LeonLouisRicci Forgettable Early Talkie with John Gilbert Giving Hs All, this Pre-Code Film has a Good Premise but is Strained and Stilted. It's one of those that Screams Stage Play, is Well Acted but Not Stylish and a bit Clunky.Everyone goes Through the Motions and in the End, Despite a Twisty, Labored Climax the Movie Borders on Boring. There are much Better Examples of Horror from the Time Period like "Mystery of the Wax Museum" (1933), "Dracula" (1931), and "Dr. X" (1933).Overall, Fans of John Gilbert can witness His Transition to Talkies and Despite a Good Speaking Voice, His Career was Mishandled by MGM and given the Short End by the Studio. While always a Pleasure to Watch (and hear), His Talking Pictures were mostly Mediocre.

kidboots John Gilbert liked nothing better than to get his teeth into a gritty character part (rather like John Barrymore) and when talkies came in he got his chance. Even though he excelled at the few meaty parts he was given (an absolute cad in "Downstairs", an alcoholic given one more chance in "The Captain Hates the Sea") as a reviewer says, after "His Glorious Night" the writing was on the wall for him, as far as the studio was concerned and they tried their best to push him from one pot boiler to another. That he succeeded and gave some of his finest performances shows that he was not such a one dimensional player as a lot of people thought.Now Gaston LeRoux is known for the horror book "The Phantom of the Opera" but back in his day his main claim to fame was as the creator of Rouletabille, a teenage crime reporter who was the French equivalent of Sherlock Holmes and also for his creation of Cheri-Bibi, an adventurer who was Leroux's most popular character.This is just a marvelous movie with enough twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat. Cheri-Bibi (Gilbert) is a great escapologist "the sensation of the world" who wows audiences where ever he performs. One person who is not "wowed" is Lt. Costaud (Lewis Stone, who else!!) who is even skeptical when Cheri performs a "Houdini" like escape from a sealed barrel of water using Costaud's own handcuffs - of course he escapes, he always does!! Costaud has been hired by Inspector Bourrelier (C. Aubrey Smith) to try to expose him so as to disillusion his daughter Cecile (Leila Hyams) but her love is of the strongest. Even though Bourrelier doesn't like Cheri, he has found out some disturbing news about his future son-in -law, Touchesis (Ian Keith) - that he is a fortune hunter only interested in Cecile for her money and he already has a mistress - the predatory Vera (Natalie Moorehead, where would pre-codes be without her!!) But before he can change his will which requests Cecile and Touchesis marry, he is murdered!! Cheri, of course, is arrested but daringly escapes and lives for years in a dungeon like room at the toymakers (Jean Hersholt). This is just a marvelous movie and with more than a passing nod to "Les Miserables" as Costaud, like Javet, is a policeman who never gives up his search. When Costaud gets too close Cheri escapes again and .... but the plot is just too involving!! Needless to say Cheri returns, disguised as Touchesis and learns that the man was a tyrant who has never had the affection or love of his wife and even incites fear in his own son (adorable Douglas Scott).I enjoyed this movie far more than "Downstairs" and it shows that if Gilbert hadn't met such an early death he could have spent the rest of his life in character parts. The title was obviously a ploy to align itself with "The Phantom of the Opera".

ducdebrabant This turned out to be a nifty little flick. Not too surprising, since Leatrice Fountain's book on Gilbert said it was popular with both critics and audiences, though not with big enough audiences to help Gilbert much, since attendance was way down after the Crash. Based on a novel ("Cheri-Bibi") by Gaston Leroux, the author of "The Phantom of the Opera," it concerns a celebrated escape artist who is framed for the murder of his beloved's father by the man who intends to marry her for her money. Later on, having escaped from prison, he tries to clear himself by impersonating (with the help of plastic surgery) the real killer. Gilbert is very good indeed, and the far-fetched story goes down easily. There is a certain continental formality to the goings-on, and he gets to be most debonair. It's surprisingly easy to accept that everybody else buys the impersonation, since Gilbert is quite good at mimicking the carriage and mannerisms of Ian Keith, who plays the real Marquis Du Touchais in the early scenes. Leila Hyams is a lovely girl and a competent actress, but she's one of those actresses of the period (like Ann Harding) who are always perfect ladies and don't haunt the memory much. What Hyams is able to do, however, in both this and "Way for a Sailor," is seem worth it. She's the kind of intelligent, modest, upright and attractive woman a man would go to lengths to make his wife. And she benefits a lot from the decision to use Rene Hubert as the costumer. The gowns and furs and hats in this movie are the very last word in chic, and several of them were probably talked about quite a lot by women who saw the film. One jacket Hyams wears has a narrow ermine collar and huge, turned-back ermine cuffs lined with sable and trailing sable tassels. A supporting character wears another two-toned fur later on. Players like Lewis Stone (as a principled but sympathetic detective nemesis) and C. Aubrey Smith (as the murdered man) don't disappoint either. This is literally a dark film, rarely going outdoors and almost never in sunlight. There's a great deal of evocative chiaroscuro used to further the Gothic mood. The director John S. Robertson was unfamiliar to me. He turns out to have had a much longer career in silents (he directed his last sound film in 1935), but he's perfectly competent in the talkies medium. The dialogue is by Edwin Justus Mayer, and there's just the right amount of it. Robertson has some excellent credits, including directing Pickford in "Tess of the Storm Country," Garbo in "The Single Standard" and John Barrymore in "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." Nobody ever mentions a "phantom of Paris" in the movie (though Cheri-Bibi does elude the law very effectively most of the time). The title was undoubtedly to call attention to the fact that the author of the story was Leroux.

AnnieP This is a story that combines a Houdini-like hero (Gilbert), his blonde leading lady for the third pic in a row (Leila Hyams) and an able cast supporting. It's a case of two lovers separated by the evil dealings of a Marques bent on keeping his fiancee's money, never mind the fiancee. To keep himself in dough, he kills her father, frames her lover and finally dies of the flu.Everybody does well, but all are wasted - and to give a guy who looks like John Gilbert does plastic surgery half-way through the picture is a really bad idea.Mr. Gilbert is good (as always), Miss Hyams is good at what shedoes (and the two of them not only look good together, they play well as lovers); the bad guy (Ian Keith) and his blonde amour (Moorehead) are appropriately sleazy. Everybody looks great in evening clothes.Somebody give them some character development! The actors do what they can, professionals all, but there's no spark. Nobody to blame but the writers!