Flesh and the Devil (1926)

A bugle sounds announcing the start of a new day on a military base in Germany.  Men pour out of the bunks and begin to change into their uniforms.  One of the men, Ulrich, is a little slower at leaving his bunk.  He delivers a kick to the bed above him to wake its occupant and finds it... empty.  His friend Leo has spent the night out on the town again.

Ulrich quickly arranges Leo's bed to make it look like someone is in it.  When Leo is missed at roll call, Ulrich announces that he is ill.  The commander goes to investigate, pulls the covers and...

Leo is sleeping in the bed.  The commander leaves and the friends celebrate pulling one over on the officer, until the officer returns and finds the sick Leo dancing.  They are both sent off to shovel dung out of the stables.

A few months later, the two friends head for home.  At the train station, they are met by Leo's mother and Ulrich's sister Hertha, who clearly has her eye on Leo.  However, Leo's eyes are drawn to another, a beautiful woman exiting the train.

He asks his mother who the woman is.  She does not know but speculates the woman is in town for the ball.  We know where Leo is headed next.

At the ball, Leo rebuffs the advances of Hertha and looks for the mysterious woman.  He finds her across the floor and sweeps her onto the dance floor.  The pair soon are walking from the hall into a secluded part of the garden.  There is a cigarette.  They kiss...

Cut to them waking up in the woman's bedroom.  All is right with the world.  Until her husband arrives.  He challenges Leo to a duel the next morning, a duel which Leo wins.

However, because he has killed a man, he must spend five years at a military outpost in Africa.  Before he goes, he asks his friend Ulrich to look after the young widow.

Ulrich gets Leo out of the service a couple of years early and the exile returns to find his friend has married the love of his life.  Ulrich believed the duel was over cheating at a card game and not the stunning young woman.  He had no idea Leo had designs on her.

Will the three overcome these new obstacles or will their passion erupt in violence once more?

We've all seen movies with a love triangle, right?  Except when you think about it, rarely is it a love triangle.  More like two lines that meet at one point.  When there are two guys and a girl, it's not usually a question of whether the two guys will end up together.

Flesh and the Devil is a true love triangle.

Leo loves the woman.  Ulrich loves the woman.  And Leo and Ulrich love each other.

Yes, you read that right.

Sure it's not overtly romantic.  Except for the way the embrace.  And look into each others' eyes.  And speak to each other.  They even get married (sort of).  In 1926, there is only so far the movie could go with these themes, but it's hardly subtext.  More like supertext.

The film excels at showing us instead of telling us about these relationships.  We see Leo and Ulrich's friendship.  We see Leo fall hard for Greta Garbo's Felicitas.  And we feel every bit of the betrayal Leo feels when he returns to find Ulrich and Felicitas married.  You believe these relationships.  Leo and Ulrich feel like they have known each other forever.  Which makes the knife twist all the more painful.

The direction by Clarence Brown made me sit up and take notice.  Despite having seen two of his previous features, it was like I was seeing him for the first time.  The camera is always right where it needs to be and every zoom and movement has a purpose.  Really virtuoso stuff here.

There are a lot of great uses of light and shadow.  The ethereal light that bathes Garbo in a glowas Gilbert goes to light her cigarette.  The shadow of Garbo's husband stalking the young lovers before he enters the room.  The ominous silhouettes of the duel.   Gorgeous.

The symbolism is heavily slathered onto this movie, but that suits the melodrama perfectly.  We see the statue of the two "friends" in the beginning.  After their relationship fractures, we see it again, this time overgrown with vines with a literal branch growing between the figures.  The lake that surrounds the Isle of Friendship freezes over as their relationship turns chilly.  

The acting here is all around perfect.  Gilbert's Leo has a mischievous streak, but also a loyalty to those he loves.  His eyes allow you to see his love and lust, his seething rage when Felicitas is taken from him and his sad sense of defeat when he sees no escape from his feelings but death.

Lars Hanson's has a Ralph Fiennes look as Ulrich.  He does not even realize he has betrayed his friend and Leo's distance literally wears him down.

Garbo is less a person here and more a device to bring the friends into conflict, but she fills her character's empty vessel with just the right sense of mystery and sensuality.  She's Helen of Troy and with one look she can send men off to die for her.

I have a few years yet to go, but I will be shocked if Flesh and the Devil is not near the top of my Best of the 1920s list.  It's brilliantly filmed, superbly acted with a story that's both simple and timeless.  A must see.

