Rembrandt (1936)

Academy AwardÂ(r) winner* Charles Laughton brilliantly captures the inner turmoil of the passionate 17th-century genius in probably the finest acting performance ever recorded on celluloid (The Observer)! In Amsterdam of 1642, master painter Rembrandt Van Rijn (Charles Laughton), enjoys a rich, full life in a beautiful, blinding, swirling mist of fame and fortune. But with the sudden death of his beloved wife and muse, his work takes a dark, sardonic turn that quickly offends even his most loyal patrons. Bankrupt and bereft, he finds comfort in the arms of pretty, young Hendrickje (Elsa Lanchester), a servant in his home. Now, offered a surprising second chance at love, will he summon the courage to overcome his demons or will tragedy continue to haunt one of the greatest painters who ever lived? *1932 33: Actor, The Private Life of Henry VIII

Truly an extraordinary film experience!

This is an extraordinary film biography of the seventeenth century Dutch artist Rembrant Van Rijn. Why? In a word- Charles Laughton. His performance is nothing less than brillant, believable and unique. The film direction by the renown Alexander Korda is sympathetic and warm. The sets and actors appear to be exhumed from centuries past, so very real and of the period. You the viewer swear you have been propelled back in time. The legendary actress Gertrude lawrence, in a rare film performance, is featured, along with Laughton's real life wife- Elsa Lanchester. Both fine actresses. The movie is somewhat philosophical. Laughton expouses deep felt emotions about his wife and the Bible. It is touching beyond words to this reviewer, the sense of emotion and heart felt love for his wife and his awe of the Biblical kings of the Old Testament. This is a man inspired by history and romance, but always one to speak his mind, for good or bad, to his paying clients or the community at large. Rembrants' life was indeed very tragic. He lost his lovely wife to death, he lost his fortune but never his appreciation for beauty and life. An true artist to the end. This film moves somewhat slowly but with purpose. Rembrant's art is never highlighted, with the exception of his famous masterpiece THE NIGHTWATCH. The story is not of his art but OF THE MAN. It is an amazing story of one man, a genius, who engaged life on his own terms. From a brash, profligate young man to a humble, turbined elder still perfecting his craft, the remarkable persona of Rembrant is revealed. Outside of Charle Laughton's THE PRIVATE LIFE OF HENRY VIII (another Korda collaboration, 1933), I cannot think of a more significant performance of this great actor.
This is, indeed, one for your collection. A masterly subject by the most magnificent actor of our time. You will be inspired, saddened and uplifted
by this 1936 British gem!
November 6, 2008

Rembrandt

This DVD is a real classic in movie history and the brilliance of Charles Laughton's acting ability. September 17, 2008

Classic Artistic Bio

A very well acted, classic biography of Rembrandt. Charles Laughton is Rembrant. Not a standard 30's bio film. Unfortunately in black and white and the print was worn. November 10, 2006

My boy Charlie!

This is a man that could act his kiester off, Charles Laughton. He, and his wife, Elsa Lanchester, were a much more accessable version of people like Lunt and Fontaine, for Laughton's talents were obvious in every role he ever had. Don't believe me? Rent this and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", or the lighthearted "Canterville Ghost". He had a "mischievious little boy" way about him when he acted; a way of cocking his head and hedging that made you remember him as a grown-up version of little Johnny asking for more pennies to get candy. In this movie, about the legendary, edge-of-the-Renaissance painter, Rembrandt Van Rijn, his wife, Elsa, also shines as his latter-day love interest: very gentle, optimistic and almost perky. Most players in this film are good, though I feel Gertrude Lawrence overdoes it a bit, and in typical 30s Hollywood style. It's an MGM production, so I suppose overacting had to be in there SOMEWHERE, but her reading gets tiresome after awhile.

The script is full of bon mots, such as Van Rijn's short discourse of "knowing all women when you know just one..." speech, and his dressing down of the Amsterdam hoi-polloi when his masterpiece, "The Night Watch" is vainly slammed and picked apart on its first showing, but it is also good at pathos, as his beloved first wife dies and he also loses his later love, played by Lanchester.

I wish I could laud the condition of the transfer as highly, but alas, this has to be THE worst transfered DVD I have...! The highlights are WAY too bright, there are scratches and hair ghosts all through the thing, and we are cheated out of a first rate, saltine crisp print of one of Hollywood's best classic biographical films, and except for a longish movie-house trailer, there are ZERO extras in this thing. Shameful! Anyway, if you must get a copy of this film, find someone OTHER than MGM, for this transfer, plus the lack of extras, makes it less than an ideal buy! By all means, if you can find a better print transfer....BUY IT! January 25, 2006

Definitely worth renting!

The DVD comes with the movie and trailer and that's it. Heck, you can't even put on English subtitles, which I like to do with old films in case I can't quite make out what they're saying. Also the transfer to DVD is not all that meticulous ... there's a couple of scene changes that are so abrupt that it feels like something's been cut out.

I don't know anything about the real Rembrandt's life, so I don't know how much of this movie is true, other than the fact that he was a painter. So, 1 star right away for piquing my curiosity and spurring me on to find out more about the real Rembrandt!

Charles Laughton, as always, is great. Early on in the movie he gave a truly moving speech about love (this was shortly before his first wife dies), about how loving her was the equivalent of loving every woman on earth. I can't do the speech justice (short term memory problems), but I do remember it was moving and I will have to search the internet to see if I can find a transcript of that speech! Charles is great throughout the whole movie.

The sparkling highlight comes about 50 minutes into the movie when Elsa Lanchester first appears. My God, this woman was so charismatic! I wish she had made more films and had bigger roles in movies. Elsa is only in the movie for about 25 minutes, and after her character departs I wanted to turn the movie off. If anyone but Charles Laughton was in the lead, I definitely would've stopped watching at that point.

OK, so this will probably get more no votes than yes votes in the "was this review helpful?" category! Sorry!

Bottom-lining it: Good movie, good story, great acting, Charles Laughton excellent, Elsa Lanchester sparkling and captivating! Crappy transfer to DVD. Worth the price of a rental, not sure (at least for me) that it's worth the price of purchasing. September 16, 2004

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