THE PRIVATE LIFE OF DON JUAN (A London Film distributed by United Artists, 1934), produced and directed by Alexander Korda, stars silent screen legend, Douglas Fairbanks, in his final film role and only one produced outside of Hollywood. After Korda's success with the bio-pic of THE PRIVATE LIFE OF HENRY VIII (1933) that won Charles Laughton an Academy Award in the title role, Korda's next private life, that of Don Juan, did not become a biography of the great lover as it might have been. Instead, it became a costume comedy dealing with the Don Juan legend. Fairbanks, famous for his silent screen performances as Zorro, Robin Hood and The Thief of Bagdad, assumes the role originated by John Barrymore in DON JUAN (Warner Brothers, 1926). As much as Barrymore might have assumed the continuation of the role he originated, this Don Juan, not actually a sequel to the silent classic, is basically a rehash of the now aged lover of women wanting to now live a simple and quiet life.
The story begins in Seville as a singer (John Brownlee) vocalizes the "Don Juan Serenade" while bored and neglected wives soon become enchanted by a shadowy figure posing as great lover Don Juan, to grant them a flower, then having the husbands asking their wives, "Who was that man?" In actuality, the real Don Juan (Douglas Fairbanks), best known for having 903 affairs in two years, now middle-aged and married to Dona Dolores (Benita Hume), is having his secret affair with Antonia (Merle Oberon), a dancer of Passionate. After being advised by his doctor to give up his physical activities, the now older and tired Don Juan decides to retire from love making. In the meantime, Rodrigo (Barry McKay), a much younger man impersonating Don Juan, comes across a diary belonging to the great lover. and follows it to the letter. Rodrigo's masquerade is soon cut short when killed in a duel by jealous husband, Don Alfredo (Gibson Gowland), for romancing his young wife, Carmen (Joan Gardner). Wanting to put his past behind him, Don Juan attends his own funeral and retires to France in the guise of Captain Mariarco. During his six months in seclusion, during which time having read a recent published book titled "The Private Life of Don Juan," does Don Juan return to Seville to revive his legend as he world's greatest lover. By trying to prove the book to be nothing but a bunch of lies, Don Juan finds himself faced with situations even he could have never have imagined. Others in the cast include Binnie Barnes (Rosita); Melville Cooper (Leporello, Don's servant); Claude Allister (The Duke); and Heather Thatcher (The Actress).
While THE PRIVATE LIFE OF DON JUAN has great potential, it didn't become the known classic as either Barrymore's DON JUAN nor Laughton's THE PRIVATE LIFE OF HENRY VIII. Production values and casting are first-rate, with Fairbanks as Don Juan, attempting to recapture his legend, being Fairbanks, attempting to recapture his former movie success of the past. Though he speaks well enough to have resumed his career for the next few years, by 1934, he was past his prime with his style of acting seemingly out of date. Audiences would soon focus on much younger swashbuckling types as Robert Donat as THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO (United Artists, 1934) and Errol Flynn for CAPTAIN BLOOD (Warner Brothers, 1935). It is also the same Flynn who revived the Don Juan legend in THE ADVENTURES OF DON JUAN (Warner Brothers, 1948), with plot bearing no connection to its prior predecessors.
Though circulating television and home video and DVD prints for the 1934 edition is usually clocked at 80 minutes, its presentation on Turner Classic Movies, where it premiered in 2012, is slightly longer at 86 minutes. Regardless of run times, THE PRIVATE LIFE OF DON JUAN is enjoyable, as British movies go. It's also a good end for the Fairbanks legends in a genre that had made him world famous a decade ago. (***)
The story begins in Seville as a singer (John Brownlee) vocalizes the "Don Juan Serenade" while bored and neglected wives soon become enchanted by a shadowy figure posing as great lover Don Juan, to grant them a flower, then having the husbands asking their wives, "Who was that man?" In actuality, the real Don Juan (Douglas Fairbanks), best known for having 903 affairs in two years, now middle-aged and married to Dona Dolores (Benita Hume), is having his secret affair with Antonia (Merle Oberon), a dancer of Passionate. After being advised by his doctor to give up his physical activities, the now older and tired Don Juan decides to retire from love making. In the meantime, Rodrigo (Barry McKay), a much younger man impersonating Don Juan, comes across a diary belonging to the great lover. and follows it to the letter. Rodrigo's masquerade is soon cut short when killed in a duel by jealous husband, Don Alfredo (Gibson Gowland), for romancing his young wife, Carmen (Joan Gardner). Wanting to put his past behind him, Don Juan attends his own funeral and retires to France in the guise of Captain Mariarco. During his six months in seclusion, during which time having read a recent published book titled "The Private Life of Don Juan," does Don Juan return to Seville to revive his legend as he world's greatest lover. By trying to prove the book to be nothing but a bunch of lies, Don Juan finds himself faced with situations even he could have never have imagined. Others in the cast include Binnie Barnes (Rosita); Melville Cooper (Leporello, Don's servant); Claude Allister (The Duke); and Heather Thatcher (The Actress).
While THE PRIVATE LIFE OF DON JUAN has great potential, it didn't become the known classic as either Barrymore's DON JUAN nor Laughton's THE PRIVATE LIFE OF HENRY VIII. Production values and casting are first-rate, with Fairbanks as Don Juan, attempting to recapture his legend, being Fairbanks, attempting to recapture his former movie success of the past. Though he speaks well enough to have resumed his career for the next few years, by 1934, he was past his prime with his style of acting seemingly out of date. Audiences would soon focus on much younger swashbuckling types as Robert Donat as THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO (United Artists, 1934) and Errol Flynn for CAPTAIN BLOOD (Warner Brothers, 1935). It is also the same Flynn who revived the Don Juan legend in THE ADVENTURES OF DON JUAN (Warner Brothers, 1948), with plot bearing no connection to its prior predecessors.
Though circulating television and home video and DVD prints for the 1934 edition is usually clocked at 80 minutes, its presentation on Turner Classic Movies, where it premiered in 2012, is slightly longer at 86 minutes. Regardless of run times, THE PRIVATE LIFE OF DON JUAN is enjoyable, as British movies go. It's also a good end for the Fairbanks legends in a genre that had made him world famous a decade ago. (***)