Svengali (1954)

Set in Paris at the turn of the 20th century, an artist's model (Hildegard Knef) falls in love with a struggling painter (Terence Morgan). But she falls under the spell of a Machiavellian minstrel (Donald Wolfit) who pushes her to become a great opera singer. Based on the novel TRILBY by George Du Maurier and directed by screenwriter Noel Langley (THE WIZARD OF OZ). I don't know why Du Maurier's tale holds a fascination for film makers, it's been made five times as a silent film and in the sound era, 1931 with John Barrymore and in 1983 with Peter O'Toole and Jodie Foster. This one feels more LA BOHEME than TRILBY and the art direction (Frederick Pusey) and costumes (Beatrice Dawson) are striking but it's still pretty hokey. The book's anti-Semitic bent (Svengali is Jewish in the book) has fortunately been ditched by all movie versions. Neff's singing voice was dubbed by the renowned soprano Elizabeth Schwarzkopf. With Paul Rogers, David Kossoff, Michael Craig and Harry Secombe.