The Affairs of Anatol (1921) User Reviews

Tempted by the Fruit of Another

[wes-connors · 6/10 · 30 September 2007]

Wallace Reid (as Anatol Spencer) is a wealthy newlywed who is oddly attracted to various women other than his wife - specifically: Wanda Hawley (as Emilie), Agnes Ayres (as Annie), and Bebe Daniels (as Satan Synne!). Gloria Swanson (as Vivian) is the wife who seems to develop a roving eye of her own as the running time progresses. BUT, are "The Affairs of Anatol" really affairs, or just a series of titillating temptations?

DeMille's work with mirrors is on display, with the director inserting a skeleton image of Mr. Reid in one scene. Reid was a very big star when this film was released (one of the most popular actors in the world); and, though this isn't really representative, it's nice to see him. Of the leading ladies, I enjoyed Ms. Ayres over the others, because her simple scenes with Monte Blue seem so ORDINARY when contrasted with the rest of the goings-on.

DeMille's unlikely mix of titillation, religiosity, and heavy-handed message is obviously in full flower. While there are no performances for the ages, the scenes with Swanson being hypnotized by Theodore Kosloff are fun. Elliott Dexter (as Max Runyon) is the film's best supporting actor; keep a sharp eye on his closing scenes as he'll reveal, through his performance, the affair you might not have been expecting…

****** The Affairs of Anatol (9/25/21) Cecil B. DeMille ~ Wallace Reid, Gloria Swanson, Bebe Daniels, Elliott Dexter

"Trying to teach a brainless cabbage to play violin"

[Steffi_P · 7/10 · 10 January 2010]

Cecil B. DeMille, it would appear, had a bit of a thing about ladies' feet. This may partly explain why the first glimpse we catch of Gloria Swanson in the Affairs of Anatol, is a close-up of said body part – bare, exquisitely framed, and being treated to a pedicure.

However, it was very much the DeMille way to introduce his characters in bits, summing them up by focusing us on some tiny yet significant feature. Shortly before the entrance of Miss Swanson's foot, we meet Wallace Reid's impatiently shuffling boots and tapping fingers. By doing this DeMille gives us an impression of the man before we even see his face. And throughout this picture, we can see DeMille has a kind of "inside-out" approach to shooting a scene. Cinematic convention, even back then, was generally to start with a master shot, then draw us in on the details. DeMille begins with the minutiae, then gradually reveals the bigger picture. Take the dancehall sequence where Reid meets the subject of his first affair. We first of all see Reid's view of Wanda Hawley, as if she were seated alone at the table. It is only after her character has been established that we see a shot from a little further back, showing us she is in the company of a lecherous old Theodore Roberts! DeMille's process of gradual revelation especially applies to the splendour of a set, such as the giant fan being pulled aside to reveal a stunning backdrop of stars later in the same scene.

The purpose of all this is not only to make the picture visually attractive and smoothly paced. DeMille was one of the best at this time when it came to representing the thoughts of his characters. When Reid first sets eyes on Hawley, she really is all he can see, with Roberts being an unimportant distraction. At any one time, DeMille is showing us the focus of the protagonists, without often resorting to anything so subjective as a point-of-view shot. It is a subtler equivalent to the superimpositions of imagined figures or objects that he employed in his earlier pictures. With this canny cinematic approach you'd hardly know you were seeing an adaptation of a thirty-year old stage play.

Speaking of which, the original Affairs of Anatol was a popular comedy, and the jokes in theatre productions tend to be in the words, so how to translate it to the silent screen and keep in the comedy? DeMille was no master of slapstick, and his cast were certainly no clowns. However what remains from the original is a kind of growing sense of unlikely silliness, as opportunities for adultery continually appear in Reid's path, only to be flattened by unexpected twists. The world in which the story takes place is so shallow and dignified that these daft situations – slight exaggerations of typical melodramatic plot turns – just about pass for humour.

