in the driver seat where he belongs. Mad Love did poor business when originally released and Pauline Kael of course shit on it as well as humorously claimed that Orson Welles stole much of its qualities for Citizen Kane, but it is still a strong contender for one of Hollywood's better, early horror talkies.
(1936)
Dir - Tod Browning
Overall: GOOD
Tod Browning's penultimate film and direct follow up to The Mark of the Vampire, The Devil-Doll is a typically bizarre work from the director who generally leaned towards the abnormal. Lionel Barrymore spends the majority of his screen time cross-dressing as an old lady and the concept of him using shrunken, doll-sized versions of human slaves to get revenge on his enemies is as unusual of a premise as 1930s cinema ever had and certainly one that Browning would gravitate towards. The fact that Barrymore's protagonist is essentially murdering people in a calculated, diabolical manner and that he is completely played as the film's tragic hero who entirely deserves our sympathies with no grey area attached once again shows Browning's preference for rooting for the person that you are morally confused about rooting for. Special effects wise, The Devil-Doll holds up to the previous year's The Bride of Frankenstein which used a similar technique with its little people interacting with giant-to-them household objects. Surprisingly, the whole film never succumbs to being laughable as Browning plays all of its rather fantastic elements perfectly straight.
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