Svengali (1931)

Starring John Barrymore, Marian Marsh, Donald Crisp, Bramwell Fletcher, Carmel Myers
Directed by Archie Mayo
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A music instructor with formidable hypnotic powers uses his mesmerism on a beautiful young model and transforms her into a skilled operatic singer, completely under his control.

Based on the novel Trilby by George L. Du Maurier, the picture beefs up the role of the sinister Svengali, whom Barrymore plays in a splendid characterization.  He's abetted by some interesting art direction by Anton Grot, who together with cinematographer Barney McGill, cast sinister shadows on the walls, cloak the villain in darkness while holding a black cat in a key scene, and show the range of Svengali's powers in a couple of memorable traveling shots.  Closeups of Barrymore with opaque contact lenses inserted add more frightening imagery.  Despite all this, I don't think the film goes dark enough when it needs to, and Marsh, as Trilby, despite very beautiful eyes that are attractively showcased, doesn't seem capable of conveying the true horror of what's being done to her.  Fletcher, cast as Trilby's true love Billee, is too bland as the hero opposing Svengali, reminding me of some of David Manners' less inspired performances.  I still think it's a very good film, and it contains one of Barrymore's best performances, but it falls somewhat short for me.