But the fact that it works at all is largely down to the efforts of the cast. Wallace Reid goes through it all with such po-faced seriousness, and the sober and dedicated manner in which he undertakes his infidelity is actually rather funny. The highlight is surely the appearance of Agnes Ayres and Monte Blue, who act out their little slice of melodrama without even a pretence of sincerity. It is perhaps the most frivolous moment of any DeMille film, and given its place among the familiar DeMille trappings, even Ayres jumping in the river in a suicide attempt looks like a gag.

Sadly, the only cast member who does not seem quite at home here is Gloria Swanson. She is essentially an air-headed young bride, giving her errant husband an unfeasible number of chances, and frankly the role is beneath her. Here and there she gets to show her powerful dramatic presence, but she becomes a somewhat marginal figure as the titular affairs take centre stage, and her talents are largely wasted. After giving impressive turns in several of his biggest hits, this was to be the last of her collaborations with the director. It seems that in DeMille's eyes, Swanson had become little more than a beautiful pair of feet.

Well worth seeing

[Igenlode Wordsmith · 8/10 · 3 December 2010]

This film is great fun, and often -- and I think intentionally, as in the 'Satan Synne' segment -- very funny: "an extravagant story that never by any chance could be taken seriously," as one contemporary reviewer approves. It's hard to sympathise with spoiled wife Vivian at first (a hard-edged performance by Gloria Swanson), but as the film goes on we start to realise that she does have a point.

This being a de Mille film, the costumes are of course fantastic; although it's actually not Swanson, the famous 'clothes-horse', who gets the best dresses here. Production values are elsewhere very high, as well, extending into beautifully-drawn title cards (in one case, with a live-action car actually driving across it!) and a lot of sacrificed furniture, while frankly, those jewelled flowers look almost worth losing a lover over...

But it's not all gloss and enjoyable silliness. There's some fine acting on display as well, not least from Wallace Reid as the well-meaning 'Tony' whose halo begins progressively to slip -- and, in a couple of telling little scenes, from Elliott Dexter as the overlooked best friend. (The little scene over the chessboard is a perfect illustration of the power of the silent screen: everything made explicit without a word.)

The picture's stage heritage shows up mainly in a few over-long title cards, where plot points are conveyed in one long 'speech'; at almost two hours in duration, it's also unbalanced in the direction of the first half, which could almost stand as a film on its own without its briefer 'sequels'. If Emilie is not to have a film of her own, there is perhaps a little too much time devoted to her.

But "The Affairs of Anatol" is well worth seeing -- not least, as an eye-opener for those like myself who associate C.B. de Mille with vast Biblical epics. This piece of froth and frivolity has more of the charm of a Harold Lloyd movie minus the slapstick; one can really see why 'handsome Wallace Reid' was a star; and there are just enough well-judged moments of genuine feeling among the spectacle and satire to make us care about the various minor players.

Exceptional Film with Wallace Reid and Gloria Swanson

[drednm · 6 June 2010]

The usual DeMille mix of sex, sin, and moralizing but with tongue firmly in place. Poor Anatol (Wallace Reid) is always "rescuing" women, much to the consternation of his wife Vivian (Gloria Swanson) who always has Max (Elliott Dexter) hanging around her.

The first rescue is of "a bubble-head jazz girl" named Emilie (Wanda Hawley) who is clearly a gold digger, She has poor old Gordon (Theodore Roberts) in her pocket but decides to go after Anatol who thinks he can redeem the poor girl. Meanwhile all she wants is a new victim. There's a great scene of redemption when Anatol tells Emilie she must throw away all her jewels in order to be cleansed. She immediately empties her jewel boxes and puts the empty boxes in a valise. They drive to the river where she throws away the empty boxes. Foolish Anatol believes her but learns the sad truth when he interrupts a wild dinner party Emilie is throwing.

Off to the country for purity and clean air, Anatol and Vivian are rowing in a river when a simple country girl Annie (Agnes Ayres) throws herself off a bridge. They dredge her out and revive her but Annie finds Anatol's wallet on the ground and steals it. After she is "saved" she runs home to husband Abner (Monte Blue) and replaces the money she stole from his church collection box. So much for country purity.

