Trilby (1915) User Reviews

Hypnotizing

[wes-connors · 5/10 · 7 September 2012]

In the Latin Quarter of Paris, beautiful model Clara Kimball Young (as Trilby O'Ferral) poses for artists, sometimes in "the altogether" (but hidden from the camera). She attracts mystical musician Wilton Lackaye (as Svengali). He casts a spell on Ms. Kimball Young and turns her into an accomplished singer. Although successful, Kimball Young performs only when her soul is possessed by the ugly, older man. She is unable to continue a romance with boyish painter Chester Barnett (as Billie), who is devastated when their engagement is broken. By the end of the film, only one man will possess Kimball Young's heart...

Maurice Tourneur's treatment of George du Maurier's classic story pales in comparison to the director's later, significantly more artistic motion pictures. Still, this version of "Trilby" was one of 1915's top productions. From 1913-1921, Kimball Young was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. This film catches her before succumbing to more posed roles, and her prematurely matron-like figure was still in check. Kimball Young's performance was much appreciated. The stage provided top co-stars, with Mr. Lackaye notably recreating a role he owned. Today, his beard-stroking and arm movements look very stage-bound.

***** Trilby (9/20/15) Maurice Tourneur ~ Clara Kimball Young, Wilton Lackaye, Chester Barnett, Paul McAllister

Interesting, but ultimately forgettable

[the_mysteriousx · 5/10 · 6 January 2004]

This 1915 Maurice Tourneur film is a version of the famous duMaurier novel. It was later done in a more famous 1931 film named Svengali with John Barrymore. The later film obviously changed the title due to the huge presence of its' star.

This film seems to be one of the earlier surviving films of Tourneur. He was an excellent director from the few films of his that I've seen. His compositions are nice and the acting is surprisingly relatively realistic for such an early film. In the end, though, it just doesn't have much momentum. The actor who plays Svengali looks a bit brutish in appearance for a musical talent such as his character. The film moves along, and may have been exciting in its' day, but not so now. Still, it is worth the time due to the rarity and the chance to see an early Tourneur film as many are considered lost.

Really good for 1915....only okay today.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 20 August 2010]

In 1915, full length films were still relatively new. Up until about a decade before, movies lasted only a couple minutes in most cases. Now in the 1910s, longer and more involved scripts began to become the norm--though the films still weren't nearly as polished and professional as they'd be in the 1920s. It's because of this that I cut "Trilby" a lot of slack. Sure, compared to later silents it's only fair, for the time period in which it appeared, it was pretty good stuff.

This is the often told story of the evil Svengali who is able to use s magical form of hypnosis to control poor impressionable Trilby. He is able to elicit marvelous singing performances from her and he becomes rich. However, Trilby's old fiancé is determined to find her and take her from Svengali's clutches.

The film's strengths are its nice sets and costumes as well as a decent story. Unfortunately, some of acting is ridiculously overdone--especially Svengali. And, the resolution to the tale seems amazingly ordinary. For huge fans of silents and cinephiles, it's a good film to see. But, for the casual viewer, the film's limitations and the lousy print by Alpha Video make this a poor bet--better to see some of the better silents first.

For the Visuals, Not the Plot

[Cineanalyst · 6/10 · 18 September 2009]

This truncated adaptation of the popular Gothic novel plays as a rather sensational melodrama typical in film back in 1915. I suppose, it's not surprising that the hypnotist enslavement story would easily translate to the movie genre. Yet, narrative doesn't seem to have been director Maurice Tourneur's strong point. In the 1910s, however, he was one of the most competent filmmakers visually. "Trilby" isn't one of his best (see "A Girl's Folly" (1917) and "Victory" (1919)), but it's well made for its time in this respect. The Svengali character appears twice via a mirror before he in person enters the frame and, in another shot, is only seen through the mirror. There are a couple shots featuring side lighting. There's good use of panning, too. There's some occasionally brisk editing; the climactic stage performance is especially well done, with a good amount of scene dissection between different views. Tourneur's regular assistants, including Clarence Brown and Ben Carré, aided in the production.

