Watch Disraeli For Free

A lot of fun.

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

"Mr. George Arliss" was perhaps the most distinguished thespian of his generation; when he won the Best Actor Oscar for his Talkie portrayal of England's Jewish Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli (whom he had already incarnated in a 1921 Silent), he was the first British performer to be such honoured and, at 61, the oldest to receive this accolade! Arliss was another legend whom I had only ever read about in movie reference books; since the introduction of the internet, I have managed to acquire 10 of his films – but only got to one of them now as part of my Academy Awards marathon! For the record, the other movies I own featuring him are the following: THE GREEN GODDESS (1930; he competed against himself at the Oscars in this remake of a 1923 picture!), Alexander HAMILTON (1931), THE MAN WHO PLAYED GOD (1932), VOLTAIRE (1933), THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD (his rosette in the "Halliwell Film-goer's Companion"), THE IRON DUKE (both 1934), CARDINAL RICHELIEU, THE TUNNEL (both 1935) and his swan-song, DOCTOR SYN (1937). Incidentally, in the past I had already watched John Gielgud in Thorold Dickinson's later Disraeli biopic THE PRIME MINISTER (1941) and Alec Guinness portrayed him in THE MUDLARK (1950)…Anyway, I must admit that I expected this to be a chore to sit through – but was pleasantly surprised with the end result (which was also nominated for Best Picture, yet inevitably lost out to Lewis Milestone's ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT {1930}). Though undeniably stilted in presentation and necessarily talky in approach, it nevertheless proved an interesting history lesson (detailing the tortuous purchase by the British Empire – against stiff Russian competition – of the Suez Canal) as well as, obviously, a valuable record of a famous characterization (Arliss coming across as alternately wily, fiery, devoted and sentimental). The aged British PM is seen as unpopular: the film opens with a Hyde Park diatribe against him, followed by one in the Houses Of Parliament by political rival William Gladstone (himself a Downing Street occupant during numerous legislatures) – nor is he trusted by the country's economic leaders! However, Disraeli is himself a ruthless official, not above endangering his own position (knowingly employing Russian agents among his underlings only to feed them fake information!) and blackmailing the Governor of the Bank Of England (the latter considers the Egyptian deal "a harebrained scheme" and refuses to back it!). When the spies are finally routed and the transaction completed, he is received with full honours by the reclusive Queen Victoria (herself now dubbed "Empress Of India") – accompanied by his ailing wife (played by the star's real-life spouse Florence Arliss), financial allies (who are bestowed with a peerage!) and the film's obligatory romantic interest (supplied by Anthony Bushell and Joan Bennett).

In this filmed stage play, Arliss enacts the celebrated British statesman as he outsmarts a glamorous spy (Doris Lloyd) working for Russia who is trying to disrupt Disraeli's attempts to arrange for Britain to purchase the Suez Canal. One must commit to listening very carefully to the dialogue and squinting earnestly at the images to work up any involvement in this time- tarnished strip of celluloid, so weak is the soundtrack and so murky are the visuals. If these efforts are made, some entertainment can be derived. Arliss commands attention with his hawklike features, extreme coiffure (a sort of pageboy style with a big curl plastered down the middle of his forehead) and theatrically trained diction. He performs this role which he had played on stage and in the silent era with energy and relish. His real-life wife, Florence, plays his wife here and seems to spend half of her screen time chuckling at her husband's utterances. Joan Bennett in the full bloom of late teenage loveliness does "British lady" very well as a noblewoman whom Disraeli takes under wing, as does the strapping Anthony Bushell as her love interest who also works as Disraeli's secretary and agent.

This is one of the few very early talkies that is neither a musical nor an overly dull stage production. It is a fascinating look into a very brief episode in the professional life of British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli - specifically his effort in obtaining the Suez Canal for Great Britain. Arliss gives a well-deserved Academy Award winning performance as the prime minister, and he is so adept at dialogue and with conveying his mood with glances and small gestures and the pace of the film is so brisk that you hardly notice the 1929 movie camera that cannot budge an inch. In this short 90 minute film Disraeli plays matchmaker, mentor, breaker of a spy ring, and master dealmaker with a sophistication of dialogue and acting that is rarely seen in films for another ten years. Particularly moving is the portrayal of Disraeli's relationship with his wife, played by Arliss' actual wife to whom he was wed in 1899 until his death. The mutual respect and tenderness the couple show for one another is quite touching.The audio and video of the VHS version of this film is really in bad shape. There is very bad background hissing in the audio which can make the dialogue - so important to the development of the plot - sometimes difficult to understand. The video doesn't have much scratchiness to it, but there are periods of time when blurry areas will appear on the screen that can be quite distracting, and the contrast is quite poor. However, this film is quite enjoyable 80 years after it was made. Seeing that it is much more than a rickety curio, it would be nice to see Warner Home Video clean up the film technically as much as is possible and put it on DVD.

What inspired writing AND acting!!!! This Blum guy was super, despite the naughty little curl in the middle of his forehead. How close to reality the description of the woman traitor is to real life in the purchasing of the Suez Canal, I don't know, but it makes for an intriguing movie......replete with signaling taps on the table.AS we await tomorrow's presidential election with little hope for any improvement in representation of we the people, I can only get a little comfort from the knowledge that ethics have never bothered politicians in the past. But what DOES bother me is there has been a natural selection of the most brilliant folks leading the leading nations. With someone whose IQ is less than his shoe size, we have no hope..........unless, like the queen, he turns over the government to the Cheneys, and the Republican establishment. Amoral though they are, they aren't dumb. Just so was Disraeli.Whoever wrote the screen play was inspired and the editors didn't try to dumb him down, as opposed to today's movie producers/establishment. It's so very sad to see smart writing relegated to when we the people were considered to have half a brain. The picture of the devotion Disraeli had to his wife is also inspiring.The wooden performances and highly stylized acting were true of the time, and is a hoot in and of itself. See this one!!!!