The Man Who Played God
Encyclopedia
The Man Who Played God is a 1932 American drama film
directed by John G. Adolfi
. The screenplay by Julien Josephson
and Maude T. Howell is based on the 1914 play The Silent Voice by Jules Eckert Goodman, who adapted it from a story by Gouverneur Morris
.
Goodman's play previously had been filmed under its original title in 1915 and as The Man Who Played God in 1922. It was adapted for the screen yet again as Sincerely Yours in 1955.
Montgomery Royale is deafened when a bomb is detonated in an attempt to assassinate the foreign ruler. With his career over as a result of his injury, Royale returns to New York City
with his sister Florence, close friend Mildred Miller, and considerably younger fiancée Grace Blair.
After abandoning thoughts of suicide
, Montgomery discovers he can lip read
, and he spends his days observing people in Central Park
from his apartment window. As he learns of people's problems, he tries to help them anonymously. He becomes absorbed in his game of "playing God" but his actions are without sincerity.
One day Montgomery witnesses a conversation between Grace and Harold Van Adam, during which she tells the young man she loves him but cannot leave Montgomery because of his handicap. Moved by the generosity of her sacrifice, Montgomery confronts her and ends their engagement, allowing her to follow her heart.
Montgomery continues to act as a philanthropist
, but his attitude is changed and his motives become altruistic. He draws closer to Mildred, who always has loved him, and the two find happiness in their developing relationship.
was packing to return to New York when George Arliss
called and invited her to discuss the role of Grace Blair with him. Certain the caller was a prankster, Davis later recalled, "I replied in an imitative English accent" and told him "Of course, Mr. Arliss. How jolly decent of you." The actor finally convinced Davis it really was he on the phone and she responded she would meet him immediately. "My excitement and joy were indescribable . . . An Arliss film was a prestige film - a far cry from The Menace
, and yet Murray Kinnell
of The Menace cast had suggested me for the part . . . Out of all bad comes some good. I have always believed this."
A decade earlier, Arliss had portrayed Montgomery Royale in the silent film
version of The Man Who Played God. Now, at the age of sixty-four, he knew he was too old for the role and was concerned the age difference between him and the actress cast as Grace Blair would be ridiculous if she weren't played by someone who could convey both love and hero worship for his character. After interviewing many young women, he felt Davis was the one most capable of handling the part. He sent her to studio makeup artist Perc Westmore
, who suggested bleached blonde hair would heighten her screen appearance. "He was right. In The Man Who Played God - for the first time - I really looked like myself. It was for me a new lease on life." The two became close friends, and Westmore went on to make up Davis in more than two dozen films.
After seeing a rough cut of the film, Jack L. Warner signed Davis to a five-year contract, starting at $400 per week. She would remain with Warner Bros.
for the next eighteen years, and Davis was beholden to Arliss for the rest of her life, crediting him for "the career that finally emerged." Of Davis, Arliss wrote in his 1940 biography, My Ten Years in the Studios, "I did not expect anything except a nice little performance. But when we rehearsed, she startled me; the nice little part became a deep and vivid creation, and I felt rather humbled that this young girl had been able to discover and portray something that my imagination had failed to conceive . . . I am not surprised that Bette Davis is now the most important star on the screen."
Musical pieces heard in the film include Fantaisie-Impromptu
by Frédéric Chopin
, Moonlight Sonata
by Ludwig van Beethoven
, and Onward, Christian Soldiers
by Arthur Sullivan
.
of the New York Times observed, "It is a neatly conceived story as it comes to the screen, with effervescent cheer in the introductory sequences, then a period of melancholy, and finally episodes of thankfulness and happiness . . . and while it seems a little lethargic at times, it has such a genuinely gentle and appealing touch that one would not wish it to be told any faster." He thought "Mr. Arliss delivers another of his effective and meticulous portrayals" but felt Bette Davis "often speaks too rapidly." Davis agreed. "It was always difficult for me to speak slowly on or off the screen . . . William Wyler
, when he directed me in Jezebel, was constantly making me slow down."
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by John G. Adolfi
John G. Adolfi
John G. Adolfi was an American silent film director, actor, and screenwriter who was involved in more than 100 productions throughout his career.-Biography:...
