Ernst Lubitsch's Eternal Love

Starring:John Barrymore, Camilla Horn, Victor Varconi, Hobart Bosworth, Bodil Rosing, Mona Rico, Evelyn Selbie
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Studio: Image Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

Description

Lost for decades, cinema genius Ernst Lubitsch's historical drama "Eternal Love" is a wonderful rediscovery. Starring the great John Barrymore and the gorgeous Camilla Horn, the film features the legendary actor in a sexual tour-de-force. Barrymore's powerful love scenes with Horn are among both actors' best performances on film. UCLA Film and Television Archives have combined the original sound and picture quality for this film restoration.

Customer Reviews:

A highlight for both Lubitsch and Barrymore.......2007-03-18

Although the title might suggest an over-sentimental or fairytale-style love story, "Eternal Love" is actually quite a powerful and realistic drama, and the only fairytale element is the beautiful setting of a Swiss hamlet in the year 1806. Filmed not in Switzerland but in the Canadian Rockies, renowned German director Ernst Lubitsch makes the most of both setting and starring actors, John Barrymore and Camilla Horn, with the smooth style and careful editing for which he became famous in the US. Lubitsch's earlier work back in Germany showed his skill in various kinds of comedies (see Kino Video's "Lubitsch in Berlin" series) and while "Eternal Love" is quite serious, the Lubitsch sophistication is definitely there. The focus is on the wild character Marcus, dynamically portrayed by John Barrymore, and his love for the genteel niece of the local minister, also perfectly played by Camilla Horn. But as in real life, sometimes the jealousy of others can destroy a couple's happy plans, and in this story there are two jealous rivals: a wildcat, the complete opposite of the minister's niece, who schemes to have Marcus for herself - and succeeds - and the patient suitor of the minister's niece who later also displays a nasty jealous streak when he realizes she still loves Marcus after all. "Eternal Love" is not a long or involved film at all, and events move rather quickly but never rushed, and always involving the audience in the tragically separated lovers' dilemma until the climactic ending. The picture quality is very good and clear throughout, and even the original sound disc has been restored, giving us today the same experience as audiences in 1929 when, on the verge of the sound era, many silent films were being made with a recorded musical score especially made to suit the film. This one is a nice classical, orchestral score with a few appropriate sound effects here and there. With such a charming and beautiful setting and Barrymore's performance under Lubitsch's expert direction, "Eternal Love" counts as one of the many precious gems of the silent era and deserves a place in every silent film collection.

Typical last-gasp silent.......2007-03-08

1929 was pretty much the end of the road for the silent picture, apart from a handful of films made for theatres still not wired for sound in the very early Thirties (and, more famously, Chaplin's last stands in 1931 and 1936). Most 1929 silents didn't make as much money as the late silents of 1927 and 1928, and the survival rate for these very late silents is so low because most of them were pulled in and out of circulation in a very short time, without any real thought, care, or concern for their quality. While it's true that many of these final silents are long overdue for a critical re-evaluation (particularly since most silents coming out in 1929 were panned just because they didn't have sound, the novelty everyone was clamouring for regardless of the quality of these new sound pictures), this one in particular isn't one of my favorite silents from 1929 I've seen.

The film begins in Switzerland in 1806, when the French have occupied the village in which the story is set. All of the locals are ordered to turn over their firearms, but wild untamed mountain man Marcus (John Barrymore) alone refuses to surrender his weapon, unwilling to have a part of himself, representing his free spirit, taken away. He only reluctantly agrees to do it out of love for Ciglia (Camilla Horn, who was previously teamed with him in 1928's 'Eternal Love'). (I'm assuming that her name is pronounced Cheel-ya or Seel-ya.) These two are in love, but Ciglia's priest uncle and the vamping Pia, who wants Marcus all to herself, oppose their union. After Ciglia spurns him after he has made a fool of himself at a local masquerade ball, Pia traps him into a compromising situation at his house. (Meanwhile the French are no longer occupying the village; that potentially dramatic and interesting part of the plot was really thrown away and not even developed!) Soon afterwards, Ciglia forgives him and gets her uncle to agree to the marriage, but Pia and her equally scheming mother are already on their way over to the priest's to tell him what happened and to trap him into marrying Pia. (It's never really spelt out just why Marcus has to marry her; is this a shotgun marriage, or is he just being made to marry her because they presumably slept together without being married and thus "compromised" themselves? Have they had some prior relationship that we're never really told about, as seems to be suggested? This angle of the story doesn't really hold up well for the average modern viewer.) With Marcus out of the way, Ciglia's other suitor, Lorenz, steps in, hoping to win her for himself. Hurting and on the rebound, she agrees to this marriage. Both marriages are soon exposed as loveless, for Marcus and Ciglia still love one another, and this causes a lot of trouble, not only for them and their spouses but also for the villagers, who believe they're being immoral by continuing to associate with and even love one another. Things may not end well for anyone.