Back in the city Anatol decides to go out on the town, so Vivian decides to wear her :lowest gown" and "highest heals" and go out as well. Anatol falls into the clutches of the notorious nightclub star Satan Synne (Bebe Daniels) who lures Anatol into her den called "the Devil's Cloister." In the middle of vamping him, she gets a couple phone calls. It seems her husband is undergoing an operation for wounds suffered during the World War. When Anatol learns the truth, he gives Satan the money she needs to save her husband.

But back home, he finds Vivian has not come home from her night of clubbing. When she and Max finally come in a 9 AM he demands to know if she's be unfaithful. She refuses to answer. At that moment, a famous hypnotist (Theodore Kosloff) arrives and is compelled by Anatol to secretly put her in a trance and answer his questions. He does, but Max pleads with Anatol that to do this will forever ruin his marriage no matter what the answer is. Will Anatol force the issue? Reid and Swanson are terrific here as the stars, but the fallen women, Hawley, Ayres, and Daniels, all come off well also. Dexter and Blue have little to do. Roberts fumes and Kosloff looks mysterious. And yes that's Polly Moran as the nightclub entertainer.

The film has beautifully colored title cards and boasts nice tinting throughout. This is a must for silent film fans and was an important film for superstars Gloria Swanson, Wallace Reid, and Bebe Daniels.

A man, blinded by his need to be good, he can't help but get in trouble

[secondtake · 7/10 · 28 August 2010]

The Affairs of Anatol (1921)

A long, involved, romantic and slightly moralizing movie about a really good hearted man caught between two women. That's the reason to watch it, that and Gloria Swanson in the lead as the wife. The other woman (Wanda Hawley) is a bit of a siren, and our good fellow is trying to be a charitable fellow with her, and only gets himself in trouble. She plays him like a child.

The year, 1921, is just at the point where the silent film is solidifying and getting sophisticated in a modern sense. There is still a lot of static (fixed) camera in this one (even though one of the photographers was the legendary Karl Struss). This puts the emphasis on the acting, which rises to the occasion. The copy I saw had some great hand colored title cards and some scenes that were toned in rich yellows or other colors, which made it all quite fun. The conflict between the two women, and the intrusion of another man or two, make this a classic soap opera kind of drama, well done and clear enough to follow once you get the basic flow. There are sort of two halves, and the second part out in the country is a nice shift even though the theme remains similar.

Of interest? The director, Cecil B. De Mille, had a hugely influential and long career, and this is toward the beginning, and it shows his tendency to find the popular themes that audiences would connect with, rather than push technical or aesthetic boundaries. Some might call him a populist, interest above all in success, but he was an expert director who knew how to make a movie really coherent, handling the story and actors with precision and a sympathetic feel. And the subject matter here is actually a bit edgy--a married man hanging out with a woman in her most intimate spaces. The play of the "bad" woman against the "good" one is a little expected, of course, but it's such a heartwrenching problem for this nice guy who just wants to help (or so he says), it's painfully enjoyable to watch.

Cecil B. DeMille's silent classic features Wallace Reid, Gloria Swanson and 2-strip Technicolor

[jacobs-greenwood · 6/10 · 13 December 2016]

Produced (and directed) by Cecil B. DeMille, and written by Jeanie Macpherson from Arthur Schnitzler's play, this silent comedy-drama features Wallace Reid in the title role; Gloria Swanson plays his wife Vivian Spencer.

The film includes several experiments in color, some scenes are tinted and (at least) two appear to have been shot in 2-strip Technicolor. Monte Blue and Bebe Daniels are among those who also appear in the cast; reportedly, William Boyd and Polly Moran also appear, uncredited.

Though only recently married, Anatol (Reid) is the type of man who feels compelled to save young women from their poor choices (or fate). Naturally, this displeases his new bride Vivian (Swanson), though she passes the time with her husband's friend Max Runyon (Elliott Dexter), who eventually wants more from the relationship. While out to dinner one evening with Max and his wife, Anatol spots an old grammar school sweetheart, Emilie Dixon (Wanda Hawley), with her 'sugar daddy', Gordon Bronson (Theodore Roberts).