. The screenplay by Julien Josephson
Julien Josephson
Julien Josephson was an American motion picture screenwriter. His career spanned between 1914 and 1943. He was a native of Roseburg, Oregon....
and Maude T. Howell is based on the 1914 play The Silent Voice by Jules Eckert Goodman, who adapted it from a story by Gouverneur Morris
Gouverneur Morris
Gouverneur Morris , was an American statesman, a Founding Father of the United States, and a native of New York City who represented Pennsylvania in the Constitutional Convention of 1787. He was a signatory to the Articles of Confederation. Morris was also an author of large sections of the...
.
Goodman's play previously had been filmed under its original title in 1915 and as The Man Who Played God in 1922. It was adapted for the screen yet again as Sincerely Yours in 1955.
Plot
While giving a private performance for a visiting monarch, concert pianistPianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
Montgomery Royale is deafened when a bomb is detonated in an attempt to assassinate the foreign ruler. With his career over as a result of his injury, Royale returns to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
with his sister Florence, close friend Mildred Miller, and considerably younger fiancée Grace Blair.
After abandoning thoughts of suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
, Montgomery discovers he can lip read
Lip reading
Lip reading, also known as lipreading or speechreading, is a technique of understanding speech by visually interpreting the movements of the lips, face and tongue with information provided by the context, language, and any residual hearing....
, and he spends his days observing people in Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
from his apartment window. As he learns of people's problems, he tries to help them anonymously. He becomes absorbed in his game of "playing God" but his actions are without sincerity.
One day Montgomery witnesses a conversation between Grace and Harold Van Adam, during which she tells the young man she loves him but cannot leave Montgomery because of his handicap. Moved by the generosity of her sacrifice, Montgomery confronts her and ends their engagement, allowing her to follow her heart.
Montgomery continues to act as a philanthropist
Philanthropy
Philanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of...
, but his attitude is changed and his motives become altruistic. He draws closer to Mildred, who always has loved him, and the two find happiness in their developing relationship.
Production
In September 1931, disappointed with the way her Hollywood career had failed to progress, Bette DavisBette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
was packing to return to New York when George Arliss
George Arliss
George Arliss was an English actor, author and filmmaker who found success in the United States. He was the first British actor to win an Academy Award.-Life and career:...
called and invited her to discuss the role of Grace Blair with him. Certain the caller was a prankster, Davis later recalled, "I replied in an imitative English accent" and told him "Of course, Mr. Arliss. How jolly decent of you." The actor finally convinced Davis it really was he on the phone and she responded she would meet him immediately. "My excitement and joy were indescribable . . . An Arliss film was a prestige film - a far cry from The Menace
The Menace (film)
The Menace is a 1932 American drama film directed by Roy William Neill. The screenplay by Roy Chanslor, Dorothy Howell, and Charles Logue is based on the 1927 novel The Feathered Serpent by Edgar Wallace.-Plot:...
, and yet Murray Kinnell
Murray Kinnell
Murray Kinnell was an English actor. He appeared in 71 films between 1930 and 1937. He was best known as the two-timing petty-larceny hood Putty Nose in The Public Enemy...
of The Menace cast had suggested me for the part . . . Out of all bad comes some good. I have always believed this."
A decade earlier, Arliss had portrayed Montgomery Royale in the silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
version of The Man Who Played God. Now, at the age of sixty-four, he knew he was too old for the role and was concerned the age difference between him and the actress cast as Grace Blair would be ridiculous if she weren't played by someone who could convey both love and hero worship for his character. After interviewing many young women, he felt Davis was the one most capable of handling the part. He sent her to studio makeup artist Perc Westmore
Perc Westmore
Percival Harry Westmore was a prominent member of the Westmore family of Hollywood make-up artists.-Partial filmography:*The Man Who Played God*The Roaring Twenties...
, who suggested bleached blonde hair would heighten her screen appearance. "He was right. In The Man Who Played God - for the first time - I really looked like myself. It was for me a new lease on life." The two became close friends, and Westmore went on to make up Davis in more than two dozen films.
After seeing a rough cut of the film, Jack L. Warner signed Davis to a five-year contract, starting at $400 per week. She would remain with Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
for the next eighteen years, and Davis was beholden to Arliss for the rest of her life, crediting him for "the career that finally emerged." Of Davis, Arliss wrote in his 1940 biography, My Ten Years in the Studios, "I did not expect anything except a nice little performance. But when we rehearsed, she startled me; the nice little part became a deep and vivid creation, and I felt rather humbled that this young girl had been able to discover and portray something that my imagination had failed to conceive . . . I am not surprised that Bette Davis is now the most important star on the screen."
