Main Cast: Charles Laughton, Gertrude Lawrence, Elsa Lanchester, John Bryning, Edward Chapman, Richard Gofe, Walter Hudd
Release Year: 1936
Country: UK
Run Time: 86 minutes
Plot
Lightning steadfastly refused to strike twice for the director/actor team of Alexander Korda and Charles Laughton. Though the pair had scored an international success with the 1933 quasi-biopic The Private Life of Henry VIII, they couldn't make the magic happen again with 1936's Rembrandt. Laughton's performance is solid throughout, and Korda's recreation of Rembrandt's Holland is meticulous, but the film suffers from a lack of overall dramatic tension. Except for his artistic achievements and the deaths of his two wives, nothing really "happens" to Rembrandt--at least nothing as colorful as the escapades of Henry VIII. The best element of the film is the successful effort by cinematographer Georges Perinal to recreate the famous "Rembrandt lighting" effect in each scene. Laughton is given fine support by Elsa Lanchester (his real-life wife), and by legendary stage star Gertrude Lawrence in a rare film role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Looking uncannily like the real artist, Charles Laughton makes Rembrandt a memorable motion picture experience. Not that the film is without other assets. The script is literate (a bit too much so in places, bogging down in dialogue when it needs to soar a bit more), although it follows the grand cinema tradition of taking dramatic license with historical fact. And while it is hardly more than a series of vignettes, it does provide Laughton with the requisite big scenes and chances for character delineation. Director Alexander Korda and his cinematographers also do a fine job of giving the film a visual texture that is reminiscent of Rembrandt's work. And the supporting cast, especially marvelous Else Lanchester and the rarely-seen (on film) Gertrude Lawrence, are a definite plus. Still, the film rises or falls upon Laughton, and he is up to everything that is required of him. The tortured soulfulness that is underlie so much of Laughton's work -- that feeling that there's an angel caught inside a monster's form - is given greater rein here. Laughton also perfectly captures the stubbornness (or determination, depending upon one's point of view), temperament, scorn and tenderness, and he takes full advantage of such showcase pieces as the declamations on the wonder of love and on the foolishness of humans that frame the film. Although the film could have used a more cohesive script, Laughton's performance alone makes it a not-to-be-missed classic. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Roger Livesey - Beggar Saul; Meinhart Maur - Ornia; John Clements - Gavaert Flink; Henry Hewitt - Jan Six; George Merritt - Church Warden; John Turnbull - Minister; Sam Livesey - Auctioneer; Lawrence Hanray - Hertsbeeke; Abraham Sofaer - Dr. Monasseh; Austin Trevor - Marquis; Raymond Huntley - Ludvig; Frederick Burtwell - Saskia's Brother; Marius Goring - Baron Leivens; Allan Jeayes - Dr. Tulp; Basil Gill - Rembrandt's Brother; Herbert Lomas - Rembrandt's Father; Gertrude Musgrove - Girl at Inn; Jack Livesey - Journeyman; Edmund Willard - Van Zeeland; Charles Paton - burgher at auction; Hector Abbas - burgher at auction; Leonard Sharp - Burghers at Auction; George Pughe - Museum director; Evelyn Ankers - Girl; James Carney - Peasant; Barry Livesey - Peasant; Quinton McPherson - Official; Jerrold Robertshaw - Museum Director
Alexander Korda had previously worked with Laughton on the critically successful The Private Life of Henry VIII. Laughton's wife, Elsa Lanchester, has a role in the film as Hendrickje, Rembrandt's maid who also became his lover. In the film she also becomes his wife.
References
Notes
Bibliography
The Great British Films, pp 32 – 35, Jerry Vermilye, 1978, Citadel Press, ISBN 080650661X
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1920s
A 111-es ·The Prince and the Pauper ·Herren der Meere ·Die Tragödie eines verschollenen Fürstensohnes ·Samson and Delilah ·Das unbekannte Morgen ·Jedermanns Frau ·Tragödie im Hause Habsburg ·Dance Fever ·Madame Doesn't Want Children ·A Modern Dubarry ·The Stolen Bride ·The Private Life of Helen of Troy ·Yellow Lily ·Night Watch ·Love and the Devil ·The Squall ·Her Private Life
