Main Cast: George Arliss, Joan Bennett, Florence Arliss, Anthony Bushell, David Torrence
Release Year: 1929
Country: US
Run Time: 87 minutes
Plot
In the early days of sound film, one of Warner Bros.' big box-office draws was the aging stage actor George Arliss and, in Disraeli, Arliss scored his biggest box-office hit. He is at his best as the foxy British prime minister (in a role he created on-stage and re-created earlier in a 1921 silent film version of the same play). The film concerns the machinations of Disraeli in his efforts to secure the Suez Canal for England. After his liberal opponent Gladstone defeats Disraeli's attempt to raise a line of credit to buy the Suez Canal, Disraeli retires to his country estate to plot a new strategy. When he intercepts a coded telegram from an Egyptian potentate indicating Egyptian financial problems and a willingness to make a deal on the canal, Disraeli jumps on the chance to secure funding from the Bank of England but is denied the credit. Searching for another funding source, he obtains the services of international banker Hugh Meyers (Ivan Simpson). However, when Disraeli's emissary arrives in Cairo with a check to purchase Suez, it is discovered that Meyer has gone bankrupt. Now Disraeli must enlist all his charm and wiles to persuade the Bank of England to honor the bad check. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Review
Disraeli is a good example of stage legend George Arliss's powers as a actor. Though the sound is primitive and the production set-bound, Arliss's performance and Julian Josephson's screenplay create a compelling portrait of Britain's former Prime Minister. The film was a strong box-office success for Warner Bros., suggesting that audiences would spend money to see something more serious than talking musicals and frivolous sound-enhanced comedies. Arliss had originated the role on the stage, frequently performing with his wife, Florence Arliss, who plays Disraeli's wife, Mary, in both this and the earlier 1921 version of the film. Though her role is largely ahistorical, it suits the film's dramatic needs and observes the tradition of providing a love interest for the protagonist. Disraeli received three nominations for the third annual Academy Awards -- Best Picture and Best Writing, which it did not win, and Best Actor, which it did. ~ Richard Gilliam, All Movie Guide
Doris Lloyd - Mrs. Agatha Travers; Ivan Simpson - Hugh Myers; Gwendolen Logan - Duchess of Glastonbury; Charles E. Evans - Potter; Cosmo Kyrle Bellew - Mr. Terle; Jack Deery - Bascot; Michael Visaroff - Count Bosrinov; Norman Cannon - Foljambe; Henry Carvill - Duke of Glastonbury; Shayle Gardner - Dr. Williams; Margaret Mann - Queen Victoria; George Atkinson - Bit
Credit
Alfred E. Green - Director, Owen Marks - Editor, Louis Silvers - Composer (Music Score), Lee Garmes - Cinematographer, Julien Josephson - Screenwriter, Louis Napoleon Parker - Play Author
Disraeli (1929) is a film that was adapted by Julien Josephson and De Leon Anthony from a play by Louis N. Parker. The film was directed by Alfred E. Green.
Arliss won the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. The Green Goddess, was filmed in 1929 and completed before Disraeli (1929), but was held out of release until 1930 at the request of George Arliss because he felt the other film was a better vehicle for his talkie debut. Silent films with the title Disraeli were released in 1916 and 1921, with the 1921 version also starring George Arliss.
Preservation
The film survives intact in the form it was originally released.
