Don Juan (1926 film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Don Juan
DonJuanPoster2.jpg
theatrical release poster
Directed byAlan Crosland
Written byWalter Anthony (intertitles)
Maude Fulton (intertitles)
Victor Vance (art titles)
Screenplay byBess Meredyth
Based onDon Juan
by Lord Byron
StarringJohn Barrymore
CinematographyByron Haskin
Edited byHarold McCord
Music byWilliam Axt
David Mendoza
Production
company
The Vitaphone Corporation
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release date
  • August 6, 1926 (1926-08-06)
Running time
112 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageSilent
Budget$546,000[1]
Box office$1,693,000 (worldwide rental)[2]
First-nighters posing for the camera outside the Warners' Theatre before the premiere (August 6, 1926)

Don Juan is a 1926 American romantic adventure film directed by Alan Crosland. It is the first feature-length film to utilize the Vitaphone sound-on-disc sound system with a synchronized musical score and sound effects, though it has no spoken dialogue.[3] The film is inspired by Lord Byron's 1821 epic poem of the same name. The screenplay was written by Bess Meredyth with intertitles by Maude Fulton and Walter Anthony.[4]

Don Juan stars John Barrymore as the hand-kissing womanizer.[4] The film has the most kisses in film history, with Barrymore kissing (all together) Mary Astor and Estelle Taylor 127 times.[5]

Plot[]

In the prologue, Don José, warned of his wife's infidelity, seals his wife's lover alive in his hiding place and drives her from the castle; abandoned to his lust, he is stabbed by his last mistress, and with his dying words he implores his son, Don Juan, to take all from women but yield nothing. Ten years later, young Don Juan, a graduate of the University of Pisa, is famous as a lover and pursued by many women, including the powerful Lucrezia Borgia, who invites him to her ball. His contempt for her incites her hatred of Adriana, the daughter of the Duke Della Varnese, with whom he is enraptured; and Lucrezia plots to marry her to Count Giano Donati, one of the Borgia henchmen, and poison the duke. Don Juan intervenes and thwarts the scheme, winning the love of Adriana, but the Borgia declare war on the duke's kinsmen, offering them safety if Adriana marries Donati; Don Juan is summoned to the wedding, but he prefers death to marriage with Lucrezia. He escapes and kills Donati in a duel. The lovers are led to the death-tower, but while Adriana pretends suicide, he escapes; and following a series of battles, he defeats his pursuers and is united with Adriana.

Cast[]

Premiere[]

Between takes during filming of "La Fiesta"

Don Juan premiered August 5, 1926, at the Warner Theatre in New York City[6] preceded by a program of other shorts demonstrating Vitaphone.[7]

Title Year
Hon. Will H. Hays, President of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, Who Will Address You 1926
New York Philharmonic, conducted by Henry Kimball Hadley - Overture to "Tannhäuser" 1926
Mischa Elman - "Humoresque" and "Gavotte" 1926
Roy Smeck The Wizard of the String in "His Pastimes" 1926
Marion Talley, with the Vitaphone Symphony Orchestra conducted by - "" from "Rigoletto" 1926
Efrem Zimbalist and Harold Bauer - Theme and Variations from "The Kreutzer Sonata" 1926
Giovanni Martinelli, with the Vitaphone Symphony Orchestra conducted by - "Vesti La Giubba" 1926
Anna Case in "", Soprano Solo, Assisted by The Cansinos, Spanish Dancers, and the Metropolitan Opera Chorus 1926

Production[]

Lou Tellegen, an early film matinee idol, had starred in a Broadway production based on the Don Juan legend in 1921. This play ran only 14 performances at the Garrick Theatre.[8] The soundtrack for the film was performed by the New York Philharmonic. George Groves, on assignment from The Vitaphone Corporation, was charged with recording the soundtrack to the film. He devised an innovative, multi-microphone technique and performed a live mix of the 107-piece orchestra. In doing so he became the first music mixer in film history.

Reception[]

The film was a box-office success being Warners' biggest grossing film to date with earnings of $1,693,000[2] despite negative reviews from New York film critics.[9] According to Warners records, the film earned $1,258,000 in the U.S. and $435,000 in other markets.[1]

Opening night tickets cost $10, and it was the first film on Broadway to charge over $3 for a regular ticket with the top prices at $3.30 each night. In the five performances over the weekend, it grossed $13,787 with people literally fighting to get in and tickets changing hands for $5.[10]

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

Preservation status[]

A print of Don Juan, including its Vitaphone soundtrack, still survives and is preserved at the UCLA Film and Television Archive.[5][13]

Home media[]

In 2011, the film, along with the original Vitaphone sound shorts, was released on manufactured-on-demand DVD by the Warner Archive Collection.[14]

See also[]

  • List of early Warner Bros. talking features

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Warner Bros financial information in The William Shaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 5 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Glancy, H Mark (1995). "Warner Bros Film Grosses, 1921–51: the William Schaefer ledger". Historical Journal of Film Radio and Television. 15: 55–73. doi:10.1080/01439689500260031.
  3. ^ Stephens, E. J.; Wanamaker, Marc (2010). Early Warner Bros. Studios. Arcadia Publishing. p. 25. ISBN 978-0-738-58091-3.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b White Munden, Kenneth, ed. (1997). The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States, Part 1. University of California Press. p. 195. ISBN 0-520-20969-9.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b "Silent Era : Progressive Silent Film List". www.silentera.com.
  6. ^ Don Juan at the American Film Institute Catalog
  7. ^ "Vitaphone Bow is Hailed a Marvel". Variety. August 11, 1926. p. 10. Retrieved May 28, 2018 – via Archive.org.
  8. ^ Don Juan, 1921 Broadway; Garrick Theatre
  9. ^ "$29,000 at Warner's Gives B'Way 'Special' Record to 'Don Juan'". Variety. August 18, 1926. p. 45. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  10. ^ "first $3 Picture Show on Broadway; 'Don Juan' and Vitaphone Coupled". Variety. August 11, 1926. p. 5. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  11. ^ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills Nominees" (PDF). Retrieved August 20, 2016.
  12. ^ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions Nominees" (PDF). Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  13. ^ The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog:Don Juan
  14. ^ Don Juan DVD release at silentera.com

External links[]

Retrieved from ""