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Svengali
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Not available to stream in US
🔔 Notify me when it’s streamingSynopsis
A man hypnotizes a young woman into being an opera singer.
Themes
Cast & crew
Directed by Noel Langley
Hildegard Knef
Donald Wolfit
Terence Morgan
Derek Bond
Alfie Bass
Noel Purcell
Jeremy Brett
Paul Rogers
David Kossoff
Hubert Gregg
Harry Secombe
Peter IllingSimilar titles
Reviews · from TMDB members
CinemaSerfNov 21, 2022
A better example of over-acting you will struggle to find in this overly theatrical adaptation of George Du Maurier's 1894 novel "Trilby". Hildegard Knef is a young, impressionable, girl who falls under the spell of the almost Rasputin-esque Donald Wolfit in the title role. He hypnotises her to rid her of pesky headaches, and give her the voice of an angel - and soon she becomes an international star of the opera. Robert Newton was originally slated for the lead, but I can't… Read more
imagine he could have done better than Wolfit, who has the maniacal look (eyes, especially) and pithy dialogue down to a T. The support from Terence Morgan - as her much younger beau "Billee Bagot", Paul Rogers, David Kossoff and the truly wonderful singing of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf keep this entertaining enough, but the staging and style are just to limiting to let this version of a really menacing and evocative story soar.