After witnessing Emilie's date spiking her drink, Anatol decides to act. He 'rescues' her from him but Bronson laughs and says he'll be ready to 'pick up the pieces' later. When Anatol brings Emilie back to their table, he's greeted coldly by his wife, who asks Max to take her home. Soon, Anatol has set-up Emilie with an apartment and educational opportunities (like learning to play the violin). Though his intentions are pure and honorable, she's clearly taking advantage of him. When Anatol finally recognizes this, he tells Emilie that she must toss the jewelry she'd received from Bronson off a bridge, which she only pretends to do.

After supposedly cutting her ties to her past, Emilie wants more from Anatol, but he refuses to leave Vivian and leaves. Upon returning later, he discovers Emilie partying with Bronson, and that she had never really thrown away her booty. Anatol is so furious that he fulfills Bronson's earlier remark by breaking and destroying everything he'd bought for Emilie within the apartment (e.g. so that Bronson can pick up the pieces).

Anatol returns to Vivian and pleads (essentially) 'if ever you see me trying to save another woman, please save me by keeping me from doing so'; she takes him back. Later, at a party, a Hindu hypnotist named Nazzer Singh (Theodore Kosloff) is able to compel Vivian to remove her shoes and stockings; he's made her think that she's about to wade into a stream. This prompts Anatol to interrupt the trance and propose to Vivian that they should abandon their current lifestyle, that returning to a simpler life together is what their marriage needs.

Meanwhile, out in the country, poor Abner Elliot (Blue) has just discovered that his wife Annie has spent the church's money entrusted to him on pretty clothing for herself. He tells her that she must go. Distraught, she throws herself off a bridge (e.g. to commit suicide) but lands in the water right next to Anatol and Vivian, who had been canoeing in that very river. The couple rescues Annie, pulling her into their boat and then taking her ashore to attempt to revive her. Initially, they are unsuccessful, then Vivian notices that the girl is only faking it. Anatol, refusing to believe it, tells his wife to take the car to go get help.

While she's pretending to be unconscious, Annie finds and steals Anatol's wallet full of cash. At the very moment when Annie kisses Anatol to thank him for his assistance, Vivian returns with the doctor. He then discovers and realizes that Annie, who's returned to her husband with the money (enabling her to 'kiss and makeup'), stole his money. Vivian, who's had enough (again), drives away leaving Anatol to walk home alone.

Upon returning home, Anatol finds Vivian unwilling to forgive him again. So, he decides he may as well live it up. He goes out on the town and tries to hook up with a creature of sin, the apt named performer Satan Synne (Daniels). But she resists his initial advances until she receives word that her husband, who'd been wounded in the war, needs another expensive operation. Apparently, the reason for her notoriety in this (the oldest) profession is the fact that she'd needed the money to pay for countless surgeries to save his life.

Satan is relieved to see that Anatol is still around, and she invites him into her lair. Eventually, he learns the truth yet still agrees to give her the $3,000 she needs, even though she learns from Dr. Johnston that her husband didn't survive. Anatol returns to Vivian, whom he discovers with Max.

Coincidentally, Nazzer Singh calls on her again at the same time. Anatol asks the hypnotist if he could put his wife under a trance so that he might ask her an important question. Upon doing so, Max, aware that Anatol is intending on asking his wife if she'd been faithful to him, warns him not to do it. Anatol decides that, regardless, he loves her and wants Vivian back, and tells her so to bring her out of the trance. Based upon Max's reaction, one of relief as he lovingly sniffs the lapel flower she'd given him, the audience is made to know the answer (e.g. that Vivian and he had an affair of their own). The reunited couple embraces as the film ends.

Tragic Wallace Reid In DeMille Comedy

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 13 March 2002]

THE AFFAIRS OF ANATOL, which are really only his attempts to help unhappy or wayward women, has left his own marriage in a very precarious predicament.

During the 1920's, director Cecil B. DeMille became famous for two types of film - the lavish historical spectacle & the elaborate, somewhat salacious, social comedy. ANATOL is an example of the latter. While its plot is insignificant (and faintly ludicrous), it is still quite enjoyable to watch, and can boast of fine performances & superior production values.

