The Devil’s in Love ** (1933, Victor Jory, Loretta Young, Vivienne Osborne, Robert Barrat, C Henry Gordon, Herbert Mundin, J Carrol Naish, Bela Lugosi) – Classic Movie Review 10,454

‘He ran away from life… from the past… from love! Until he met a girl who gave him courage to face fate.’

German-born director William Dieterle [Wilhelm Dieterle]’s 1933 The Devil’s in Love stars Victor Jory as Foreign Legion doctor, Lieutenant André Morand, who makes his escape, assumes another identity and falls in love with Margot Lesesne (Loretta Young). He then sets out to try to remove the stain on his reputation from a murder that he did not do after he was unjustly convicted of murdering an army major.

This unsurprising adventure thriller/ romantic drama is quite a lot ancient and quite a bit creaky. But the piece’s interestingly odd atmosphere and all the hard work from director Dieterle and the talented players in the first-rate cast count.

Bela Lugosi is effective as the military prosecutor, a tiny but significant part in just one scene that he makes the most of.

Howard Estabrook’s screenplay comes from Harry Hervey’s unpublished and uncopyrighted story Consul of the Damned.

Also in the cast are Vivienne Osborne, David Manners, Robert Barrat, C Henry Gordon, Herbert Mundin, J Carrol Naish, Bela Lugosi, John Davidson, Emil Chautard, Francis McDonald, Dewey Robinson and Akim Tamiroff.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,454

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