Musical pieces heard in the film include Fantaisie-Impromptu
Fantaisie-Impromptu
Frédéric Chopin's Fantaisie-Impromptu in C-sharp minor, Op. posth. 66, is a solo piano composition and one of his best-known pieces. It was composed in 1834 and dedicated to Julian Fontana, who published the piece in spite of Chopin's request not to do so....
by Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
, Moonlight Sonata
Piano Sonata No. 14 (Beethoven)
The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C minor "Quasi una fantasia", Op. 27, No. 2, by Ludwig van Beethoven, popularly known as the Moonlight Sonata , was completed in 1801...
by Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
, and Onward, Christian Soldiers
Onward, Christian Soldiers
"Onward, Christian Soldiers" is a 19th century English hymn. The words were written by Sabine Baring-Gould in 1865, and the music was composed by Arthur Sullivan in 1871. Sullivan named the tune "St. Gertrude," after the wife of his friend Ernest Clay Ker Seymer, at whose country home he composed...
by Arthur Sullivan
Arthur Sullivan
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer of Irish and Italian ancestry. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado...
.
Cast (in credits order)
- George ArlissGeorge ArlissGeorge Arliss was an English actor, author and filmmaker who found success in the United States. He was the first British actor to win an Academy Award.-Life and career:...
as Montgomery Royale - Violet Heming as Mildred Miller
- Bette DavisBette DavisRuth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
as Grace Blair - Andre LuguetAndré LuguetAndré Luguet was a French film actor. He appeared in over 120 films between 1910 and 1970.He was born in Fontenay-sous-Bois, France and died in Cannes, France.-Selected filmography:* The Mad Genius...
as The King - Louise Closser HaleLouise Closser HaleLouise Closser Hale was an American actress, playwright and novelist.Louise Closser was born either in Springfield, Massachusetts or Chicago, Illinois . Her father was Joseph A. Closser, a wealthy grain dealer and her mother was Louise M. Closser...
as Florence Royale - Donald CookDonald Cook (actor)Donald Cook was an American stage and film actor.Born in Portland, Oregon, he originally studied farming but later started business with a lumber company. He joined the Kansas Community Players and through this received an offer of stage work...
as Harold Van Adam - Ivan F. Simpson as Battle
- Oscar ApfelOscar ApfelOscar C. Apfel was an American film actor, director, screenwriter and producer. He appeared in 167 films between 1913 and 1939, and also directed 94 films between 1911 and 1927.-Biography:...
as The Lip Reader - Charles E. Evans as The Doctor
- Hedda HopperHedda HopperHedda Hopper was an American actress and gossip columnist, whose long-running feud with friend turned arch-rival Louella Parsons became at least as notorious as many of Hopper's columns.-Early life:...
as Mrs Alice Chittendon - William Janney as First Boy
- Murray KinnellMurray KinnellMurray Kinnell was an English actor. He appeared in 71 films between 1930 and 1937. He was best known as the two-timing petty-larceny hood Putty Nose in The Public Enemy...
as King's Aide
Critical reception
Mordaunt HallMordaunt Hall
Mordaunt Hall was the first regularly assigned motion picture critic for The New York Times, from October 1924 to September 1934....
of the New York Times observed, "It is a neatly conceived story as it comes to the screen, with effervescent cheer in the introductory sequences, then a period of melancholy, and finally episodes of thankfulness and happiness . . . and while it seems a little lethargic at times, it has such a genuinely gentle and appealing touch that one would not wish it to be told any faster." He thought "Mr. Arliss delivers another of his effective and meticulous portrayals" but felt Bette Davis "often speaks too rapidly." Davis agreed. "It was always difficult for me to speak slowly on or off the screen . . . William Wyler
William Wyler
William Wyler was a leading American motion picture director, producer, and screenwriter.Notable works included Ben-Hur , The Best Years of Our Lives , and Mrs. Miniver , all of which won Wyler Academy Awards for Best Director, and also won Best Picture...
, when he directed me in Jezebel, was constantly making me slow down."