Svengali 1954
Svengali
A man hypnotizes a young woman into being an opera singer.
A man hypnotizes a young woman into being an opera singer.
Videos & Photos
All 0 Videos & 5 Photoscast
Full Cast & Crew... Trilby O'Farrell
... Svengali
... Billy Bagot
... Landlord
... Carrell
... Patrick O'Farrell
User reviews
See All 1 Reviews21 Nov 2022 by CinemaSerf
A better example of over-acting you will struggle to find in this overly theatrical adaptation of George Du Maurier's 1894 novel "Trilby". Hildegard Knef is a young, impressionable, girl who falls under the spell of the almost Rasputin-esque Donald Wolfit in the title role. He hypnotises her to rid her of pesky headaches, and give her the voice of an angel - and soon she becomes an international star of the opera. Robert Newton was originally slated for the lead, but I can't imagine he could have done better than Wolfit, who has the maniacal look (eyes, especially) and pithy dialogue down to a T. The support from Terence Morgan - as her much younger beau "Billee Bagot", Paul Rogers, David Kossoff and the truly wonderful singing of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf keep this entertaining enough, but the staging and style are just to limiting to let this version of a really menacing and evocative story soar.
Release Date:
Sep 01, 1954 (United Kingdom)
Run Time:
1hr 40`
MMPA Rating:
NR
Original Language:
English
Production Countries:
United Kingdom
Status:
Released
Plot Keywords:

Related Movies To
Svengali
A better example of over-acting you will struggle to find in this overly theatrical adaptation of George Du Maurier's 1894 novel "Trilby". Hildegard Knef is a young, impressionable, girl who falls under the spell of the almost Rasputin-esque Donald Wolfit in the title role. He hypnotises her to rid her of pesky headaches, and give her the voice of an angel - and soon she becomes an international star of the opera. Robert Newton was originally slated for the lead, but I can't imagine he could have done better than Wolfit, who has the maniacal look (eyes, especially) and pithy dialogue down to a T. The support from Terence Morgan - as her much younger beau "Billee Bagot", Paul Rogers, David Kossoff and the truly wonderful singing of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf keep this entertaining enough, but the staging and style are just to limiting to let this version of a really menacing and evocative story soar.
Cast & Crew of
Svengali
Directors & Credit Writers
... Director
DO
Denis O'Dell... Assistant Director
Cast
... Trilby O'Farrell
... Svengali
... Billy Bagot
... Landlord
... Carrell
... Patrick O'Farrell
... Pierre
... Taffy
... Gecko
... Durian
... Barizel
... Police Inspector
... Mrs. Bagot
... Dubose
... Dodor
... Lambert
TP
Toots Pounds... Mama Martin
... Zou Zou
... Contran
... Doctor