Svengali

1954

1h 40m

IMDb RATING

5.9/10

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Romance

Drama

Thriller

A man hypnotizes a young woman into being an opera singer.

Directors

Noel Langley

Writers

Noel Langley(screenplay by)

George du Maurier(novel by)

Stars

Hildegard Knef

Donald Wolfit

Terence Morgan

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Top cast

Trilby O'Farrell

Svengali

Billy Bagot

Landlord

Carrell

Patrick O'Farrell

Pierre

Taffy

Gecko

Durian

Barizel

Police Inspector

Mrs. Bagot

Dubose

Dodor

Lambert

Mama Martin

Zou Zou

Directors

Noel Langley

Writers

Noel Langley(screenplay by)

George du Maurier(novel by)

All cast & crew

Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

A better example of over-acting you will struggle to find in this overly theatrical adaptation of George Du Maurier's 1894 novel "Trilby". Hildegard Knef is a young, impressionable, girl who falls under the spell of the almost Rasputin-esque Donald Wolfit in the title role. He hypnotises her to rid her of pesky headaches, and give her the voice of an angel - and soon she becomes an international star of the opera. Robert Newton was originally slated for the lead, but I can't imagine he could have done better than Wolfit, who has the maniacal look (eyes, especially) and pithy dialogue down to a T. The support from Terence Morgan - as her much younger beau "Billee Bagot", Paul Rogers, David Kossoff and the truly wonderful singing of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf keep this entertaining enough, but the staging and style are just to limiting to let this version of a really menacing and evocative story soar.

Geronimo196721 Nov, 2022