This film also offers a somewhat rare glimpse at Clara Kimball Young, a star then, early in her career. She's okay here—in a way, playing two characters in one—and looks better when compared to the ineptitude of the rest of the cast, who are either mugging or stammering about in a way that they look like they're trying yet failing to act—the fellow who plays Billie is especially lost. Young also has a rather alluring cigarette-smoking scene, decades before such scenes became commonplace in cinema.

Looks Great but the Performances Aren't Much

[Michael_Elliott · 26 February 2008]

Trilby (1915)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Trilby O'Ferral (Clara Kimball Young) is a wannbe scarlet who one day hopes to be the next big star. She crosses paths with Svengali (Wilton Lackaye) who becomes obsessed with her and decides to use hypnosis to control her mind.

TRILBY was filmed countless times in the silent era and apparently this here was the seventh version. Yes, the seventh by 1915! The story would be filmed several other times going forward but the most popular one would be the version with John Barrymore. This version here certainly isn't anything great or even good for that matter but there are enough interesting things to make it worth watching.

The main reason to watch it would be for the locations and sets. The film looks extremely good and there's no question that it has a very authentic feel to it. Another major plus is the stylish cinematography, which makes the film seem like it had a much bigger budget than it probably did. Clara Kimball Young was okay in her role but I must say that I found Lackaye to be quite boring in the role of Svengali.

Disappointing!

[JohnHowardReid · 6/10 · 5 January 2018]

I was really looking forward to taking a good look at "Trilby", but alas, Trilby (1915), turns out to be rather indifferently directed by the acclaimed Maurice Tourneur.

Indeed, the best way I can describe it is that, in my opinion, it takes pride of place with many of those pretentious but laughable efforts that give old movies a really bad name.

True, although she is far, far too matronly for the part, Clara Kimball Young does enact the title role with some assurance and even a pleasing degree of appeal, but Wilton Lackaye makes his Svengali a totally ridiculous rather than a menacing figure.

Admittedly, Lackaye is saddled with an extraordinarily conspicuous and totally obvious wig - and that certainly doesn't help to attract the right vibes at all.

Another problem lies with Alpha's muddy yet over-exposed black-and-white DVD (the original was released in sepia) which I would certainly rate as no more than 4/10.

British constable not out of place!

[hollywwood · 8/10 · 2 October 2007]

I have read several times (including on this board) that a mistake was made by having a British constable walk down a street in Paris in this version of "Trilby". Not so! In keeping with the plot of the story, Taffy and The Laird go to visit Billie after his return to England. When they are seen meeting Billie in front of the docked ship, it is meant to represent their crossing of the channel and their arrival in England. The actor portraying the British constable (in this scene) was put there to remind audiences that the setting had now changed from France to England. This scene was probably shot on location at New York's old docking slip in Manhattan. I'm sure that the abrupt editing in many of these older silent films causes confusion to some modern viewers. "Trilby" (like many other silent films made in the 'teens) does seem to be lacking in clarity at times. However, it is a condensed yet reasonably faithful adaptation of the tale and the actors give good interpretations in their roles. If followed correctly, "Trilby" can be a most enjoyable silent film!

Just a Terrific Early Version of Classic Novel

[kidboots · 8/10 · 10 July 2014]

When World Film Corporation was formed in 1915 with Lewis J. Selznick, the first star they signed was Clara Kimball Young. She had been one of Vitagraph's brightest young stars who was being noticed as a fine comedienne but Clara had more dramatic ambitions and so signed with World who definitely showcased her to advantage in some prestigious films like "Camille", "Trilby" and "The Deep Purple" during the first year. Within the year though, Selznick had lured her away from World when he formed his own company and World never recovered from the loss of their biggest star, Young's career was never the same either!!

