Fifty Years of Film in 50 Weeks, #16: Rembrandt, 1936

When your film needs a big personality, Charles Laughton is always top of the list.

Rembrandt, 1936

Director: Alexander Korda
Writer: Carl Zuckmayer and June Head
Cinematographer:  Georges Périnal
Produced by: Alexander Korda for London Film Productions
Starring: Charles Laughton, Gertrude Lawrence, Elsa Lanchester, Edward Chapman, Walter Hudd, Roger Livesey

Why I chose it
I narrowed my initial list down to this one, recommended by a film friend, and Romeo and Juliet, and really was inclined to watch both. Ultimately, Rembrandt won because of my curiosity to see what Charles Laughton would do with the role, but also because producer/director Alexander Korda is a giant in early British cinema. 

'No-spoiler' plot overview
Rembrandt struggles to keep his seventeenth-century Amsterdam household afloat when his wife dies unexpectedly. He manages to derail his career when he paints an extremely unflattering commissioned portrait of civic guards in his famous "The Night Watch", and begins to drink. He's not sure whom to trust when everyone from his housekeeper to his best friend seems to want something from him, but he finds true love again with Hendrickje, a young maid with a pure heart. Will his life get back on track? Will his talent be appreciated again in his lifetime?

Production Background 
Alexander Korda was a towering figure in British cinema in the 1930s - he founded London films and produced and directed a series of hits, including The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933), which solidified his relationship with actor Laughton. Nabbing Laughton again for Rembrandt was a natural move; for his part Laughton threw himself into research, spending time living in Amsterdam, and even taking painting lessons to seem more comfortable in the studio scenes. However, not all time on the set was easy. Apparently Gertrude Lawrence, a renowned stage actor, wasn't enjoying the filming process and was rather disruptive. The lavish set design was contributed by Vincent Korda, the brother of Alexander. Ultimately, the film was a commercial failure but a critical success. According to a Hollywood Reporter news item, Rembrandt was the first film to have a trailer projected on an airplane by television transmission. The projection took place on a fourteen-passenger flight bound for London. 

Some other notable film-related events in 1936*:

• The Screen Directors Guild was organized by a number of Hollywood filmmakers, choosing director King Vidor as its first president (he served from 1936-1938). The Guild was renamed the Director's Guild of America (DGA) in 1960.
• American film producer Irving Thalberg died at the age of 37 - he had been dubbed the "Boy Wonder" for his brilliant ability to selectively choose successful film projects. As MGM's head of production, he was responsible for many MGM classics, including the aforementioned Romeo and Juliet that starred his wife Norma Shearer.
• After a short one-year contract with MGM expired, 14-year-old starlet-singer Deanna Durbin signed with Universal Studios and made her first feature film, the successful musical comedy Three Smart Girls , reportedly saving the studio from bankruptcy. 
• The first screen adventure for Flash Gordon, the comic strip character created by Alex Raymond in 1934, was Universal Pictures' 13 episode serial Flash Gordon (1936), starring Buster Crabbe.

*Thanks to Filmsite.org

My Random Observations

• I expect that as a filmmaker focusing on the life of a great painter, you must be under pressure to produce as beautiful a film as possible, for obvious reasons. This film is stunning in its period imagery and costumes, and the cinematography of Georges Périnal ran the gamut from long shots to close-ups in glorious black and white (see Screenshots section below).
• Charles Laughton's big personality works here. He's in almost every scene and the success of the film rides on his performance. I'm not sure whether writer Zuckmeyer or Korda insisted that this film feature more than one Laughton monologue because of his success reciting the entire Gettysburg Address in Ruggles of Red Gap the year before, but be warned, there are at least two of them here. They stop the action, and while excellently delivered, I fidgeted just a bit.
• I admit to knowing nothing about Rembrandt's life. If the filmmakers were setting out to emphasize the lows of his life, they succeeded. Perhaps not as tragic as Van Gogh's, it wasn't an easy one. Once again, if there was any doubt, we are reminded that revered painters did not always have it easy in their day.
• Roger Livesey is a favorite of mine for the films he made with Powell and Pressburger in the 1940s. He spent his entire film and stage career in Britain, and it's always a delight when he pops up in these earlier movies. He is completely unrecognizable as "Beggar Saul", but his voice gave him away for me! As a bit of trivia, his two brothers AND his father had small parts in this film.

Livesey in The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
(1943).

• Even though Elsa Lanchester (Laughton's wife) was not Korda's first choice for Hendrickje, I thought she was perfect here - she radiated beauty in a way I've never seen, not to mention her kindness and steeliness.

Screenshots

Here's a Rembrandt self-portrait opening the 
film credits, perhaps urging us to appreciate
how closely Laughton will resemble him.

 

In his early years, Rembrandt loved to spend money on
jewels for his wife Saskia. His friend is a bit concerned.

Rembrandt and villagers in Old Amsterdam.

Rembrandt's brutally honest "The Night Watch" is unveiled,
and doesn't get the reaction that would ensure
him career success.

Newly cynical Rembrandt is a bit perturbed at the 
criticism of his recent work. 

Rembrandt family housekeeper Geertje Dirx (Gertrude
Lawrence) plots to move in after the untimely death of 
Rembrandt's wife Saskia.

Roger Livesey as the beggar who becomes
King Saul in a sitting in Rembrandt's studio.

As King Saul

Rembrandt returns briefly to his humble birth home and
 village and eats supper with the fam.

In Rembrandt's birthplace, the villagers make merry.

