The Man Who Played God

Although George Arliss made several of the roles he did on stage into films both sound and silent The Man Who Played God was not one of them. Another stage legend Otis Skinner originated that role on Broadway although Arliss filmed it twice both as a silent and with sound.

We can only speculate about what Skinner did with the part, but Arliss because we have him on film can truly be said to make the part his own. His is a style that many find old fashioned, but I find most compelling when he's performing.

The story is that of a famous concert pianist who was born into a wealthy family so he's never in danger of missing a meal. A bomb set off at a private performance has left him stone deaf and in a great deal of despair. But he learns the art of lip reading and from his Central Park penthouse with opera glasses in hand spies on a lot of ordinary people and becomes their anonymous benefactor.

Bette Davis made her Warner Brothers debut and the first of two films with George Arliss. Davis who was not exactly shy about criticizing her colleagues had nothing but praise for this man. She credited him with being the first to realize the potential she had as an actress. She plays a student of his who mistakes romantic love for an admiration as an artist she feels. She's not given much to work with in the role, but she does far more than could be expected.

Louise Closser Hale as Arliss's sister and Ivan Simpson as his butler who has a wonderful scene preventing Arliss from suicide also stand out. Look also for Ray Milland in a small part as another man on the verge of suicide.

The Man Who Played God is old fashioned in its presentation, but still holds up well after 80 years.

This is an unusual little film starring George Arliss as master concert musician Monty Royale whose young pupil Grace (Bette Davis) confesses her love to him. He's of course flattered but unsure of what the coming years will bring considering their age difference. He agrees to marry her if she feels the same in six months. However, near the beginning of the six month period something happens that leaves Monty unable to enjoy his own music - he is left completely deaf from an explosion. He becomes a bitter man who shuts himself away from everyone. He does take some training in learning to read lips so that he can deal with the world in his new condition, and this training leads him to realize that he now has the means to bring happiness to people in a different and more individualized way than he could as a musician. With the aid of some powerful binoculars left behind by Grace, he can read the lips of the people in the park across the street, learn their troubles, and with his large family fortune and influence, save lives or maybe just bring someone some welcome happiness.

Soon the joy of living has reentered Monty's life, and he is happy that the six month waiting period is soon to end and Grace will be returning from California - they can be wed. He's people watching at his window when Grace suddenly appears in the park across the street. She sits down with someone and begins to have a conversation. Monty "listens in". What will he discover and how will he react? Watch and find out.

In addition to the fine work of George Arliss and Bette Davis, the supporting roles are well played here too. Ivan Simpson is great as Monty's gentleman's gentleman who has no trouble sternly lecturing his master when he needs it, yet is such a formal person that he cannot leave the house -even on an urgent errand - without his hat, and there is even a very small part played by a very young Ray Milland. Highly recommended for fans of early 30's films. It has some precode elements in it, particularly the part where Monty is wrestling with God and his loss of belief, but I would not call it a precode at all.

In 1932 many actors were still rather new to sound pictures and the great majority of them were theatre trained and while some would stay on in Hollywood, many would return to the stage to stay. Bette Davis was a young actress in the midst of making that decision to aty in Hollywood or return to New York and the stage. She had made several low buget pictures, but things just were not clicking for her. The success of this movie and the attention she received convinced her to stay on and make movies and we are all thankful for that. George Arliss was a grand old man of the stage and his artistry is well portrayed here. His makeup is a little heavy, making him look a little like the Phantom of The Opera with lipstick and darkened nostrils, but soon you get beyond that. The acting is almost strictly stage-style here, this MUST have been a play before it was filmed. The blocking and angles of the actors and the way they seem to talk "at" each other rather than to each other shows the stage acting. Great story, nice escapism... who wouldnt like to help others? We can do that through George Arliss in this movie.

In "The Man Who Played God" the venerable George Arliss plays a famous and sweet-natured concert pianist who must cope with catastrophic hearing loss. There are two male-female romantic love subplots, but the story is essentially about philosophical and moral issues. The movie is best remembered not for Arliss, who was the main attraction, but for a supporting role beautifully played by the future screen queen Bette Davis, who for the most part is also very well photographed by James Van Trees, enhancing her unique presence. Amusingly, Mordaunt Hall of The New York Times in his review of the film faulted her for speaking "too rapidly for the microphone." But Arliss himself, as an artist suddenly forced to reconstruct his whole approach to life, is sympathetic and compelling despite the lipstick he habitually wore, in the style of many male actors of that time. He is ably supported by a thoroughly winning cast including Violet Heming, Ivan Simpson, Louise Closser Hale in an uncharacteristically non-dour role as the pianist's loving, intelligent and supportive sister, and even a very young Ray Milland as half of a distressed young couple whose desperate utterances are deciphered from afar by Arliss with the aid of binoculars and freshly acquired lip-reading skills. The studio-created ambiance of bustling city streets, whether "Paris" or "New York," is less phony looking than the usual replications thanks to careful lighting and well-planned camera angles.

An aging & celebrated concert pianist completely loses his hearing, and with it his faith in The Almighty. After learning to lip read, he realizes he can once again enter into people's lives, alleviating the misfortunes of total strangers. With this much power to do good, he becomes THE MAN WHO PLAYED GOD.

Although sadly neglected today, George Arliss was one of the very greatest of film actors of the 1930's. His art was consummate - a whole volume of emotion could be conveyed by the slightest movement of face or posture. He gives a wonderful performance here as a man torn from what he loves the most, blaming God for it and eventually finding peace.

A splendid actress of the same period, Louise Closser Hale gives quiet dignity to the role of Arliss' sister. As his protégé, young Bette Davis does a fine job; she always considered this to be her first film role of substance. Ivan F. Simpson is excellent as a very loyal butler. Hedda Hopper has a tiny role as a woman at a picnic & look for an uncredited Ray Milland as a young man in Central Park attempting suicide.