The Phantom of Paris (1931)

Cheri-Bibi is the title character of a Gaston Leroux novel (he of the Phantom of the Opera). The character is the greatest escape artist in Europe (ala Houdini). He has come from the bottom up and has interest in a girl from the upper crust who is engaged to an incredible boor. The rich father denies permission for them to marry and he makes the mistake of saying that they will marry even if he is dead. Well, of course, someone shoots the father. What we have is quite a good setup, but eventually it is strained to the limit. Bibi is arrested and in prison for four years and faces execution at the Guillotine. He escapes and seeks revenge. He finally gets the murderer to admit his deed on his death bed, but circumstances make it worthless. He then assumes the identity of the guy. Due to some surgery, he takes on the role of the evil husband, hiding in plain sight. The fact that no one recognizes him, including his former lover, is too much for me. It's an entertaining tale and has a satisfactory conclusion, but that one element takes too much suspension of disbelief.

Phantom of Paris, The (1931) *** (out of 4) Well-made, if far-fetched, drama from MGM has John Gilbert playing Cheri-Bibi, a famous escape artist who plans on marrying a rich woman (Leila Hyams) even though her father (C. Aubrey Smith) is against it. The father is killed after an argument with Cheri, which causes a detective (Lewis Stone) to arrest him. Facing death in the matter of hours Cheri escapes from prison to prove his innocence. It's rumored that this film was originally meant for Lon Chaney, which if true would be interesting since it's also rumored that Chaney turned down THE SHOW, which then went to Gilbert. Whatever the truth is, this remains a pretty solid "B" movie that has some great acting and a pretty good story. I'm sure many might go into a title like this expecting some type of horror picture but it's pretty much a straight drama with some pretty tense scenes. I think the film takes a turn for the worse in the final fifteen-minutes when Gilbert takes the identity of the man he believes did the real killer. The two didn't look like one another but even if they did manage to fake people their different voices would have certainly given them away. Gilbert turns in another winning performance and what's so nice here is how incredibly charming he is. The early scenes with him doing the magic tricks had him "acting" to large crowds and I thought the charm came through just like you'd expect a real magician to do. Being Gilbert we also get a love story, which has the actor delivering soft lines and doing a nice job with it. Hyams is much better here than she was in her previous film (WAY OF A SAILOR) with Gilbert. The two come across like a real couple and have some pretty good scenes together. Lewis Stone turns in a fine supporting performance as does Jean Hersholt, Natalie Moorhead and Ian Keith. Smith only appears at the start of the film but he too adds nice support. This film was adapted from a novel by Gaston Leroux and for the most part it's pretty successful. I'm sure the original story had more magic but I guess you can only expect so much from a film like this. The 72-minute running time flies by without too many slow spots and in the end it's yet another film to prove that Gilbert did have a voice and he knew how to use it.

This is perhaps John Gilbert's first solid starring role in a talkie. Of course the irony is that by 1931 and after a half dozen bombs (not including Hollywood REVUE OF 1929), it was too late. Gilbert had lost his audience. So although this film and DOWNSTAIRS and QUEEN Christina presented the great silent idol in solid sound films, it was just too late to revive his career.THE PHANTOM OF Paris was based on a famous novel by Gaston Leroux and offered Gilbert a role that was part leading man and part character study. He is very good as a famed magician who is framed for murder and suffers for years in prison and captivity before getting his delicious revenge and assuming the murderer's role via plastic surgery.This is not a great film. Despite a good cast it still has the B film look and feel (thanks to LB Mayer no doubt). but Gilbert is very good and has a few scenes in which is is just stunning. He was a great actor and should have had a great career in talkies.Leila Hyams is fine as the love interest. Lewis Stone is solid as the investigator. Jean Hersholt is good as Gilbert's friend. Ian Keith is the cad Gilbert replaces. Natalie Moorhead is very good as the scheming woman. C. Aubrey Smith is the father.But this is John Gilbert's film from the opening scene. He remains a favorite of mine and I will continue to seek out his films. John Gilbert is a lost treasure who deserves to be re-discovered.

Cheri-Bibi is the most celebrated magician & escape artist in France. Young & debonair, he enjoys the attentions of society & the love of one young woman in particular. But when her wealthy father is found murdered & all evidence points to Bibi, he must put all his considerable talents into evading the law long enough to clear his name - while being forced into living a life in the twilight & shadows as THE PHANTOM OF Paris.According to cinematic legend, all the talkie MGM films starring John Gilbert were dreadful - the result of a bitter hatred between Gilbert (the highest paid star in Hollywood, with a $1.5 million contract) & studio boss Louis B. Mayer. A determination on Gilbert's part to fulfill the contract, and a campaign instituted by Mayer to destroy Gilbert's career - including spreading the rumor that Gilbert's voice was 'high & feminine', culminated in several unwatchable movies.Not entirely true. The Studio had a huge financial investment in Jack Gilbert and was not going to completely cut its own throat by showcasing him in nothing but dreck. Of the 8 talkies in which he appeared as solo star (1929 - HIS GLORIOUS NIGHT; 1930 - REDEMPTION; WAY FOR A SAILOR; 1931 - GENTLEMAN'S FATE; THE PHANTOM OF Paris; WEST OF Broadway; 1932 - DOWNSTAIRS; 1933 - FAST WORKERS) most were certainly rather ghastly. THE PHANTOM OF Paris, however, was quite decent, and, indeed, fully representative of the material the studio was producing in 1931.Gilbert does a fine job through much of the film and has one standout scene - hiding in a cellar - which is excellent and shows what he was really capable of. MGM gives him 3 top drawer co-stars (Lewis Stone, Jean Hersholt & marvelous old Sir C. Aubrey Smith) with which to work. The other featured players (Leila Hyams, Ian Keith & Natalie Moorhead) do creditable work. Movie mavens will spot Fletcher Norton in an unbilled role as a society twit.Ian Keith was undoubtedly cast as the villain due to his slight resemblance to Gilbert, which is important to the plot, although he is noticeably taller. However, having Gilbert impersonate Keith and fool Hyams, Moorhead or Stone for even a moment is ludicrous and the weakest point in the story.Finally, about The Voice. There was nothing at all strange or unnaturally high about Gilbert's voice. As a matter of fact, it was of medium range & rather cultured & refined. Which was the crux of the problem, of course. While it is possible that no voice could have ever matched the perfect one viewers heard in their minds while watching his strong, virile silent roles, the reality was very different from what they wanted to hear (imagine Robert Montgomery's voice coming out of Clark Gable's mouth.) Gilbert was doomed from his first scene in his debut talkie; his war with Mayer only intensified the agony. He would die in 1936, forgotten by most of his former fans, at the age of only 36.