Elsa Lanchester as Rembrandt's common-law
wife Hendrickje. Here she's getting ready
to sit for her portrait, what else?

This time, Rembrandt is not deluding himself
about the grave condition of someone he loves.

I think Laughton studied Rembrandt's self
portraits to put on this face.

The aged painter enjoying the attentions of a merry
young group enthralled with his wit.

Where to Watch

Criterion released a quartet of Korda films focusing on major figures ("Private Lives"); this one is in that set. I saw the film on Archive.org here.

Further Reading

As usual, TCM offers a nice essay about the film here. The AFI also has some interesting production tidbits, including from the recollections of Elsa Lanchester, here.

Selections from my October Film Diary + Terrific new Streaming Service

Exploring the realm of the macabre and supernatural in film during October seems to be a ritual among classic movie fans.  It was great fun to join in this year, and while the horror genre is not my favorite, I'm highlighting some of my discoveries that span six-plus decades of film.

Island of Lost Souls (1932, D. Erle C. Kenton).  This is the first film version of the H.G. Wells story about a semi-mad scientist holed up on a remote island conducting experiments that turn animals into half-human hybrids.  (It was remade as The Island of Dr. Moreau twice in the later part of the 20th century.  Alas I've not seen either of these, but neither are considered classics.)  However, this earlier film is a fascinating early 'talkie' offering in the horror genre.   Richard Arlen, Leila Hyams star as the protagonists, and Bela Lugosi shows up in a small unrecognizable part after coming off his box office success as Dracula, but the major star, and the main reason one should watch this film, is Charles Laughton.  A terrific actor (and one-time director), he is deliciously diabolical as Dr. Moreau, but retains a human edge.  To my taste he doesn't overplay it. His dark hair and goatee really suit him.  I will say this one is decidedly not suitable for those sensitive to racist or sexist elements in their movie choices.  There is a detailed and fun review of this one at Pre-code.com here (although Danny does not share my enthusiasm for Laughton's performance).  The DVD is on the Criterion Collection label.  The trailer is here:

The first appearance of 'the man' portrayed by
director Herk Harvey himself.

Carnival of Souls (1962, D. Herk Harvey).  Sticking with the 'souls' theme, a completely different film made three decades later, is a low-budget masterpiece.  I had not seen this until this past month, but learned that it's now a cult classic.  Made by Centron, a small outfit in my former hometown of Lawrence, KS. known primarily for industrial and educational productions, this was the director's and writer John Clifford's pet project while on vacation. They shot on a budget of some $30,000, and used location settings in and around Lawrence, including an organ factory I vaguely recall visiting as a child.  Harvey & company also resurrected a real abandoned carnival pavilion "Saltair" at the edge of the Great Salt Lake in Utah -- thus giving the film its name.   Also available in a gorgeous blu-ray by Criterion, it's fantastically eerie and unsettling, kind of a cross between the Twilight Zone TV series and Night of the Living Dead.  It has a surreal air about it and all the characters are just a bit 'off.'  It appears most of the budget was spent on cinematography -- it's so beautiful and creative.  A great choice was the use of a single organ score to accompany the film.

The main character is Mary Henry (Candace Hilligoss), who survives a car that drove off a bridge, and decides to start a new life as a church organist in Utah.  Mysterious live and undead people pop into her life and make it very uncomfortable, for her and for us.  For the moment, you can watch the entire film on YouTube:

The Vanishing (aka Spoorloos), (1988, D. George Sluizer).  This is the first, Dutch/French, version of the story that George Sluizer directed, based on the novel The Golden Egg by Tim Krabbe. It was remade in an American version in 1993 with Kiefer Sutherland, Jeff Bridges, and Sandra Bullock. I've not seen that one.  But I've read enough about it that I doubt I will anytime soon.  The original version is considered to be superior, and yes, it's fantastic.  A young Dutch couple, Rex and Saskia, (Gene Bervoets, Johanna ter Steege), are on vacation in France, driving through the countryside, when Saskia disappears at a gas station in broad daylight.  Her boyfriend, Rex, embarks on a three-year journey to find her, or at least find out what happened, when he encounters the perpetrator, Raymond (Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu), a seemingly normal family man with an extraordinarily macabre side.  This film plays with us almost from the beginning, with the jumps back and forth in time, and the fact that we know who the villain is, we just don't know Saskia's exact fate.  Rex and Raymond are on a collision course through most of the film's running time until the unsettling ending.  The thrills are mostly psychological, and its symbolism, both visually and in the script, make it required repeat viewing.  Be warned, though, if you are sensitive to disturbing depictions of the dark side of humanity, you may want to skip it.

Saskia and Rex, happily unaware what's to come.

Raymond, with Saskia in his sights.

The latter two of films were originally brought to my attention by the podcast 'Criterion Close-up', in which film aficionados Aaron West and Mark Hurne discuss films that are released on the Criterion home cinema label.  Criterion is a favorite of cinephiles for their high quality productions of the best films, and their packaging of the films along with unusually generous extras.  And this leads me to endorse a brand new streaming film service called 'Filmstruck'.  (Not a paid commercial endorsement here, but one out of enthusiasm for this service!)  It collects films from Criterion, along with those provided by Turner Classic Movies, into a smorgasbord of offerings of classic, modern, foreign, and arthouse films, along with commentary videos.  Take a look!  I've given up my Netflix membership in favor of this, as I choose to watch film in my spare time, and not episodic series, despite the quality of Netflix offerings in that space.  I was a beta-tester for Filmstruck, and am pleased to have a complimentary membership to the end of the year.  I will definitely renew.