The Private Life of Don Juan

• Director: Alexander Korda
• AMG Rating:
• Genre: Drama
• Movie Type: Romantic Drama
• Themes: Playing the Field, Assumed Identities
• Main Cast: Douglas Fairbanks, Merle Oberon, Binnie Barnes, Joan Gardner, Benita Hume
• Release Year: 1934
• Country: US/UK
• Run Time: 87 minutes

Plot

Producer and director (Alexander Korda) followed up The Private Life of Henry VIII (one of the first internationally successful British films) with this historical comedy. After years in exile, the great lover Don Juan (Douglas Fairbanks) returns to Seville, the city of his salad days. However, Don Juan is now married and middle-aged, and his days as a spoiler of women seem to be behind him. When he learns that a young man in town (Barry McKay) has been posing as him and making time with the local ladies, Don decides to prove who the great lover truly is and attempts the seduction of Antonia (Merle Oberon), a beautiful dancer. However, Don's doctor informs him that girl-hunting will tax his fragile health, and his wife Dolores (Benita Hume) will no longer turn a blind eye to his infidelity. When the impostor is killed by a jealous husband, Don is relieved, as his "death" allows him to retire from his career as a rake with his reputation intact. But when the old itch returns, Don makes the sad discovery that if he can't convince women he's Don Juan, they simply aren't interested in him. The Private Life of Don Juan provided one of the few speaking roles for silent screen swashbuckler Douglas Fairbanks, and proved to be his last picture. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Cast

• Douglas Fairbanks - Don Juan
• Merle Oberon - Antonia
• Binnie Barnes - Rosita
• Joan Gardner - Carmen
• Benita Hume - Dolores

Clifford Heatherley - Pedro; Barry Mackay - Roderigo; Melville Cooper - Leporello; Bruce Winston - Cafe Manager; Athene Seyler - Theresa; Hindle P. Edgar - Husband; Gibson Gowland - Don Ascanio; Lawrence Grossmith - Guardian; Margaretta Scott - Tonita; Edmund Breon - Author; Annie Esmond - Dolores' Duenna; Patricia Hilliard - Girl in Castle; Diana Napier - Would-Be Wife; Spencer Trevor; Claud Allister - Duke; Virginia Bradford; Rosita Garcia - Wife of Tired Businessman; Morland Graham - Don Juan's Cook; Elsa Lanchester - Maid; Gina Malo - Pepita; Owen Nares - Actor; Hay Petrie - Manager of the Golden Pheasant; Abraham Sofaer - Street Bookseller; Heather Thatcher - Actress; Edmund Willard - Prisoner; Veronica Brady - One of Don Juan's Early Loves

Credit

Oliver Messel - Costume Designer, Alexander Korda - Director, Stephen Harrison - Editor, Mischa Spoliansky - Composer (Music Score), Ernst Toch - Composer (Music Score), Muir Mathieson - Musical Direction/Supervision, Arthur Benjamin - Songwriter, Mischa Spoliansky - Songwriter, Arthur Wimperis - Songwriter, John Brownlee - Songwriter, Vincent Korda - Production Designer, Georges Périnal - Cinematographer, Alexander Korda - Producer, Arthur Wimperis - Screenwriter, Lajos Biró - Screenwriter, Frederick Lonsdale - Screenwriter, Henri Bataille - Play Author

Similar Movies

The Adventures of Don Juan; Don Juan DeMarco

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