Don Juan is one of the most fabled characters in the arts. Although he may not have actually existed, people in Spain and Latin America claim that he was a native son. Don Juan’s reputation has become so legendary that even the name means a womanizer, libertine, or a man who engages in promiscuity. On stage and on screen, Don Juan’s story has inspired many dramatic adaptations.
“Don Juan” (1926) stars the charismatic John Barrymore in the title role. This successful silent film was the biggest hit Warner Bros had to date. It bears the distinction of being the first feature film with a synchronized score and sound effects using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc sound system.
More than 20 years later, this story was remade as “Adventures of Don Juan” (1948), a Technicolor talkie with Warner Bros.’s current swashbuckling star, Errol Flynn. Much had changed in Hollywood since Barrymore played the great lover. Talkies had completely replaced silent films, and movies were usually produced in color instead of use in only occasional novelty scenes.
‘Don Juan’ (1926)
“Don Juan” begins when the title character is a 5-year-old boy (Yvonne Day). His father, Don Jose (Barrymore), is devastated to discover that his wife (Jane Winton) is unfaithful to him. Furious, he seals her lover up in the wall alive and drives his wife out. He throws himself into a life of debauchery but ends up getting stabbed by a jealous mistress (Helena D’Algy). He tells his now 10-year-old son (Philippe De Lacy) to follow his example of taking everything from women, but never to give his heart in return.
Years later, Don Juan (Barrymore) is a grown man who has gained a notorious reputation as a promiscuous lover. He’s so popular that it’s not uncommon for him to have three women in his hacienda at one time. In Italy, he attracts the attention of the vicious Lucrezia Borgia (Estelle Taylor), who vows to seduce him or kill him.
Meanwhile, her powerful family is the sworn enemy of the Varnese family, although one of her kinsmen lusts after the duke’s beautiful, pure young daughter, Adriana (Mary Astor). Don Juan is also attracted to her, but her nobility and gentle spirit make him fall so deeply in love with her that he wants to reform for her sake.
John Barrymore was one of the ultimate lovers of the silver screen and quite a ladies’ man offscreen, as well. He was at his most dashing in “Don Juan,” although he was 45 at the time and had been an alcoholic for 30 years. As a mature man, Barrymore is still handsome, suave, and very believable in the role of the famous lover. His wry smile and ironically comical demeanor temper the character’s lechery with an endearing playfulness. Two of the ladies in this film became big stars in the 1930s—Myrna Loy, who played the Asian servant girl Mai, and Mary Astor, who played leading lady Adriana. Astor was only 19 at the time and had just been named a WAMPAS (Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers) Baby Star.
‘The New Adventures of Don Juan’ (1948)
“The New Adventures of Don Juan” begins when famed Spanish swordsman and ladies’ man, Don Juan de Maraña (Flynn), escapes the jealous husband of his latest sweetheart by masquerading as a visiting nobleman. This gets him in even more trouble, however, since he spoils the arranged marriage between the real nobleman and an Englishwoman who turns out to be Juan’s former sweetheart. Juan is sent back to Spain as punishment; the Spanish ambassador to London, Don Jose (Robert Warwick), recommends Juan’s appointment as a fencing instructor because of his friendship with Don Juan’s late father.The beautiful Queen Margaret (Viveca Lindfors) denounces Don Juan’s useless lifestyle, and her harshness affect him deeply. He dedicates himself to working as the fencing instructor at the Royal Academy, giving up his former life of idle pleasure. He is inspired by more than his new job, however. He is motivated to reform by his admiration and love for the queen.
Meanwhile, she and her weak husband, King Philip III (Romney Brent), are in dangerous positions because a ruthless nobleman (Robert Douglas) aims to take over the government and plunge Spain into war. Juan must fight this evil man for his country and its beautiful queen.
Warner Bros. considered re-making “Don Juan” with Errol Flynn in the late 1930s. The idea was a natural, since Flynn was also a ladies’ man with attributes similar to John Barrymore’s. Nevertheless, it was delayed several times because people involved were assigned to other projects.
Different Dons
Both films feature Don Juan interacting with real historic characters, Lucretia and other Borgias in the 1926 film, and Queen Margaret and King Philip III of Spain in the 1948 version. Both films include a drastic change in behavior for the main character after he meets a virtuous woman, whose love transforms him. Neither film ends with the character dying or being dragged down to hell, which serves as a drastic punishment in some other stories about the Don.The biggest difference between these two films is that we see much more of his wayward life in Barrymore’s portrayal before he reforms in the earlier film. “Don Juan” (1926) holds the record of the most onscreen kisses in film history, with Barrymore smooching various actresses a total of 191 times. Many of Juan’s conquests in this movie are married women, making these affairs adulterous as well as extramarital.
In contrast, the 1948 movie establishes from the outset that its Don Juan wants nothing to do with married women. In the opening scene, he doesn’t realize that his latest paramour is married until he scales her balcony, recoiling when she mentions her husband. After her husband arrives unexpectedly, Juan comically tries to avoid fighting him while giving some sound marital advice. He only has a couple of onscreen kisses with just two women.
The silent film is a story of redemption, but as is often the case, it revels in the debauchery a little too much before Don Juan reforms. The lewd dancing, risqué costumes, excessive and lustful kissing, suicide, and adultery are the most memorable elements, and it ends with a pretty questionable character riding off into the sunset with his ladylove with no punishment and little penitence.
In contrast, the Production Code film is a beautiful example of the transformative power that an example of virtue, fortitude, and bravery can have on someone. Don Juan is a casual flirt who refutes romantic relationships with married women in the opening, and he becomes a changed man after growing to sincerely care for the queen. He knows that they can never be together, since she is a married woman who has a duty to her country, and so becomes a man of honor. “Adventures of Don Juan” is a clear example of the transformative power of the Code.
Two films take viewers on different journeys through the life of the fabled lover. The difference lay in the effort Hollywood took to restrain itself with a code of moral standards.