In the title role, Wallace Reid acquits himself very well as the hapless rich chump whose noble deeds always seem to backfire. Good-natured & affable, he is only too susceptible to damsels in distress. But even this worm can turn, and his violent scenes - laying waste the apartment of a mendacious maiden, crashing into his wife's locked boudoir - show the energy & passion of which this nearly forgotten star was capable.

Gloria Swanson, as Reid's lively spouse; Wanda Hawley as a millionaire's courtesan; Agnes Ayres as a duplicitous country wife; and diabolic Bebe Daniels as the ultimate vamp, all add greatly to the enjoyment of the proceedings, slinking about in fashions (all except Miss Ayres) only crazy movie folk of the 1920's could ever truly get by with.

Movie mavens will have no trouble spotting the irrepressible Polly Moran as a zany nightclub orchestra leader.

A Wallace Reid film is a rather rare & wonderful thing now, as most of them seem to have vanished long ago. Reid, immensely popular in his day, was the epitome of the American Hero. Tragically, his story became a living nightmare. Injuries received while on location in Oregon in 1919 left him seemingly unable to complete his role. The Paramount Studio doctor was dispatched to plug him full of morphine and put him back in front of the cameras. It worked, but already weakened by alcoholism, Reid now became a helpless morphine addict. His problem was an open secret in Hollywood, but instead of the real help he desperately needed, he was given more of the deadly drug. His box office returns were considered too valuable, and the Studio pushed him through an insufferable number of films - 7 in 1921, 8 in 1922. After ANATOL, in which it was becoming obvious that his good looks were beginning to decay, Reid made 11 more films in increasing agony. His death on January 18, 1923, was officially attributed to the influenza which finally overcame the body debilitated by alcohol & drug addiction. Wallace Reid was only 31 years old.

Cecil B. DeMille's The Affairs of Anatol is one of his interesting "affairs of the heart" silents

[tavm · 6/10 · 29 May 2008]

Checked this rare Cecil B. DeMille silent at my local library intrigued by the premise of seeing a Gloria Swanson silent movie in its entirety for the first time. Turns out she's sort of a supporting character since Anatol is actually a man played by Wallace Reid. He's Anatol, a.k.a. Tony, Spencer whose marriage to Vivian (Swanson) is constantly tested by his involvement in three other women: Emile Dixon (Wanda Hawley), Annie Elliott (Agnes Ayres), and Satan Synne (Bebe Daniels). Emile is an old school friend of Tony's who's now in the company of middle aged rich man Gordon Bronson (Theodore Roberts). Annie is the wife of country pastor Abner (Monte Blue) whose church money she unknowingly stole to buy a dress. Ms. Synne is a nightclub entertainer whose World War I veteran husband is enduring a long hospital stay. About Emile: Tony's just wasting his time trying to get her away from pearls which she loves and is too possessive with her on that front especially since he won't do the same about his wife's picture. And his breaking the furniture that HE bought! Tsk, tsk. That segment's too long anyway, though there's some amusement with Raymond Hatton as a violin teacher. About Annie: I can't believe his kissing her after saving her from a drowning which conveniently happens as his wife shows up with a doctor. And it's obviously a pre-Code movie when Annie gets to keep the stolen money with her husband none the wiser! Short enough in my book. About Satan: This was the most touching segment in the movie with Tony intending to really cheat on his wife (not completely realizing vice versa on Vivian's part) and then finding out the truth about Ms. Synne's husband's illness as he then decides to let her keep the $3000 as charity. Also, Polly Moran is briefly amusing as an orchestra leader. Also liked Elliot Dexter as Max Runyon, friend of the Spencers and Theodore Kosloff as Nazzer Singh, a hypnotist who temporarily casts Vivian under a spell. Not a great movie but it certainly has its merits and DeMille provides some great close-ups in the final segment with some wonderful color tints that took my breath away a little. How "happy" the ending is depends on one's view of how trusting the couple really is but it was satisfactory to my tastes. Worth at least a look for anyone interested in old movies. P.S. Ms. Swanson was born in the same town I was: Chicago, Ill. And the writer of the original story, Arthur Schnitzler, would also pen "Traumnovelle" which would be the source of Stanley Kubrick's final work, Eyes Wide Shut.

