Rembrandt

Truly wonderful and worth all the plaudits piled on this film after sixty-odd years. Laughton was arguably never better than in this role and has able support from Elsa Lanchester, Gertrude Lawrence (fascinating to see her and she made few films and they are rarely seen nowadays), the Livesey clan etc etc. A film of atmosphere, of clarity, and of soul, like a Rembrandt painting in fact. Marvellous.

Charles Laughton returned to his native Great Britain in 1936 for three years and made a series of films there. The first and best of these was for Alexander Korda about Rembrandt Van Rijn, arguably the greatest of all Dutch painters.

Later biographical pictures, Lust for Life about Van Gogh and Moulin Rouge about Toulouse-Lautrec had good location photography going for them. Alexander Korda did create some nice sets to depict the Netherlands of the 17th century, but it just isn't the same.

Another difference between Rembrandt and the other two later pictures is while Van Gogh and Toulouse-Lautrec died young, Rembrandt lived to be an old man by the standards of his century. The film takes us on a forty year journey of his life from the death of his first wife until just before he dies. Laughton is great at capturing Rembrandt at every stage of his life.

As compared to those other two 19th century artists, Rembrandt's life was also not the tormented one the others had. Rembrandt is not a deformed cripple like Toulouse-Lautrec nor is he dealing with the onset of mental illness like Van Gogh. Tragedy happens in his life, but the tragedy isn't out of his own character.

Like the other two Rembrandt was constantly plagued with money problems. That's actually what takes up most of the film, the compromises he makes with his artistic vision and the need he has to put bread on the table.

Gertrude Lawrence and Elsa Lanchester do fine as the two women in his life. Laughton and Lawrence did not get along during the making of Rembrandt, that may have helped give their scenes some real bite. Three members of the performing Livesey family are in this film and Roger Livesey is a standout as the beggar who Rembrandt uses to paint his portrait of King Saul from the Old Testament.

Rembrandt is a finely crafted piece of film making and Charles Laughton gives one of his best screen performances. I wish though it had been done on location the way Lust for Life and Moulin Rouge were.

Charles Laughton's beautifully nuanced performance as Rembrandt plus excellent cinematography are the main reasons for watching this biopic. Unfortunately, while it's fairly interesting at first, the movie doesn't really go anywhere. And I was always skeptical of the "tortured artist painting for the love of it" take on Rembrandt. I don't know anything about Rembrandt, but painting was very much a business and a craft in those days and while I'm sure there were tortured artists trying to say something, I don't know that they were as common as they are today.

I was reinforced in my suspicions by wikipedia, which for example says Rembrandt was always popular as a painter and that the painting of the regiment was a tremendous success from the moment it was unveiled.

So I don't think I learned much about Rembrandt, but the movie beautifully captures the look of his paintings and Laughton is brilliant (and also looks remarkably like Rembrandt).

Charles Laughton's heartfelt performance as the famed Dutch painter, Rembrandt, highlights this stylish biography, produced by Alexander Korda. Laughton's real-life wife, Elsa Lancaster, and Charles work together beautifully, and the film boasts a performance by the legendary stage actress, Gertrude Lawrence. One can see that Laughton really loved this role, and gave it his all. Certainly this is one of the more successful artist bios on film.

This was a superbly acted movie. I happened across it on TCM and was instantly sucked in. The dialogue was written very well and beautifully portrayed by all of the actors. This is not a typical movie from 1936 with over the top deliveries from the talent. I just can't say enough about it.

Additionally, it was shot very nicely. Keep in mind that this is a very old movie, but the black and white photography is put together in an almost Rembrandt way.

If you haven't seen Rembrandt then go and get it. You won't be disappointed. Well done!