Trilby
Cast & Crew
Maurice Tourneur
Clara Kimball Young
Wilton Lackaye
Paul Mcallister
Chester Barnett
D. J. Flanagan
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Trilby O'Farrell, who models for English artist Little Billie, plans to marry him, but on the night that their engagement is to be announced, the wandering musician Svengali, who met Trilby in Billie's Parisian Latin Quarter studio, hypnotizes her and takes her to England with him. Svengali's power changes Trilby's harsh voice into a beautifully operatic one, and with the help of his pupil Gecko, Svengali molds Trilby into one of Europe's great singers, thus making much money for himself. During the intermission of a performance that Billie, who has returned to England, attends, Svengali, suffering great strain from keeping Trilby under his influence, staggers off stage and dies. When the curtain rises, Trilby's voice returns to her normally untalented one, and she is hooted off the stage. After a party to celebrate Trilby's reunion with Billie, Billie and some friends hear a scream and a fall, as they wait outside Trilby's door for the elevator. They find Trilby dead with the reflected gaze of a life-size portrait of Svengali staring at them in the mirror before which Trilby last stood.
Director
Maurice Tourneur
Cast
Clara Kimball Young
Wilton Lackaye
Paul Mcallister
Chester Barnett
D. J. Flanagan
Crew
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The play had its premiere earlier in London and previewed in Boston on March 10, 1895 before the New York opening. This was the first film of the Equitable Motion Pictures Corp. It opened in New York on September 6, 1915 at the Forty-fourth St. Theater, with accompaniment by a full orchestra, and music composed by S. L. Rothapfel. The film was re-issued in 1917 by World with new art nouveau titles, and re-issued again in 1920 by the Republic Distributing Corp.
In 1923, Richard Walton Tully Productions made Trilby, which was distributed by Associated First National Pictures, directed by James Young and starring Andrée Lafayette and Creighton Hale (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1921-30). In 1931, Warner Bros. made Svengali, partially based on the same source, starring John Barrymore and Marion Marsh, and directed by Archie Mayo (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40). In 1955, M-G-M made Svengali, directed by Noel Langley and starring Hildegarde Neff and Donald Wolfit.
