''When a Man Loves'' is a 1927 American synchronized sound

historical drama film A historical drama (also period drama, period piece or just period) is a dramatic work set in the past, usually used in the context of film and television, which presents historical events and characters with varying degrees of fiction such as c ...

directed by

Alan Crosland Frederick Alan Crosland (August 10, 1894 – July 16, 1936) was an American stage actor and film director. He is noted for having directed the first feature film using spoken dialogue, ''The Jazz Singer'' (1927) and the first feature movie with s ...

and produced and distributed by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using the

Vitaphone Vitaphone was a sound film system used for feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects made by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National Pictures, First National from 1926 to 1931. Vitaphone is the last major analog sound-on-disc sys ...

sound-on-disc process. The picture stars John Barrymore and features Dolores Costello in the frequently filmed story of Abbé Prévost's 1731 novel '' Manon Lescaut''. The lovers suffer, but the film has an optimistic ending, as they head to America. Manon dies at the end of the novel. The UK release title was ''His Lady''. The film was the third feature from Warners to have a pre-recorded

soundtrack.

Plot

Chevalier Fabien des Grieux, who has forsworn the world for the church, falls passionately in love with young Manon Lescaut when he encounters her en route to a convent with her brother André. The lustful Comte Guillot de Morfontaine offers André a tempting sum for Manon, and learning of their bargain, Fabien takes her to Paris, where they spend an idyllic week in a garret. André finds her, persuades her to leave Fabien, and tries to force her into an alliance with Morfontaine—then rescues Manon from the advances of a brutal Apache. Fabien, crushed to believe that Manon has become Morfontaine's mistress, is about to take his vows but is deterred by her love for him. King Louis sees Manon in Richelieu's drawing room and wins her. The rejected Morfontaine orders her arrest and deportation, but he is killed by Fabien, who joins Manon on a convict ship bound for America. After inciting the convicts to mutiny, he escapes with her in a small boat. He points to the horizon and declares “Yonder—America! For us freedom—And everlasting love!”

Cast

* John Barrymore as Chevalier Fabien des Grieux * Dolores Costello as Manon Lescaut * Warner Oland as André Lescaut * Sam De Grasse as Comte Guillot de Morfontaine * Holmes Herbert as Jean Tiberge *

Stuart Holmes Stuart Holmes (born Joseph Liebchen; March 10, 1884 – December 29, 1971) was an American actor and sculptor whose career spanned seven decades. He appeared in almost 450 films between 1909 and 1964, sometimes credited as Stewart Holmes. Biog ...

as Louis XV, King of France *

Bertram Grassby Bertram Grassby (23 December 1880 – 7 December 1953) was an English actor. He appeared in more than 90 silent film, silent era films between 1914 and 1927. Grassby was married to American actress Gerard Alexander. He was born in Lincolnshire, ...

as Le Duc de Richelieu *

Tom Santschi Paul William "Tom" Santschi (October 24, 1880 – April 9, 1931) was an American leading man and character actor of the silent film era. Personal life Santschi was born in Missouri to Paul Santschi, a Swiss immigrant, and Margaret Kern, a nat ...

as Captain of convict boat * Marcelle Corday as Marie, a servant * Charles Clary as a lay brother * Templar Saxe as Baron Chevral *

Eugenie Besserer Eugenie Besserer ( – May 29, 1934) was a French-American actress who starred in silent films and features of the early sound motion-picture era, beginning in 1910. Her most prominent role is that of the title character's mother in the first ...

as the landlady * Rose Dione as Nana *

Noble Johnson Noble Johnson (April 18, 1881 – January 9, 1978), later known as Mark Noble, was an American actor and film producer. He appeared in films such as '' The Mummy'' (1932), '' The Most Dangerous Game'' (1932), ''King Kong'' (1933) and '' Son o ...

as an Apache * Tom Wilson as convict aboard the boat *

Myrna Loy Myrna Loy (born Myrna Adele Williams; August 2, 1905 – December 14, 1993) was an American film, television and stage actress. As a performer, she was known for her ability to adapt to her screen partner's acting style. Born in Helena, Monta ...

as woman on ship *Source:

Production

''When a Man Loves'' re-teamed Barrymore and Costello after 1925's '' The Sea Beast''. The film is the third and last film in Barrymore's first Warners contract, having been preceded by ''The Sea Beast'' and ''Don Juan''. He and director

re-teamed at

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

to make '' The Beloved Rogue'', another French costume story that was selected because of the popularity of ''When a Man Loves''. This film version of ''When a Man Loves'' repeats the ending of ''The Sea Beast'', providing a happy ending rather than the tragic ending of the source material. Many of the people who worked on the previous year's ''

Don Juan Don Juan (), also known as Don Giovanni ( Italian), is a legendary fictional Spanish libertine who devotes his life to seducing women. The original version of the story of Don Juan appears in the 1630 play (''The Trickster of Seville and t ...

'' worked on ''When a Man Loves'', such as director Crosland, writer Bess Meredyth, editor Harold McCord, and director of photography

Byron Haskin Byron Conrad Haskin (April 22, 1899 – April 16, 1984) was an American film and television director, special effects creator and cinematographer. He is best known for directing '' The War of the Worlds'' (1953), one of many films where he ...

Response

When the film played in the theater, the audience was amazed that the sound was coming from the speakers, not from an actual live orchestra. A ''New York Times'' reviewer wrote that he, and probably the rest of the audience, forgot the fact that there was actually no orchestra in the theater. At the end of the film, The Vitaphone Symphony Orchestra was shown to the audience for about 15 seconds.

Box office

According to Warner Bros. records, the film earned $732,000 in the U.S. and $305,000 in other markets.

Premiere Vitaphone short subjects

''When a Man Loves'' premiered at the Selwyn Theatre in New York City on February 3, 1927.

Home media

On June 16, 2009, ''When a Man Loves'' was released on DVD from Warner's Archive Collection. This was the film's first home video appearance.

Other film versions

* '' Manon Lescaut'' (1914) * '' Manon Lescaut'' (1926) * '' Manon Lescaut'' (1940)

References

External links

* * *
lobby poster

alternate poster
rare)HeritageAuctions * accessible version o
alternate poster
* The full film on

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:When A Man Loves 1927 films 1927 romantic drama films 1920s American films 1920s English-language films 1920s historical romance films American black-and-white films American historical romance films American romantic drama films American silent feature films Articles containing video clips English-language historical romance films English-language romantic drama films Films about prostitution in France Films based on French novels Films based on works by Antoine François Prévost Films directed by Alan Crosland Films set in the 18th century Films with screenplays by Bess Meredyth Silent American romantic drama films Silent historical romance films Surviving American silent films Synchronized sound films Transitional sound films Warner Bros. films