Don Juan (1926)

Don Juan is a 1926 Warner Brothers silent film, although it’s not totally silent. It used the then-new Vitaphone system to provide synchronised sound effects and music but without spoken dialogue (the technology to allow that was of course just around the corner). It’s a romantic adventure melodrama inspired vaguely by Byron’s famous poem although in fact the original Don Juan story dates back to a 17th century Spanish play.

Don Jose de Marana (John Barrymore) is a Spanish nobleman who discovers that his wife has a lover. He takes an ingenious ands chilling revenge. He loses all faith in women. He turns his wife out of the castle. He has a succession of mistresses, whom he treats purely as objects for pleasure. One of his mistresses, driven made by jealousy, kills him. Before he dies he advises his son Juan never to trust women.

This is the prologue. When the story proper begins young Don Juan de Marana (also played by John Barrymore) has arrived in Rome and has set about seducing all the young women he can finds. Since he is rich and handsome he accumulates an impressive list of conquests. Don Juan hates women but he has no objection to using them for pleasure.

His life gets complicated when he gets mixed up with the Borgias. The problem is not the powerful condottieri and ambitious (and ruthless) statesman but his Cesare’s sister Lucrezia. Lucrezia Borgia is renowned as one of history’s most wicked women, accused of murdering her brother’s political rivals and of other assorted crimes including incest. In fact the accusations are almost certainly untrue but naturally the movie runs with the idea of Lucrezia as a bad girl on the grand scale.

Juan continues to bed every woman he meets until he meets Adriana della Varnese (Mary Astor). Suddenly Juan realises that he’s met a woman in whom he can have faith.

Unfortunately they both get caught up by the machinations of the Borgias (the Borgias are the super-villains of this movie). Lucrezia decides it would be fun to marry off Adriana to the Count Giano Donati, a renowned swordsman and a loyal ally of the Borgias.

When Juan realises that Adriana is going to marry Donati his newly restored faith in women is shattered. He goes back to his womanising. This results in the tragic death of one of his conquests, a death which will have repercussions for Juan later on.

What Juan doesn’t know is that Adriana was forced into the marriage to save her father from the vengeance of the Borgias.

As the plot complications kick in Juan ends up in prison facing the prospect of execution while Adriana is to be tortured. Will Juan realise in time that Adriana was always true to him, and even if he does will he be able to save them both?

You’re not going to have any chance of enjoying this movie unless you’re accustomed to the conventions of silent cinema. Silent movies were a totally distinct art form, bearing no resemblance to sound pictures. You also have to be able to accept the exaggerated acting style of the silent era because you’re going to see a lot of it (especially from Mary Astor) and it’s going to seem absurd and hammy if you’re not used to it. If you are used to it you’ll be able to enjoy the rollicking adventure and the romantic drama of the star-crossed lovers.

Perhaps just as importantly you have to accept the conventions of melodrama - the misunderstandings, the coincidences, the amazing strokes of good fortune. You have to accept that Don Juan suddenly switches from cynicism about the female of the species to idealising Adriana as the perfect woman, for no reason at all other than destiny.

John Barrymore certainly goes over the top, something to which his famous brother and sister were also extremely prone.

Mary Astor looks lovely and she’s nothing if not lively. Estelle Taylor oozes sexy wickedness as Lucrezia Borgia.

Look out for a very young Myrna Loy in a small part. And Hedda Hopper (later to become a notorious gossip columnist) gets a small role as well.

There is naturally a spectacular sword-fight, although not as spectacular as the ones you’d get in a Douglas Fairbanks movie. Barrymore couldn’t match the frenetic energy and athleticism of Fairbanks.

The movie looks impressive although again there’s not quite the visual brilliance of a Fairbanks movie.

This is hardcore melodrama, spiced with some wicked humour. There’s a nicely decadent atmosphere and an outrageous villainess.

If the acting style is something you can handle then this is a fun movie. Recommended.