Wilton Lackaye, as the titles tell us was the definite Svengali of the American stage and screen (until John Barrymore came along) and he played the part in the old time manner. It follows the book closely - even having Trilby introduced in the soldier's coat and the striped skirt. The Laird, Taffy and Little Billee are dubbed "the Three Musketeers of the Brush" in the Latin Quarter and grudgingly put up with the sinister Svengali who often drops into their studio to borrow money and to play his strange music. It lures young Trilby (Young), an artist's model from across the hall, into his hypnotic presence and when he actually hypnotises her (to cure her repeated headaches) she "comes to" possessed of a magnificent singing voice and, unknown to her, completely under Svengali's dominance. He is convinced she will make him wealthy when he has prepared her for singing before the heads of Europe. The real Trilby is completely tone deaf and whenever she opens her mouth to sing her beloved "Ben Bolt" is quickly discouraged.

All this is happening as the love between her and Billee deepens, in fact she is lured away by Svengali on the eve of her engagement. Young does very well as Trilby, a carefree happy go lucky model who enjoys an occasional cigarette, she becomes almost a somnambulistic diva under the evil spell. As Svengali must expend all his time keeping Trilby's soul in his power, his own body is weakened and he suffers a series of heart attacks - whenever these occur Trilby's old fun loving self returns and Young handles the changes terrifically. Even though Maurice Tourner was just starting to be noticed as a director there are some memorable scenes - one in which the camera seems suspended from the ceiling, showing a small bare room to every advantage and again at the engagement party where a group of guests do an impromptu can can, giving to the drama happening in the other room an even more highly charged effect.

For once Young actually looked young - in a lot of photos she appears quite matronly despite being only in her mid to late 20s ie "The Eyes of Youth" (1919) etc.

Impressive abridgement.

[F Gwynplaine MacIntyre · 8/10 · 1 September 2005]

There is an excellent print of this silent film in the Cineteca del Friuli, Gemona.

'Trilby' was originally a novel by artist George du Maurier: remarkably, he wrote and illustrated this book after going blind in one eye and losing most of the sight in his other eye. A successful stage version was performed in London, in which the actress playing the title role made her first entrance wearing a man's snap-brim hat: this created such a sensation that hats of this type have ever afterward been known in Britain as trilbies.

This film version is too short to dramatise the entire novel, but it abridges the plot effectively. In the original novel, a young Englishman named Little Billee (why did du Maurier use this annoying spelling?) is an aspiring artist in Paris, who shares his studio space with two other Britons: a Welshman nicknamed Taffy and a Scotsman cried the Laird. They are faithful companions, who deem themselves 'the Three Musketeers of the brush'. In this film, Billy's two companions are reduced to end-men with no distinctive business of their own. (Taffy is played by James Young, husband of this film's star.)

In the title role, Clara Kimball Young is attractive, and she impressively depicts the two distinct personalities of Trilby: her true self, and her alter ego under the mesmeric spell of Svengali. There's a powerful symbolic scene -- visually impressive -- in which Trilby, in diaphanous robes of virginal white, struggles in the mesh of Svengali's sinister plans.

Svengali is well-played here by Wilton Lackaye, a distinguished American stage actor who made only a few films and no talkies. Lackaye's private life was much like that of John Barrymore, with many anecdotes about his drunken carousing. It's interesting that Barrymore later played Svengali in an early talkie version of this story. As Svengali, Lackaye overacts in a role that almost demands to be overplayed.

Amusingly, in this silent film, we learn that Svengali's forename is Belznick! Apparently this was meant as an in-joke reference to producer Myron Selznick. An actor named Paul McAllister, previously unknown to me, is quite good as Gecko, Svengali's minion violinist. I'll rate this film 8 out of 10, but I recommend that you put off watching it until you're familiar with the plot, either from the original novel or from another film version: the abridged version here will confuse anyone who doesn't already know the story.