***** out of *****

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Bardelys the Magnificent (1926)

Directed by King Vidor

Starring John Gilbert, Eleanor Boardman and Roy D'Arcy

Produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Bardelys is the ultimate ladies' man in King Louis XIII court.  He's bedding the wives of other men, then casually dueling them until they relent and leave.  It's all a lark to him and he's having the time of his life.



There is something he cares about though: honor.  And when his rival Chatellerault is rejected by the beautiful Roxalanne, the man plays on Bardelys pride.  Chatellerault bets Bardelys that he cannot win the hand of the maiden.  Bardelys at first laughs off the bet, but having his romantic prowess questioned in public shames him into accepting.



The bet is immediately complicated when the king prohibits his court from leaving due to the growing civil unrest in the surrounding countryside.  Bardelys, with the bet and his honor on the line, defies his monarch and heads off to find Roxalanne. 



He comes across a dying man named Lesperon and, after a brief exchange and the man's death, Bardelys assumes his identity.  Later, Bardelys encounters some of the king's soldiers.  Because he is a fugitive, he passes himself off as Lesperon.  Bad move.  It turns out Lesperon was the leader of the rebellion against the king.  Bardelys battles the men and escapes, but is wounded.  He collapses outside of Roxalanne's estate.



The woman nurses the man she believes to be Lesperon back to health.  They fall in love.  There's a boat ride through a willow tree.  However, when the moment comes to marry his love, Bardelys cannot bring himself to do it.  The relationship is built on a lie.  Angry, the woman summons the soldiers to take "Lesperon" away.



Bardelys is brought to trial before a panel of judges that includes Chatellerault.  The villain refuses to correct Bardelys true identity and he is sentenced to death.



Can Bardelys escape the executioner?  And will he win the hand of Roxalanne?



Let's get this out of the way: the plot is really silly.  Bardelys is a regular in King Louis' court, but nobody recognizes him?  The supposed leader of the rebels is off convalescing with Roxalanne and he is still considered the leader of the rebels?  Roxalanne and her dad (who are both sympathizers with the rebellion) never ask their guest whether he should be off, you know, rebelling?



Here's the thing though.  Bardelys the Magnificent has a momentum and proficiency that captivates you while you are watching it.  Crucial to this is the acting and magnetism of John Gilbert in the lead.



Gilbert elevates the material through his nuanced portrayal of the lead character.  The changes that wash over his face throughout sell the tale and pull the audience along.  There are so many big moments that he sells with his performance.  His awkward attempts to laugh off the bet.  The change in his eyes as Roxalanne professes his love and he feels the weight of his guilt.  The relief and then horror as he slowly realizes Chatellerault is betraying him in the court.  They are scenes that need no dialogue cards to express what is going on.



Eleanor Boardman is perfect as the object of Bardelys desire.  She is fiery, but tender.  Most silents fall into the trap of making their women a cipher or a plot device.  Boardman's Roxalanne is a person.  She has her own political views and she doesn't bow to any man.  



The other star of note is Roy D'Arcy as Chatellerault.  He's a cunning villain, taking full advantage when opportunity presents itself.  He is also terrifically over the top, particularly in the court scene.  He doesn't just play that he doesn't recognize Bardelys; he does so with a knowing wink at his rival that twists the knife further.  



The direction by King Vidor is one of constant motion.  There are two scenes that show the director's mastery over different types of emotion.  First is the boat ride through the willows.  This is pure paperback romance.  They sit across from each other as the willow branches touch them.  They embrace, him kissing her, her writhing in pleasure.  It's foreplay and consummation, as close to sex as you'll get in 1926.



The other is Bardelys' escape attempt from the executioner.  It's the first time I can remember seeing action choreography married to cinematography in such a compelling way.  We get point of view shots as Bardelys slides down some long handled axes.  We get a perspective looking down on the actor as he swings from a banner.  The scene is endlessly inventive in how he uses the setting and its weapons to create a getaway.



The climax between Bardelys and Chatellerault gets a little too melodramatic for my tastes.  The whole set-up of the scene seems like a way to both have a satisfying duel and keep the blood off of our hero's hands.



In the end, Bardelys almost out swashbuckles Douglas Fairbanks.  In many ways the film is superior to Fairbanks' productions because it actually pays attention to the female lead and writes her as more than a prize to be won.  Of, course others' mileage may vary, but Bardelys the Magnificent is a pleasant and welcome surprise.



**** out of *****

NOTE: Bardelys the Magnificent was considered a lost film until 2006 when a nearly complete print was found.  The film is missing the third reel.  The available version of the movie includes production stills and dialogue cards in the place of the missing scenes.

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