This is another example of an early sound film that is worth viewing just to get a sense of how advanced film was in the mid-20s with the ability to synchronize a musical score to film. Otherwise, it's not quite up to what we expect of entertainment in a story about DON JUAN and his exploits, which was done years later (in tongue-in-cheek style) with the dashing Errol Flynn in THE ADVENTUES OF DON JUAN.
The performances are what one would expect during this transition period from silent film to sound--the acting is stilted, stage bound and overly theatrical. I was never a great admirer of JOHN BARRYMORE as an actor and his performance here left me feeling there was room for a lot of improvement in his screen technique. MARY ASTOR, although young and demure enough, never makes a strong impression as the dewy-eyed leading lady.
The prologue seems to set the tone for the rest of the story. It unfolds like a Greek tragedy with Don Juan's father entombing a man he catches having an adulterous affair with his wife. When a woman in his court later stabs him fatally, he tells his son to take his revenge on women by adopting a love 'em and leave 'em attitude.
Then the main story begins and the tone becomes playful. Unfortunately, nothing in the story proper has any particular twist on the Don Juan story, at least at the start where the Vitaphone Orchestra busily chronicles his amorous dalliances with three women in a playfully amusing way. But as the story progresses, the constant tempo of background music begins to get on the nerves, never ceasing to stop emphasizing the heavily persistent score.
After a good forty-five minutes, I was beginning to resent the background score as much as the paltry scenario which only begins to shift gears when it gets to the Borgias and their involvement with Don Juan.
A very youthful looking MONTAGU LOVE sporting a mustache, looks much like Nelson Eddy in his heyday, and MYRNA LOY has a small role as a handmaiden of the court.
Summing up: Overall, it's a rather dull version of the Don Juan legend, interesting only as a film of historic value because of its transition via Vitaphone to a sound background score.
Silent titles and film technique makes it still a product of the silent period. The story itself is uninspired by the Don Juan legend and, unfortunately, Barrymore is more effete than robust in his manner of portraying the great lover.
The performances are what one would expect during this transition period from silent film to sound--the acting is stilted, stage bound and overly theatrical. I was never a great admirer of JOHN BARRYMORE as an actor and his performance here left me feeling there was room for a lot of improvement in his screen technique. MARY ASTOR, although young and demure enough, never makes a strong impression as the dewy-eyed leading lady.
The prologue seems to set the tone for the rest of the story. It unfolds like a Greek tragedy with Don Juan's father entombing a man he catches having an adulterous affair with his wife. When a woman in his court later stabs him fatally, he tells his son to take his revenge on women by adopting a love 'em and leave 'em attitude.
Then the main story begins and the tone becomes playful. Unfortunately, nothing in the story proper has any particular twist on the Don Juan story, at least at the start where the Vitaphone Orchestra busily chronicles his amorous dalliances with three women in a playfully amusing way. But as the story progresses, the constant tempo of background music begins to get on the nerves, never ceasing to stop emphasizing the heavily persistent score.
After a good forty-five minutes, I was beginning to resent the background score as much as the paltry scenario which only begins to shift gears when it gets to the Borgias and their involvement with Don Juan.
A very youthful looking MONTAGU LOVE sporting a mustache, looks much like Nelson Eddy in his heyday, and MYRNA LOY has a small role as a handmaiden of the court.
Summing up: Overall, it's a rather dull version of the Don Juan legend, interesting only as a film of historic value because of its transition via Vitaphone to a sound background score.
Silent titles and film technique makes it still a product of the silent period. The story itself is uninspired by the Don Juan legend and, unfortunately, Barrymore is more effete than robust in his manner of portraying the great lover.