LOOK INTO MY EYES!
SVENGALI (1931)
Svengali, an impoverished, evil & opportunistic maestro with inexplicable Mesmeric powers teaching music in 1890s Paris, hypnotizes, abducts & marries beautiful young destitute Trilby O’Farrrell ,reduced to making a living by posing nude for artists, whom he transforms from hapless ingenue into world-famous singer despite the fact that she is tone-deaf & only able to sing under his influence.
The first sound adaptation of George DuMaurier's classic horror story, TRILBY; third of 5 movie versions, is a Victorian melodrama with sinister overtones. The film became so well-known that the word "Svengali" has been incorporated into the English language, meaning "someone who, with evil intent, tries to persuade another to do what is desired". A stand-out sequence starts with an extreme close-up of Barrymore's eerily penetrating "cupped" eyes, (influenced by DRACULA, 1931), as he starts his telepathic communication. The camera pulls back through a window until the entire house is in view & then moves laterally past several houses to view Trilby's house. It moves slowly through her window until we see her in close-up, & she awakens. The camera expresses the idea of telepathy beautifully, & nothing in the entire sequence is ever out of focus.
Another reason to see Archie Mayo's production is the unique, some might say bizarre set design (reminiscent of THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI, 1920) by Anton Grot. Grot's Art Direction, along with the cinematography by Barney McGill received Academy AwardTM nominations. Written by J. Grubb Alexander. Editing: William Holmes. Makeup artist: Johnny Wallis. Technical effects: Fred Jackman, Hans F. Koenekamp. Starring a hammy, scenery- chewing John Barrymore in one of his last roles. Hypnotic staring eyes, telepathic hypnosis, a beautiful submissive woman, granting abilities not physically possible (in this case, musical talent in a tone-deaf person): this one has all the stereotypes in one package!
"Weirdest romance ever pictured! With the screen's genius and his new find." "He hypnotizes! He thrills...! Any woman caught in his spell must obey." "All Paris desired her, but Svengali owned her!"
Warner/Vitaphone. 81 mins. NFVLS.
CAPTIVE MINDS: HYPNOSIS AND BEYOND (1983)
Pretty damn groovy documentary on mind-control, hypnosis & altered-states-of-consciousness in politics, cults, & psychiatry, revealing how to either avoid or embrace mind-control. From stage hypnosis to group & individual therapies and long-term conditioning, the film explores the power of suggestion & its ability to influence behaviour - sometimes for life. By focusing on such disparate institutions as an Indian ashram, a U.S. Marines training camp, a Jesuit monastery, & the Moonies, the film reveals striking similarities in well-established indoctrination methods each uses to achieve long-term effects, radically altering processes of thought & behaviour. This film serves as a reminder that we’re all vulnerable to persuasion, & provokes serious consideration of the far-reaching implications of any form of psychological manipulation. Awards: San Francisco; Montreal. Prod: Mark Zannis, David Wilson, Adam Symansky. NFBC. Dir: Pierre Lasry. 56 MINS. CAC.
THE MAGICAL MAESTRO (1952)
Nutty TEX AVERY cartoon has Svengali-like illusionist Mesmerising an opera singer with his "lit-tle ma-gic wand!". N.B.- Ignore that annoying hair in the projector gate. 8 mins.
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