One of my favorites...

[strsfgold · 10/10 · 12 February 2007]

I know some may find me an oddball for this but I consider The Affairs of Anatol a masterpiece of silent cinema.

Gloria Swanson is one of my favorite actresses and she's remarkable as always in this one. But I wouldn't see Affairs for just her alone, her part is rather small compared to the ones she had in Don't Change Your Husband and Why Change Your Wife? However, even though she doesn't get as much screen time, she's still amazing and in my honest opinion, she steals every scene she's in. Her elegant wardrobe and sophisticated aura makes her the star. Wallace Reid is great too and watching him, you never would have guessed he was towards the end of his life. He seemed very strong and handsome to me, although I haven't seen him in much (sadly).

Anatol (Reid) and his wife, Vivian (Swanson) are a pretty happy married couple until Anatol starts developing the habit of wanting to rescue women with no morals from their fate. This film is long but it HAS to be to fit it all in! We travel with Anatol and Vivian through many adventures that continuously test their marriage and happiness.

The cast is absolutely fabulous! Many, many good actors and actresses here. Obviously, Gloria Swanson and Wallace Reid. Then we have delightful Bebe Daniels as Satan Synne, a vampish woman with a heart of gold deep down. Also, there's the wonderful, unique and sadly underrated Raymond Hatton who has a short appearance as a violin teacher. Pretty and talented Agnes Ayres plays a country "good girl" and the great character actor Theodore Roberts plays a mean ol' millionaire. Others in the cast worth mentioning are Monte Blue, Wanda Hawley, Elliott Dexter and Theodore Kosloff.

This movie is stunning visually and is gorgeous to look at. Beautiful tints and a score that works with the film like butter works with bread. The costumes and sets are to die for and the whole thing just screams DeMille. TCM shows this film every now and then but I wouldn't wait that long. For Gloria and DeMille fans this is a MUST.

pretty good silent film,...it does have its moments

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 7 August 2006]

In the era from 1910-1928, there were a lot of very melodramatic morality tale movies. The audiences loved them, but to today's viewers, they might seem a bit predictable and silly. As for me, I've seen so many of them that after a while they tend to blend together in my mind. They all seem to involve a husband who begins to wander and ultimately, they return to their good wives by the end of the film.

While this one appears to be such a film, at first the husband (Wallace Reid) seems to have the purest of intentions. He meets an old girlfriend from 8th grade and tries to pull her away from a life where she is being supported by rich men. The problem is, she LIKES this sort of life and Reid is already married to Glroia Swanson and his wife naturally resents this! However, because this IS basically a formulaic film, you also know that despite the eventual breakup of the marriage, you know by convention that they MUST be reunited by the final frame! That is my biggest problem with the film--it was generally too predictable and too telegraphed and obvious. For example, when the husband TRIES to be unfaithful, he goes to the home (more of a lair, actually) of Madame Satan Synne (played by Bebe Daniels) to be vamped! This part left me with mixed feelings actually, as the over-the-top home and the octopus outfit she worse was really funny and that deep down she WAS a good woman! But, it all still seemed rather formulaic at the core. Yep,...despite falling in her clutches, only a few minutes later he was back to Gloria.

The Glo Show

[jjnxn-1 · 5/10 · 11 October 2013]

An interesting document of almost one hundred years ago. Your enjoyment of this will obviously depend on whether you like silents or not. As a look way back to the beginnings of narrative film making and a fashion show of what woman wore then this has some interest. Gloria is unquestionably the star and she holds the screen with no problem. A renown clotheshorse her outfits are bizarre in the extreme to the modern eye but were the height of high fashion in their day. It's also a rare chance to see the doomed Wallace Reid in one of his few existing films. He was deep in the throes of the morphine addiction that would kill him within two years when this was made and looks shockingly old when you realize he was only 29 at the time, he appears 50 minimum.

visually dazzling and masterful

[joan_freyer · 9/10 · 14 June 2010]

The other reviews provide a lot of information (I did not know Reid was so close to death in this film and that is tragic indeed) so I will just add that the film is visually dazzling with it's super saturated color tints and color cards. There are two brief scenes that appear to be early two strip Technicolor. I gather they are actually colored in some way but they look amazing nevertheless.

