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 decides to rescue the seductive Emilie, but soon she goes back to Bronson. The cycle begins again when Anatol tries to save another wayward woman from her life of sin before finally succumbing himself to the ways of the flesh. In "The Affairs of Anatol," not only does DeMille show women smoking, drinking (during Prohibition), exposing body parts seldom before seen on a movie screen, and frankly pursuing men who attract them; he also presents this debauchery with amazing visual flair. With film design by Erte, De Mille clearly meant "The Affairs of Anatol" to be as much a decorative as a dramatic feast. The film is digitally mastered from an elaborate original print featuring hand coloring, stencil coloring, and dozens of changes in color tint and tone, in itself a striking work of art.
 |  | Who knew that Wallace Reid was so good at smashing up pianos? |  |
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.
February 22, 2007This film has a lot going for it, even though it's more like fun entertainment as opposed to a heavy classic masterpiece. It was directed by Cecil B. DeMille, whom most people either love or hate. Though he's largely remembered today for his religious epics, this film is the type of picture he did more of. It still has the feel of a morality play, but overall it's not as heavy-handed as the type of DeMille picture most people associate him with. The print is also beautiful, with a lot of tinted and hand-colored title cards, complete with lovely drawings and ornate letters, tinted scenes, and even one scene towards the end that appears to be in very early Technicolor. Another thing it has going for it is that it has a number of big-name stars; some movies with star-studded casts seem more interested in parading out these big names than on delivering a well-developed storyline, but here there's no sense of being bogged down by a lot of big stars. We have the handsome and ill-fated Wallace Reid in the title role of Anatol DeWitt Spencer, the glamourous Gloria Swanson as his newlywed wife Vivian, the charming Bebe Daniels as the tempting Satan Synne, Agnes Ayres (once a big-name star but largely forgotten today) as Annie Elliott, and even the legendary Russian ballet dancer Theodore Kosloff (né Fyodor Koslov) as an Indian hypnotist. (Interestingly, he's billed as a "Hindu," even though his character's surname is Singh, which as most people should know is a Sikh, not a Hindu, surname.)
Anatol and Vivian are happy newlyweds who are still enjoying the honeymoon phase of their marriage, although Vivian is quite displeased at Anatol's habit of trying to reform what he sees as wicked women. One of these women is his childhood sweetheart Emilie, whom he moves into their house after telling her sugar daddy that he won't have her to exploit and take advantage of anymore. However, as time wears on Emilie gets tired of the straight and narrow path Anatol wants her to be on, and goes back to her life as a kept woman. Anatol feels furious that he was tricked into thinking she wanted to change, and decides he and Vivian will go on a trip to the countryside, where people are still honest, moral, and kind. However, they aren't there very long when he finds himself tricked and taken advantage of by a woman yet again, and by the type of woman he never suspected would be as crafty and scheming as her big-city counterparts. However, Vivian sees him in what she interprets as a compromsing position with this woman, and goes home alone. This sets in motion a chain of events that eventually leads Anatol to the home of Satan Synne, who is not all she seems to be on first glance. Since he caused the problems in his marriage in the first place, however unthinkingly, he must be the one who rights them too. This leads to an interesting dénouement.
December 31, 2005| | | A Great Cecil B DeMille film not to be overlooked! | |
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.
June 15, 2005| | | The 1920's soap opera king | |
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
March 5, 2003 | | Witty, Cynical Film But Poor Picture Quality | |
THE AFFAIRS OF ANATOL is one of the great but elusive silents from the early 1920s that turn up only as tantalizing photos in film books. So it is a real joy to discover a tinted and toned print on DVD with a serviceable new music score. The film also provides an opportunity to view the sophisticated work of Cecil B. DeMille when he was still very much of a creative film-maker and before he settled into the "cotton candy" purveyor of comic book-type films of the sound era.
Perhaps the spendid visual quality of some recent DVD silent film releases has spoiled me, but as all silent film buffs know, the flesh tones in silents are crucial. When the actors all look as though their make-up is white flour, you know you're watching a print a few generations removed from a good original. Since the liner notes claim that ANATOL was taken from a 35 mm. original - hence the elaborate stenciling, tinting and toning - I was shocked at the rather muddy pictorial quality and dead white faces of the actors. It's still a wonderful film but the disapponting visual quality will limit its appeal to established silent film buffs. It's tough sledding for others. November 15, 2001
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