Svengali (1954 film)
6 /10 1 Votes
Director Noel Langley Music director William Alwyn Duration Language English | 5.8/10 IMDb Genre Drama, Romance Cinematography Wilkie Cooper Country United Kingdom | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Release date December 1954 (UK) Based on the novel Trilby by George Du Maurier Writer George L. Du Maurier (novel), Noel Langley Cast Hildegard Knef (Trilby O'Farrell), Donald Wolfit (Svengali), Terence Morgan (Billy Bagot), Derek Bond (Landlord), Alfie Bass (Carrell), Noel Purcell (Patrick O'Farrell) Similar movies Mortdecai, Mission: Impossible, Inglourious Basterds, Amélie, Stolen Kisses, Sexual Chronicles of a French Family | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Svengali 1931 full movie stars john barrymore marian marsh donald crisp
Svengali is a 1954 British drama film directed by Noel Langley and starring Hildegard Knef, Donald Wolfit and Terence Morgan. A svengali hypnotises an artist's model into becoming a great opera singer, but she struggles to escape from his powers. It was based on the novel Trilby by George Du Maurier.
Contents
- Svengali 1931 full movie stars john barrymore marian marsh donald crisp
- Svengali 1954 donald wolfit hildegarde neff terence morgan
- Cast
- Critical reception
- References
Donald Wolfit was a last minute replacement for actor Robert Newton, who left three weeks into filming, and can still be seen in some long shots.
Amongst the end credits is the acknowledgment: "The producer expresses his grateful appreciation for the magnificent singing voice of Madame Elizabeth Schwarzkopf."
Svengali 1954 donald wolfit hildegarde neff terence morgan
Cast
Critical reception
Under the heading, "Sixth Filming of Novel Fails to Hypnotize", The New York Times critic described the film as "a stylized curio that seems out of place in the atomic age...as old-fashioned as side whiskers and bustles";
DVD Talk, comparing it to the 1931 John Barrymore version posited that "the 1954 British film fleshes out the characters of Trilby and Billy considerably and adds a lot of color and subtlety, but the results suggest that a more flamboyant approach might have worked better than the lush but tame version that resulted. The Eastmancolor production aims for an evocative atmosphere akin to John Huston's gorgeous Moulin Rouge (1952), photographed in Technicolor by Oswald Morris. Svengali was made on a fraction of that film's budget, though does look handsome for what it is."
References
Svengali (1954 film) WikipediaSvengali (1954 film) IMDb Svengali (1954 film) themoviedb.org