BARDELYS THE MAGNIFICENT (1926) ¢ ¢ ¢
D: King Vidor
John Gilbert, Eleanor Boardman, Roy D'Arcy,
Lionel Belmore, Emily Fitzroy, George K. Arthur,
Arthur Lubin, Karl Dane, Theodore von Eltz
In a role that seems made for Douglas Fairbanks, John Gilbert plays a retainer to the French king, who makes a bet that the can win the heart of a certain lady in three months' time. Things get complicated when he takes on the identity of a dead revolutionary and finds he's wanted for treason. You know it'll all work out in the end, after some intrigue and a few chases and sword fights and a longing look and a clinch or two. His career faded with the coming of sound, but toward the end of the silent era, Gilbert was second only to Valentino as a male romantic lead. This movie gives you an idea why. It hasn't got the brash exuberance of the Fairbanks films, but it's a good, lively swashbuckler, the production values are high-end, and wait till you see the costumes on the men of the king's court.
