The Man Who Played God
                            
Director: John Adolfi
Year: 1932
Rating: 7.0
This feels as stiff, moralistic and antiquated as a wooden washboard as it seems more a play, than a film with its lack of camera movement and only a few interior locations. But it is surprisingly effective as it moves along - primarily due to some very fine acting by all the participants. They take a stationary film and give it life, emotional depth. George Arliss is the star here - at the time he was considered an actor's actor getting roles as Disraeli, Hamilton, Voltaire and other eminent characters. Certainly not young nor handsome. he did it strictly on acting ability. These days his performances can feel stuffy with a thick layer of dust on them, but the more you see of him, the more you realize is how good he was - especially in comparison to other actors who were new to talking pictures. He had done silent films since the early 1920s - in fact he had made this film as a silent film as was also the case with Disraeli. 



He plays a concert pianist, back in the day when pianists were stars and revered - when did that stop? - and he is considered the best. He is a bachelor living with his sister (Louise Closser Hale), his loyal butler (Ivan Simpson) and his young female protégé. Bette Davis was about to cash in her chips and return to New York and theater. She had had enough of Hollywood and the lousy films she appeared in. Arliss wanted her though to play his protégé - he saw something in her that no one else had - and he later said, she was even better than I expected. She only has a few scenes, but she glows and makes you believe that she loves Arliss. That the age difference doesn't matter to her. Another actress could have made nothing of this, but Davis pours herself into the role. She gave Arliss credit for saving her career. This was made for Warners and afterwards they offered Davis a contract and she stayed at Warners for years making some great films. I keep telling myself that I have to watch more of her early films - her and Stanwyck. When they made films for actresses.



While playing the Moonlight Sonata, a bomb explodes outside the window and he loses his hearing. Loses his worth as he sees it. If he can't play music anymore, what is the point of living. He questions the existence of God - if there is a God, why does he allow such cruelty in the word. A question we are still asking ourselves. He looks for death from the height of his house overlooking Central Park, but in despair he instead finds redemption, purpose. Corny I guess but it works. Arliss has some great dramatic moments in the film - when he realizes he is deaf as he tries to continue with the Moonlight and when he is at his bleakest. Ray Milland has a nice bit part towards the end. Davis was to appear again with Arliss the following year in The Working Man, also directed by John Adolfi.