Downstairs

'Downstairs' is a curio; rarely seen, bombing at the time - possibly because of the change of image of John Gilbert, known as one of the silent screen's great romantic heroes and desperately trying to make good after the disaster of the previous year's 'His Glorious Night'. Here, Karl is an amoral and coarse creation, unfeeling and a louse - and Gilbert plays him brilliantly. A pity then that this film is all but forgotten.

Alongside him in the cast are Paul Lukas (slightly wooden as Albert the butler) and Gilbert's future wife, Virginia Bruce (an excellent performance as Albert's young bride, Anna, who lets her guard down and find she likes it), along with Reginald Owen (still going strong and as effective years later, and pretty good here) and Olga Baclanova (nicely judged as the guilty mistress of the house; this was her first movie after the controversial 'Freaks'), Hedda Hopper (a brief but entertaining appearance as Karl's previous employer), and Bodil Rosing (memorable as the daft ageing cook, Sophie).

'Downstairs', developed into a film from John Gilbert's original story, is a fairly run-of-the-mill story of masters and servants for the most part, but the scenes between Karl and Anna have a raw power that makes the film stand out from others of the period. There's no romance in this servants' hall; everyone is really out for what they can get.

John Gilbert was known primarily as a silent film idol, and his career faded with the talkies, but this film shows it certainly wasn't for lack of talent. Or guts.

Gilbert – who also wrote the story - takes on the role of an irredeemable, if charming manipulator and rouge in this pre-code film. Hired on as the chauffeur in a wealthy house, he's quickly seducing, manipulating, and blackmailing his way through both the servants downstairs, and even the wealthy owners upstairs.

While many of the supporting performers can't keep up with Gilbert, and the plot is pretty heavily melodramatic, it is striking to see the honesty (and forgiveness on a human level) with which this film handles adultery and sexuality. Indeed, this feels more sophisticated than many movies of today in that regard.

It also has a wonderfully uncompromised ending, which again, would probably be stripped from the film in today's test score driven marketplace. Not a great film, but a fun one that's well worth seeing.

Based on a story by none other than its lead actor, John Gilbert himself, and coupled with his distinctive performance, "Downstairs" shows what a fertile creative mind Gilbert had and what a loss it was that he self-destructed before he got a chance to get a second wind going after a career slump. Coulda happened to anyone. In any event, this wickedly decadent tale set in an Austrian country estate examines the interactions between upstairs (Reginald Owen as a baron and Olga Baclanova as his philandering wife), and downstairs, kicking off with the wedding of the head butler (Paul Lukas) to innocent young maid (Virginia Bruce) with Gilbert as the newly hired chauffeur who shows up at the reception. Right off the bat he is revealed as a slick weasel. When a countess at the reception (Hedda Hopper) recognizes him she loses her cool in such a way that we know there was some hanky-panky in their history; when guests line up to kiss the bride Gilbert delivers a seriously inappropriate lip lock and later arrives uninvited to the newlyweds' bedroom to continue the dalliance while the husband is momentarily absent. And that's just for starters. In fact, the unmitigated rottenness of Gilbert's character borders on camp but is somewhat justified artistically the way the whole thing wraps up (something I won't reveal here).

For Gilbert to have written this character and then played him must have taken guts. Long after his loathsomeness has been established, we are treated to an extended scene in which he clips his nose hairs and picks at his ears and fingernails. He has the chiseled sexy good looks, cultivated speech and dapper sartorial sense of a worldly gentleman but the physical manners of a vulgar lout: he has a habit of lolling on table tops and indiscriminately gulping liquids and wolfing down food wherever he finds them. These two sides of his nature fuel the volatility of his relationship with Bruce who resents his aggression but succumbs to his skillful lovemaking. She has a very effective angry monologue about this matter during a climactic confrontation with Lukas whose devoted, martinet-ish butler is the straight-arrow opposite of Gilbert. Lukas is at his best when he too is consumed with rage.

The downstairs Gilbert turns the tables on the upstairs crowd, playing by their own rules in his own way.

John Gilbert was the highest paid actor in Hollywood in 1929, the year silent films breathed their last. By 1933 he was through with movies and by 1935 he was dead. Lots of people believe bad things about him, mainly that he had a high squeaky voice or that he was a ham who couldn't adjust to talkies. In "Downstairs" he proves that both of these myths are false. The film is a splendid little drama--"little" being the only kind of movie MGM would cast him in by then--about a scheming chauffeur who blackmails or steals from practically everybody at the mansion he works at. Paul Lukas, years from stardom, plays the head butler, and Virginia Bruce (who married Gilbert in real life) plays the butler's new bride. The script and story are flawless, and Gilbert, playing very much against type, shines as the amoral chauffeur. "Downstairs" is a sophisticated drama that could not have been made a few years later after the censors cracked down on Hollywood, but more importantly, it is a testament to John Gilbert, who might have had a successful career in the talkies if he had been given a chance.

Downstairs, written by star John Gilbert, finds him cast way against type as a George Sanders like cad who is hired by as a chauffeur by Paul Lukas the butler and major domo on Reginald Owen's estate. Gilbert works his considerable charm on all of the women in the estate including Lukas's new bride Virginia Bruce, cook Bodil Rosing, and the mistress of the house herself, Olga Baclanova.

There are many reasons given why John Gilbert's career tanked when sound came in, but on the silent screen he was a hero and great lover. Like Tyrone Power in the next generation who gave a great performance in Nightmare Alley that the public stayed away in droves from, the public wouldn't accept Gilbert as a total amoral louse. I'm also guessing the Austrian setting of the story didn't encourage anyone in Depression America to plunk down their nickel to see Downstairs.

That's a pity because Gilbert gives a powerful performance as the chauffeur. During the film he and Virginia Bruce married and were husband and wife when it was released.

By that time MGM and its head Louis B. Mayer were busy developing the new stars of sound like Clark Gable and Robert Montgomery. There was no place for Gilbert any more there. It would take Greta Garbo's intervention to get him cast the following year in Queen Christina.

The rest of the cast admirably supports Gilbert. The climax is definitely one where Gilbert's hero image is shattered by Paul Lukas. Too bad the public wouldn't buy it.