I did want to like this film more, particularly because it stars John Barrymore (who is as great as always, though he does have on a bit too much makeup), but something about it just didn't satisfy me. Maybe if it had been a couple of reels longer, the story could have been more developed instead of only really getting more interesting and dramatic towards the end. Things just seemed to happen too quickly, with no real development and tension in between some pretty important events. And the opening story about this small village under occupation by the French was really wasted, and tossed aside by the next scene, never mentioned again, with no bearing on the rest of the story but to establish Marcus's independent nature. The plot also descends into soap opera territory, and I was rather disappointed in the ending. Although the photography is pretty good, the acting is wonderful, and the story interesting enough. I just wish it had been developed more and been given more substance and dramatic tension.

An Enduring Romance.......2004-07-19

Eternal love ~ what a premise! And in this terrific film it comes delivered to you via two star-crossed lovers Ciglia (Camilla Horn) and Marcus (Barrymore). Marcus prefers the wild mountainsides outside of his Swiss village only somewhat less than the pure and beautiful preacher's daughter Ciglia, whom he desires very much to marry. Uncle Tass (Hobart Bosworth) has other ideas, wishing for Ciglia the more staid and proper Lorenz (Victor Varconi), while wild mountain girl Pia (Mona Rico) has her own designs on Marcus, desiring him very much for herself. Pia seduces Marcus through some truly dishonourable conniving, dooming Marcus to marry her. Ciglia settles with Lorenz in an effort to heal her crushed heart, but of course this does nothing of the sort ~ Marcus and Ciglia hold blazing torches that no twists of fate can quell. Thus, the movie moves toward its devastating finale.

During a blizzard, Marcus becomes lost on the mountains. Pia, desperate to find him, implores Lorenz and Ciglia for help. Distraught at this news, Ciglia slips her facade for an instant arousing the suspicions of her husband. When Marcus arrives safely home, the jealous Lorenz bribes Marcus to take his leave from the village and from Ciglia once and for all. Marcus refuses, and Lorenz seeks a final, deadly revenge, during which he is mortally wounded. Marcus is now a marked man, and Ciglia's pleas of his innocence only serves to inflame the villagers to seek their own revenge on what they perceive as an adulterous couple.

What happens next adds a satisfying 'drama' to this melodrama, and contains a twist equal to the larger-than-life affections of Marcus and Ciglia, whose only real crime was loving each other despite, and in spite, of any and all circumstances.

This film should appeal to anyone with even a speck of the romantic, an appreciative eye for splendid scenery (filmed on location in the Canadian Rockies), and the taste for a rousing good story. Barrymore is a smouldering hero, his magnetism unabashedly evident in the love scenes. Camilla Horn is a gorgeous heroine that one cannot help aching with and for. The conniving Pia, on the other hand, is an absolute terror, and plays the bad girl to the hilt.

This DVD includes the original score to the film, and the picture quality is astonishing. Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, 'Eternal Love' was his last silent film.

Restored and pleasing.......2002-07-09

I'll admit, I have been a silents fan for many years, but am still a novice, but I did enjoy this movie, and was surprised by the UCLA 'disclaimer' that this restoration was not up to their usual standards (or some such note). If that is the case, I would like to see their best standards! After years of suffering through bad copies of silents, with equally hideous "soundtracks" (of which there are a few exceptions), I was glad to see this movie restored to a good speed and brilliant contrasts of light and dark. Barrymore is elegant and graceful, mixing both outrageous humor (the scenes of his drunken revelry at the town party are funny, and a bit disheartening, much like Dinner At Eight), and brilliant drama (the lone scene of his finding the 'evil woman' had entered his room is incredibly portrayed with a few surprised, heavy heaves of the chest and narrowing eyes, more sexy to me than any obvious modern bedroom scene!)
Overall, there are much better stories, but to see Barrymore at his hearty best and Lubitsch's modern use of camera movement and beautiful mountain scenery, make this a worthwhile viewing.

European Film-making via Hollywood.......2001-09-05

The very late silent film era in Hollywood, 1927-28, saw a number of artistic films made by European directors that could have been right out of Ufa's studio in Germany. SUNRISE is perhaps the most obvious example, but ETERNAL LOVE is definitely in that category. Not really a "lost" film, ETERNAL LOVE was safely secured among Mary Pickford's own films that she refused to circulate. Bootleg prints of this film have been in circulation for years but I was disappointed that the quality of this print wasn't more impressive. Good yes, impressive No. The introduction alerts the viewer that the print is "substandard" - too bad they didn't place that notice on the box. I would have bought it anyway. The film is intelligently written, directed and acted but it seems a little too doom-laden for its own good. John Barrymore railed for years against the happy endings that always got tacked on to his films so at least in his last silent he got the tragedy he wanted. A Barrymore-Lubitsch collaboration should have given us a sparkling romantic comedy - and that loss is a real tragedy!

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