The Affairs of Anatol
Description
The Master of Spectacle, Cecil B. De Mille, directed this risque all-star revue of decadence which must have been jaw-dropping in 1921 and remains astonishing today. Anatol de Witt Spencer (Wallace Reid), as incredibly wealthy as he is naive, and his child-like bride Vivian (Gloria Swanson) are on their honeymoon. At a posh speakeasy he spies his high school sweetheart, who is obviously the sex toy of flamboyant old Gordon Bronson . To Vivian’s dismay, idealistic Anatol dec… More >>
July 14, 2010
1:04 am
CB DeMille hit pay dirt as far as I am concerned with this one. It is a soap opera and as soap operas go a very good one. I still in my young mind can not phatom how Gloria Swanson became such a big star under the tuotoship of CB. She is a OK actress though much better than in shifting sands (1918) This will appeal to you if you want to see what a young Gloria looked like before Sunset Blvd. But I wish someone would tell me what was her magnetism. I still prefer Pola Negri to her any ole time
Rating: 5 / 5
July 14, 2010
2:42 am
I BOUGHT IT TO SEE WALLACE REID IN ACTION. HE REALLY WAS A TRUE ENTERTAINER!
Rating: 5 / 5
July 14, 2010
3:29 am
This movie is great. It has the absolutely most beautiful sets and costumes. This movie is what introduced me to Erte, and I am glad, because I’m a girl (yes, I like silents, no fooling) who hopes to be a desiginer some day. Erte’s fashions are beautiful. Bebe Daniels’s outfit in one scene looks like a very expensive velvet octopus. The plot is this: a terribly rich married couple (Wallace Reid and Gloria Swanson) have been married for 10 weeks, and one night, they go to a very pretty speak-easy where Wallace meets his old highschool sweetheart, Emilie, (Wanda Hawley) who has become a gold digger and is living off a rich guy named Gordon Bronson, as Wallace finds out. He then attempts to “save” her. And fails, because she goes back to Bronson. And much of the same follows. This movie is entertaining, and there are lots of interesting scenes: Wallace Reid destroying an apartment with gusto, Gloria Swanson trying to cross an imaginary stream of water, Bebe Daniels trying her best to be Satan in human form, Polly Moran dancing, singing and poking Gloria Swanson in the head, and many others. This picture is great fun, and has a lot of pretty color tinted scenes, and things like that. True DeMille splendor.
Rating: 5 / 5
July 14, 2010
5:50 am
Directed by the immortal CECIL B. DeMILLE! Starring the dazzling GLORIA SWANSON! A tawdry little tale of the JAZZ AGE! Swanson plays Vivian, the wife of Anatol DeWitt Spencer, played by WALLACE REID! They are a young married couple who end up CHANGING their HEARTS along with their PARNTERS once they are seduced by the DECADENT PLEASURES of New York City! Featuring BEBA DANIELS as the wickedest woman in the Big Apple, Satan Synne! The story might not be much but the COSTUMES and the SETS are pure DEMILLE! “The Affairs of Anatol” is based on a novel and play by Arthur Schnitzler! In DeMille’s hands it becuase a SOPHISTICATED FARCE! This SILENT film is presented with its original COLOR TINTING! This would be a good one to check out before watching GLORIA in “Sunset Blvd”!
Rating: 4 / 5
July 14, 2010
8:06 am
Cecil B DeMille was already an accomplished and respected director and producer when “The Affairs of Anatol” was made in 1921, and this film is a good example of the changes he kept making in order to please the viewing audience. After an artistic and intelligent drama like “The Whispering Chorus” in 1918 which was a box office flop, DeMille changed tack and used the tools that were drawing audiences and making profit. That meant big name stars of that time such as Wallace Reid and Gloria Swanson, as well as over-the-top visually exotic sets and costumes, sexual innuendos, extravagance, melodrama balanced with a hint of comedy and then a few extra Cecil B DeMille touches. “The Affairs of Anatol” has it all: a matrimonial melodrama about a wealthy, High Society couple and their turbulent first months of marriage. The naïve husband has a weakness for damsels in distress who need rescuing – or so he believes – which leads to the predictable marriage crisis, yet the smooth style and touches of comedy and irony make it pleasant and entertaining viewing. Add to all this a new stereo orchestral musical score to enhance the film even further, as well as some visual treats such as lovely, coulorful title cards and frequent colour tinting. In fact, DeMille had actually experimented with the use of colour in earlier films already such as the fire in “Joan the Woman” (1916) and later a whole segment in colour for the parting of the Red Sea scene in “The Ten Commandments”. The picture quality is very good throughout, with only a few scenes where light areas are a bit too light, but I hardly took notice due to the many outstanding features of this film. Although DeMille deliberately tried to make more superficial and commercially-viable films of this nature at that time, I still found some depth and meaning in the story and performances, such as the true-to-life situations of the individual women Anatol tries to help, and each one of the three situations, like three stories in one, makes a point and is more intriguing than the former. After the old school sweetheart who needs to be rescued from a wealthy older man, Anatol rescues a poor farmer’s wife who has just experienced a major crisis in her married life, and then finally there is the seductive `Satan Synne’, lusciously performed by Bebe Daniels, who has a leopard in her bedroom and another big surprise for Anatol as well. Despite this film being a general melodrama, DeMille gives it enough intrigue, suspense, style and visual delights to make it great viewing even many decades later.
Rating: 5 / 5