What a beautiful movie!

I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Myrna Loy commenced in the chorus in M-G-M's "Pretty Ladies" (1925), but soon graduated to featured roles in Warner Bros "B" efforts, while continuing to grace unbilled or small roles in "A" productions such as the magnificent "Don Juan" (1926) (formerly available on a superb VHS tape) in which she plays Lucrezia Borgia's maid. "Don Juan", of course, was the prestige movie that ushered in the sound era for motion pictures. While there was no spoken dialogue, the whole film was accompanied by a rousing pre-recorded orchestral score, plus effective sound effects. John Barrymore - here in his prime - played the title character with such panache, he overwhelmed most of the cast - including not only Myrna Loy, but just about everyone else.There were, however, just five exceptions. The five who stood up to Barrymore and were not overwhelmed in his presence, were Mary Astor's lovely heroine, Estelle Taylor's treacherous Lucrezia, Warner Oland's Cesare Borgia and Montague Love's villainous Count Donati.

Although John Barrymore was 44 when he played the role of Tirso DeMolina's famous libertine, the soft focus photography enabled to look years younger and really do a convincing job as the most famous seducer in fiction. In fact Barrymore plays two roles, the dashing cavalier Don Juan and his stern father who was cuckolded by his wife and imparted some cynical views on women to his young son in a prologue.When the main action of the film gets going it takes place in Rome when the Borgias were running things. Cesare Borgia played by Warner Oland and his evil sister Lucretia who has Estelle Taylor, then Mrs. Jack Dempsey playing her part. They're quite a pair, cruel and sadistic, and they've got a cousin played by Montagu Love who rivals Don Juan in the seducing department.Barrymore is ostensibly in Rome as a student, but he's way too busy with his female conquests for any academics. He and Love have their eyes on the same woman, Mary Astor, who is royalty herself, related to the Orsinis who the Borgias have kicked out of power. That rivalry is what fuels the plot of this film.Director Alan Crosland was obviously influenced by Cecil B. DeMille in directing this film. The sumptuous sets and even more the scenes of debauchery could be found in many a DeMille spectacle. And we don't get DeMille's moralizing with the film either.As for Barrymore he plays the part with the dash and verve of Douglas Fairbanks who later got to play Don Juan, but as a much older man in Faribanks's final film during the sound era. Note the dueling sequence with Love. Warner Brothers for whom this film was produced used some of the same bits in their sound version of The Adventures Of Don Juan with Errol Flynn.There is also a nice bit by Willard Louis as Barrymore's lackey, Pedrillo. Sad that he would die the same year as this film came out. He was quite amusing in the role.Still it's Barrymore's show and quite a show it is. Don Juan is a good chance to see a young John Barrymore at the zenith of his acting talent.

John Barrymore stars as "Don Juan", who (as young lad, Philippe De Lacy) is taught by his father (Mr. Barrymore, also as Dad Jose) how to handle women - Love 'Em and Leave 'Em! Learning his lesson well, Barrymore spends much of his time with various women. Willard Louis (as Juan's pal Pedrillo) is especially useful in fending off husbands and other strangers, and doesn't seem too interested in competing with Barrymore for female attention! All goes well until Barrymore is smitten with Mary Astor (as Adriana della Varnese); something about Ms. Astor makes Don Juan want to change his lifestyle, and stick with one woman. But, the reigning Borgias stand in his way - and, Estelle Taylor (as Lucrezia) wants Barrymore, while Montagu Love (as Donati) claims Astor... Notable for Barrymore's turn as Juan, but better for its soundtrack - the original synchronized sound effects and score are as originally utilized in 1926; and, it works much better than musical soundtracks composed a century later. Barrymore's best scene involves his impersonating a dungeon torturer, nearer the end of the film. Some parts of the story are difficult to understand; for example: What happens to Pedrillo? Why does Juan accuse a certain husband of killing his wife? Perhaps to put him in a later escape scene? which is also difficult to comprehend. Some of the actors read their lines so well, title cards are not needed; however, the acting is not always great. Still, there is enough of everything in "Don Juan" to make it a classic. ******** Don Juan (8/6/26) Alan Crosland ~ John Barrymore, Mary Astor, Montagu Love

There's been a lot written about Don Juan in film books about the beginning of pre-recorded sound. First off to respond to an earlier poster who wanted to know how the soundtrack was recorded. It was recorded by the New York Philharmonic w/100 piece orchestra in a non-soundproof theater in New York. This theater unfortunately was situated near an overland subway track and vibration from passing subway trains just could not be tolerated. So the recording was done in the middle of the night when no trains were running. It was that simple.It's amazing that this film not only survives intact but with it's actual pre-recorded scored track, the way 1926 audiences saw & heard it. No new score or modern re-recording of the original. This track is sort of an original sound film heirloom and we're lucky to have it today for posterity's sake. This is the way silent films should be seen music wise anyway. This was the original intention of pre-recorded sound to present to audiences, full orchestral music where they weren't able to listen to it. If you can forgive the primitive process of Vitaphone and appreciate the marvelous sync score for what it is, you can enjoy this sumptuous picture immensely. The 100 piece orchestra really makes it's presence felt. I'm sure the actual score could be re-recorded with modern technology and would be beautiful.John Barrymore follows in the swashbuckling tradition of his then film contemporaries, Douglas Fairbanks & Rudolph Valentino. It's a great legendary figure for the Great Profile to play, and he and the cast seem to have the time of their lives acting through their scenes. Without giving spoiler away, I think the man sealed in the wall is one of the best scenes in the pic.A curious thing about Don Juan's production. Warner Brothers then a fledgling newbie studio had just signed Barrymore to a three picture deal and wanted to get Don Juan into production as soon as possible after their winning success with Barrymore in Beau Brummel(1924). However Barrymore, who had some serious clout at the time, wanted to film what would become a bastardized though picturesque version of Moby Dick called The Sea Beast(1926). Thus Don Juan's production schedule got pushed back in order for the Sea Beast to come first. Fortunately for sound film history & Don Juan, this gave the four Warner Brothers time enough to experiment and increase their interest in Vitaphone. The idea then came up to release one of the new feature pictures with an orchestral score in the new Vitaphone process. Don Juan happened to be completed and ready for release in mid-1926 and it was chosen for Vitaphone. One tends to wonder if Sea Beast had been made after Don Juan, that it would have been the one chosen for Vitaphone and we might be listening to a totally different score. It really came down to what film was being released at the time the decision was made to go with Vitaphone.Alan Crosland proved a very intuitive & inventive director and formed a great professional working relationship with the irrascible Barrymore. Under Crosland's direction Don Juan moves swiftly and is cut, photographed & edited to form a wonderful finished product. Director & Star made three or four long films together and Don Juan is Crosland's prelude to his better remembered though inferior Jazz Singer(1927). Don Juan is quite possibly Crosland's silent masterpiece IMHO.The only inconsistency in the film is that Pedrillo, Don Juan's trusted assistant, disappears halfway through the film with no explanation. This because actor Willard Louis, who played Pedrillo, dropped dead before the production was finished. But enough of his scenes were completed to include him in the first half of the movie with continuity and without a stand in.It was great of Turner to release this movie on video in the early 90s but with the recent release of Greed(1923) on DVD, it would be nice if a DVD of Don Juan could be fixed up with some bonus material explaining the making of as well as the historical significance of the movie. Such a film as this deserves that