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starring: George Arliss, Joan Bennett, Florence Arliss, Anthony Bushell, David Torrencedirected by: Alfred E. Green
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9780790748955
Format: Black & White, Original recording reissued, NTSC
ISBN: 0790748959
Label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Warner Home Video
Release Date: March 07, 2000
Running Time: 90 minutes
Sales Rank: 32543
Studio: Warner Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: November 01, 1929
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Editorial Review:
Description:
BBC historical drama based on the true story of Disraeli. An English politician of Jewish descent, Disraili was challenged on political and personal matters throughout his career. In the end, he proved himself to be a career statesman, a resistor of bigotry, a faithful husband, and a one of Britain's most respected Prime Ministers.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - One of the best of the very early talkies
This is one of the few very early talkies that is neither a musical nor an overly dull stage production. It is a fascinating look into a very brief episode in the professional life of British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli - specifically his effort in obtaining the Suez Canal for Great Britain. Arliss gives a well-deserved Academy Award winning performance as the prime minister, and he is so adept at dialogue and with conveying his mood with glances and small gestures and the pace of the film is ... Read More
Rating: - Old-fashioned? Yes. Great? Absolutely!
I agree with the favorable ratings given to this film and especially with the preceding comments of Mr. DeRiemer. Arliss was something special!
The man had style. When he was working on a film, at precisely 5 PM his butler would appear on the set. The actor would immediately stop, bid everyone good evening and depart for home. The moguls and the public ate that sort of thing up--but only from him. His best role in Hollywood was that of "the great English actor."
Years later, ... Read More
Rating:  - George Arliss at 61, Joan Bennett at 19. Great acting, great looks
"The less a politician does the fewer mistakes he makes." The actual line is "prime minister" in place of "politician" but the same amused skepticism holds true. The speaker is British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, played by George Arliss. Disraeli was a clever and ambitious politician, heartily disliked by a great section of the English ruling class because he was born a Jew, "not one of us, you know," cleverer than anyone, and with a vision of British imperial destiny that encouraged many and made ... Read More
Rating: - Disraeli: One of the First Talkie Bios--and One of the Best
When George Arliss reprised his stage role of Benjamin Disraeli for Hollywood in 1929, sound pictures had just begun to be made and Arliss was one of the few silent stars that made a successful transition. Arliss' experience on the stage was a clear factor in his ability to enunciate with crackling precision a man who could announce how weak he was in one scene and then be able to shift verbal gears in the next to slice apart his adversaries.
Arliss was nearing sixty when he was tapped by ... Read More
Rating: - The Imperial Minister
"Stagey" it is but thats the point. Disraeli is a man of wit and guile and a tongue that is always at the ready with a clever twist of phrase or turn of logic. Arliss makes this history lesson very enjoyable. And the history lesson is a good one. The struggle over the Suez canal crystallizes a growing mistrust between the growing empires of west(England) and east(Russia),in the middle is Egypt and her poverty has made her sell her "ditch in the sand" to the highest bidder. To England that ditch is the key ... Read More
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