The Mad Genius (1931)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

Martin Brown (play)
J. Grubb Alexander (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

7 November 1931 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Romance

Plot:

A crippled puppeteer rescues an abused young boy and turns the boy into a great ballet dancer. Complications ensue when...

Plot Keywords:

Puppeteer | Ballet | Ballerina | Self Sacrifice | Berlin Germany

Cast

John Barrymore	...	Vladimar Ivan Tsarakov
Marian Marsh	...	Nana Carlova
Charles Butterworth	...	Karimsky
Donald Cook	...	Fedor Ivanoff
Luis Alberni	...	Sergei Bankieff
Carmel Myers	...	Sonya Preskoya
André Luguet	...	Count Robert Renaud (as Andre Luguet)
Frankie Darro	...	Fedor as a Boy

Runtime:

81 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Unrated

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The play opened in Great Neck, New York, USA in 1929, and never made it to Broadway.

Quotes:

Vladimar Ivan Tsarakov: I will create my own being: that boy! That boy will be my counterpart, he shall be what I should have been... I will mold him, I will pour into him my genius, my soul. In him all my dreams, all my ambitions will be fulfilled -- the greatest dancer of all time!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Taxi! (1932)

Soundtrack:

First Movement

"The Mad Genius"

I've always liked the John Barrymore/Marian Marsh film "Svengali" and have always wanted to see Warner Brothers' re-teaming of the two in "The Mad Genius". Thankfully, Ted Turner seems to own it and shows a very nice print of it on TCM. I've got it recorded and I like to watch it now and again. Although it's not a favorite of mine like "Svengali" is, "The Mad Genius" is still a film that I enjoy. Tsarakov (Barrymore) rescues a small boy from his abusive father (Boris Karloff). As the years pass the boy, Fedor (Donald Cook), grows up to become a seasoned ballet dancer and Tsarakov is the ballets impresario. Tsarakov pampers every move in Fedor's life; getting him leads in ballets and encouraging him to have a steady supply of young women lovers. However, Fedor loves Nana (Marian Marsh) and Tsarakov, seeing this as the ruination of Fedor's career, forces Nana to take up with Count Renaud (André Luget), a good-natured, understanding man. Will Fedor and Nana reunite? What will happen to Tsarkov? Watch "The Mad Genius" and you'll find out. You may marvel at the films casual pre-code approach to sex. Very good film, but not as charming as the classic "Svengali".