Douglas Fairbanks Sr. makes his big-screen swan song with Korda’s deliciously satiric deflation of the Don Juan myth. After having faked his own death and escaped Seville, the aging lothario returns, only to find that he has been promptly forgotten; perhaps Merle Oberon’s raven-haired beauty can coax him back into business. Don Juan was a rare “talkie” for Fairbanks, and a shrewd poking at the actor’s own persona.
Cast
| Don Juan | Douglas Fairbanks |
| Antonita | Merle Oberon |
| Pepitta | Gina Malo |
| Dona Dolores | Benita Hume |
| Maid | Binnie Barnes |
| Leporello | Melville Cooper |
Credits
| Director | Alexander Korda |
| Story and dialogue | Frederick Lonsdale and Lajos Biro |
| Based on the play L’homme à la rose by | Henri Bataille |
| Cinematography | Georges Perinal |
| Editing | Stephen Harrison |
| Settings | Vincent Korda |
| Special effects | Ned Mann |
| Musical compositions | Ernest Toch |
| Musical direction | Muir Matheson |
| Costumes | Oliver Messel |
May 27, 2009
Critics writing about our new Eclipse Series 16, Alexander Korda’s Private Lives, seem to have felt compelled to pick their favorites—and, interestingly, they run the gamut. Turner Classic Movies’ Glenn Erickson calls the collection . . .
by Michael Koresky
May 13, 2009
THE PRIVATE LIFE OF HENRY VIII: GRAND DESIGNS
Alexander Korda’s oeuvre is often characterized as larger-than-life, undoubtedly in part because . . .