War is never a solution. It's an aggravation.
Disraeli (1929) - watched 7/17/24
Director: Alfred E. Green
Writer: Julien Josephson
Starring: George Arliss, Doris Lloyd, David Torrence, Joan Bennett
Available to watch? Not available to stream
First Time Watch? Yes
I’m writing this on Sunday, July 21, 2024, the day that Joe Biden announced he was stepping down as a candidate for the 2024 presidential election. I’m sure there are going to be a lot of smart things written about this day by the time I publish this, as well as a lot of very stupid things. I’m not planning to add to either pile, but it feels odd not to mention it considering this post’s subject is a historical drama based on a politician—a British politician, but still.
In light of the news, my fiancé and I were moved to watch Secret Honor, a 1984 Robert Altman film starring Philip Baker Hall as Richard Nixon. In the film, Nixon, alone in his study, slowly comes undone as he recounts his career and the events that led to Watergate, monologuing to an imagined judge in an attempt to absolve himself of all responsibility. He gulps down whiskey, yells into a tape recorder, speaks tenderly and apologetically to a portrait of his mother, and at one point holds a gun to his head. Philip Baker Hall is stunning to watch, with manic, electric energy as the disgraced Nixon, ping-ponging from wall to wall as he curses and rants. A lot could have gone wrong with a film set entirely in one location, featuring only one actor for a full 90 minutes. But with both a captivating performance and smart direction, well—it works. It works in a way that I whole-heartedly believe could have only been pulled off by Robert Altman.
My only minor quibble with Secret Honor is that the dialogue can get a little dense, but that’s also kind of the point. We’re meant to get as lost in Nixon’s madness as he is. Altman is also good at giving us enough pauses and quiet moments to let that dialogue breathe. So I guess that’s barely even a quibble. I can’t necessarily recommend it at this specific moment in time, especially if you’re experiencing political fatigue, but I also can’t think of a more apt time to pay a visit to Robert Altman and Philip Baker Hall’s version of Nixon. So I guess I’m not helpful at all! Watch it or don’t, do what you want!!
A man who never makes jokes is a standing joke to the world.
It’s the 1870s, and Benjamin Disraeli (George Arliss) is Prime Minister of the UK. He learns that Egypt is broke, and in such dire straits that they’re willing to sell off the Suez Canal. This is a very titillating prospect for Disraeli, since the purchase of the Suez Canal would secure British control over India. I’m already bored and kind of pissed off by this point.
Charles (Anthony Bushell), who is just some guy I guess, proposes to some lady named Clarissa (Joan Bennett) because they need to shoehorn a romance into this movie to make it even halfway interesting, and they even failed at that. Anyway, Clarissa turns down the proposal from Charles, and confoundingly one of the reasons why she can’t marry him is because he doesn’t have a strong opinion one way or the other about Prime Minister Disraeli, and she’s freaking goo-goo ga-ga over the guy. Can’t relate!
In order to impress Clarissa, Charles starts working for Disraeli, conveniently at the same time that two spies for Russia also start “working” for Disraeli. The spies try to get information out of Charles, and he keeps quiet, but his whole vibe is off, so their suspicions that Disraeli has enlisted the help of a banker to fund the purchase of the Suez Canal is all but confirmed. One of the spies scurries back to Russia to inform the powers that be. But Disraeli? That guy’s no slouch. He finds out about the spies, and decides to send Charles to intercept them and convince Egypt to proceed with the sale of the Suez Canal.
But surely it can’t be that easy! And it’s not—Disraeli’s banker buddy informs him that they are, in fact, broke, and can’t go through with the purchase. Running out of options, Disraeli turns to the head of the Bank of England, who was against the purchase of the Suez Canal from the start, and convinces himm to provide unlimited credit to the banker in order to secure the deal.
I think I just fell asleep for a second, typing this.
So the Suez Canal is bought, which gives the Queen the new title of Empress of India (ugh) and the film ends with Disraeli and his wife attending a lavish reception for the Queen. So, you know, this was basically just Colonialism: The Movie. It’s all so very gross and I was fucking psyched when it ended!
You're the only man in all the world who neither likes nor dislikes Mr. Disraeli.
I am fully prepared for this to be my shortest review to date, and to also possibly be my shortest review moving forward. Because there really wasn’t much to Disraeli to discuss. It is certainly a film. And I definitely watched it. But I’m not sure that it’s a film that really has anything to say, so I’m not sure how to say anything about it.
It’s an extremely dry, un-cinematic film. Disraeli, the character, has some good lines occasionally that might have elicited a “heh” out of me, but that’s about as moved as I could manage to get. George Arliss’ performance was solid, and I just loved his cunty little curly bang, but this was ultimately pretty slow, boring, and it’s definitely not something I would have sought out on my own. I can’t in good conscience recommend this to someone, unless they needed something wholly unexciting and disengaging to fall asleep to.
This is the kind of movie that I might have caught on TCM at my grandparents’ house when I was a little kid and determined that old movies are boooooring. And, honestly, that would have been a fair assessment. One would think that the movie would have picked up at least a little steam by including the love story, and even the introduction of the spies doesn’t add any much-needed excitement or intrigue. It’s all just so straight, so dry, pretty much all dialogue and no action.
But Janelle, you might say, Didn’t you just give a glowing review of a movie about a politician that’s heavy on dialogue and light on action? And yes, fair! But the main thing about Secret Honor that I loved, and that Disraeli sorely lacked, was earnest, unbridled emotion. Secret Honor also makes it quite explicit that we’re not supposed to see Nixon as a hero—we can empathize, we can understand, we can even get a kick out of him a little bit, but the movie never celebrates him. Disraeli’s whole thing is selling Benjamin Disraeli as a hero. We want him to buy his way into power over India, don’t we folks? Feels pretty grimy just typing that out, I gotta say!
George Arliss gives a pretty good, and fairly amusing performance as Disraeli, who was apparently a mildly funny, kindly fellow. It’s too early to tell whether or not he fully deserved his Academy Award win for this role, but he did a fine enough job. That’s to be expected, though, considering Arliss also originated the role in both a stage play and a 1921 version of the same film.
I’ll tell you one thing for certain, though—George Arliss is NO Philip Baker Hall.
New wine has been poured into old bottles, and an explosion must follow sooner or later.
Quick Facts:
Nominated for 3 Academy Awards
Best Actor (George Arliss, won)
Best Writing (Julien Josephson)
Best Picture
First Best Picture nominee to be based on a real historical figure. Similarly, the first Best Picture nominee to have a person’s name as the title
George Arliss’ Best Actor nomination was historic in a number of ways: First British actor to be nominated, first actor to be nominated twice in the same year (his other nomination was for The Green Goddess), first actor to win for reprising a role, and first actor to win for a remake
My Rating: ⭐
Next Up: The Divorcee (1930)