The Private Life of Don Juan ** (1934, Douglas Fairbanks, Merle Oberon, Binnie Barnes, Joan Gardner, Benita Hume, Melville Cooper, Athene Seyler ) – Classic Movie Review 8159

Director Alexander Korda’s 1934 romantic comedy The Private Life of Don Juan stars Douglas Fairbanks Sr as an aging Don Juan, who, weary of love, retires by faking his funeral until he has to prove his old prowess after so many horrible works of fiction about him.

Fairbanks Sr’s last swashbuckler lacks spirit and polish, and the star himself seems rather weary. Producer Korda sends in the pretty ingénues (Merle Oberon, Joan Gardner) to no avail, but Binnie Barnes (as maid Rosita), Athene Seyler (as the innkeeper Theresa), and Melville Cooper (as Leporello) amuse unfailingly. Benita Hume plays Don Juan’s wife Dona Dolores, who still loves him though they have not lived together for five years.

Fairbanks Sr had seen and admired Korda’s 1933 worldwide hit The Private Life of Henry VIII and was trying to emulate it, in terms of style, tone and success, unsuccessfully it turns out.

The Private Life of Don Juan is directed by Alexander Korda, runs 89 minutes, is made by London Film Productions, is released by United Artists, is written by Frederick Lonsdale and Lajos Biro (story and dialogue), based on the play by Henri Bataille, is shot in black and white by Georges Périnal and Robert Krasker, is produced by Alexander Korda, is scored by Ernst Toch and designed by Vincent Korda.

Also in the cast are Benita Hume, Owen Nares, Patricia Hilliard, Clifford Heatherley, Heather Thatcher, Gina Malo, Barry MacKay, Claud Allister, Diana Napier, Lawrence Grossmith, Bruce Winston, Edmund Willard, Gibson Gowland, Edmund Breon and Hay Petrie.

It is Fairbanks Sr’s last movie, apart from an uncredited appearance as himself at a fictional premiere in Ali Baba Goes to Town (1937).

Alexander Korda’s Private Lives (The Private Life of Henry VIII / The Rise of Catherine the Great / The Private Life of Don Juan / and Rembrandt) are available on DVD in The Criterion Collection.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8159

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