When a Man Loves (1927)

WHEN A MAN LOVES  (1927)  ¢ ¢ ¢
    D: Alan Crosland
    John Barrymore, Dolores Costello, Warner Oland,
    Sam De Grasse, Holmes Herbert, Stuart Holmes
An opulent costume romance set in 18th-century France, with Barrymore as an aspiring man of the cloth and Dolores Costello as a woman who makes his commitment to chastity somewhat difficult. Also, there's treachery and sword fighting and cheating at cards and a revolt aboard a prison ship. (Criminals considered too wicked for French prisons in this film face an even more horrible fate: deportation to Louisiana.) Swashbuckling takes over toward the end, and Barrymore gets manic in the action scenes.