23 Svengali ( 1931 )

This  one  isn't  quite  in  the  same  league  but  it's  worth  watching  if  you  can  take  John  Barrymore's  over-ripe  performance  in  the  title  role  with  his  multiple  accents  and  gravity-defying  beard. Based  on  a  Gothic  horror  novel  it  concerns  a  self-regarding  but  unrecognised   Polish  pianist  looking  for  a  singer  to  propel  him  to  fame  and  riches. He  finds  what  he  is looking  for  in  Trilby  O  Farrell  ( Marian  Marsh )  an  artists'  model   and  uses  his  real  talent - hypnosis - to  bend  her  to  his  will. There's  a  central  flaw  in  the  narrative  that  a  girl  like Trilby  would  probably  be  amenable  to  stardom  and  wealth  without  being  hypnotised  but  it's still  a  decent  horror  film. It  was  so  successful  that  Warner  Brothers  quickly  signed  the  pair  up  for  a  similar  film,  The  Mad  Genius , before  the  year  was  out .

Marian  Marsh   ( as  Trilby )

Sex  :  Hmm,  there's  a  lot  of  innuendo  around  Trilby. Svengali  insinuates  that  Trilby  has  slept  with  many  of  her  employers  and  persuades  her  that  she  is  unworthy  of  her  boyfriend  Billee ( Bramwell  Fletcher ). Later  in  the  film  though  Svengali's  words  are   open  to  the  interpretation  that  they  haven't   had  a  sexual  relationship  because  his  spell  cannot  make  her  love  him.

In  one  scene  we  see  Trilby  at  work  apparently  posing  in  the  nude  for  a  room  full  of  artists. Even  without  the  benefit  of  the  pause  button  , the  obvious  difference  in  skin  tone  suggests she's  posing  behind  a  prop  torso   and  when  she  runs  away  on  seeing  Billy  she's  clearly wearing  a  white  dress . However  we  do  see  her  bare-shouldered.

Death :  Svengali's  spell  has  the  power to  force  her  to  die  with  him  ( he's  suffering  from  a  heart condition )  at  the  film's  conclusion.

Marian's  real  name  was  Violet  Krauth  , the  daughter  of  a  German  chocolate-maker  based  in Trinidad. She  was  a  successful  actress  who  knew  her  own  mind  and  retired  from  acting  in 1959. She  set  up  a  conservation  charity  in  the  1960s  and  died  in  2006  aged  93.

Carmel  Myers ( as  Madame  Honori )

Sex :   It's   hinted  that  Madame  Honori  has  been  Svengali's  mistress  but  without  money  or talent  he's  no  longer  interested  in  her.

Death : Drowns  in  the  Seine  ( offscreen  ). It's  left  ambiguous  whether  this  is  an  act  of  free will  after  Svengali's  rejection   or  under  the  compulsion  of  Svengali's  spell.

Carmel  had  been  a  big  name  in  the  twenties  as  a  silent  screen  vamp  but  was at  the  tail  end  of  her  film  career  here. She  later  dabbled  in  real  estate  and  a  perfume  company  before  a  brief  TV  comeback  in  the  early  seventies. She  died  in  1980  aged  81.