The shot of Fan Nightclub exterior and the interior scene when Reid dances with the flapper is glorious use of color and stage design. The Synne scenes (including leopard) are fun.

This is a fun film to have. The restoration of super saturated color and full color title cards is amazing and the music is very good. If anyone wants to see a silent film and be surprised they should check out this film! J E F

A Twenties Soap Opera

[jahlaune · 7/10 · 30 March 2003]

This is a soap opera.Very silly and shallow. But it just goes to show shallow entertainment will never go out of style. Gloria Swanson is Gloria Swanson, Chic, sophisticated. Somehow looking at her she doesn't come off as naive at all. This is a very worldy film and the sr=ets are teriffic! A must see for any Gloria Swanson fans out there.

Entertaining though overlong social comedy

[arneblaze · 5/10 · 10 May 2002]

The plot and an analysis is elsewhere here well done with Ron Oliver's review. Suffice to say that the hand-tinted titles and the sepia-toned film itself, hinting at reds along with its browns are a real joy to behold. Seeing so many luminaries in one film is also a treat - Reid, Swanson, Moran, Daniels, Ayres.

However, the film could easily have been a half hour shorter with less wear and tear on the viewer and with virtually little loss in the morality tale or sense of the work. It's all enjoyable but it does drag a bit.

Grapevine and Kino both have excellent prints. Important for its director and his non-epic style as well as for the presence of Reid and Swanson, but far from a great or important film.

fascinating silent comedy

[didi-5 · 23 February 2003]

Drawn to this by the irresistable and rare chance of seeing Wallace Reid and Gloria Swanson working together on a film, I had heard about it through reference books (and also about Swanson's recollections of the film not being happy due to feeling uncomfortable with Reid at the time), and expected exactly what I got - a fun piece with some nice touches (Gloria's playful mood before she feels slighted by Wanda Hawley's flapper girl; Reid trashing Hawley's apartment when he realises she did not have pure intentions towards him after all; Agnes Ayres and Reid sharing a kiss in the woods while Gloria has gone to fetch a doctor to attend to Ayres, 'half-drowned' when she left; and best of all, Bebe Daniels as the absurdly named Satan Synne who is really a domesticated pussy cat chasing young men for cash to help her sick husband). The Affairs ... also benefits from having a lovely series of colour tints throughout. A little overlong perhaps (and too much focus on Hawley at the expense of the other girls encountered by Tony) but another fascinating early piece from De Mille. Sad to think that Wallace Reid would be dead by early '23. The movies' loss.

The Affairs of anatol review

[JoeytheBrit · 7/10 · 29 June 2020]

Screen heartthrob Wallace Reid shows little sign of the morphine addiction that would claim his life just two years after the release of this lightweight comedy from Cecil B. DeMille. The fool is out trying to reform wayward women who simply want to take advantage of his generosity while the delectable Gloria Swanson is waiting at home for him, which earns him little sympathy in my book. A pleasant enough example of the kind of sophisticated comedies for which De Mille was known before he went all Biblical - but also quite forgettable.

For It's One, Two, Three Strikes and You're Out!

[bsmith5552 · 7/10 · 12 August 2007]

"The Affairs of Anatole" is another marriage infidelity film from Producer/Director Cecil B. De Mille. Its a white washed story of a socialite's affairs with three women told in three separate stories.

Wealthy socialite Anatole DeWitt Spencer...now there's a moniker (Wallace Reid) has been married to his wife Vivian (Gloria Swanson) for a mere ten weeks and feels that the "honey" is gone from the honeymoon and grows restless.

While night clubbing with Vivian and his close friend Max Runyon (Elliott Dexter) he sees an old school sweetheart, Emilie Dixon (Wanda Hawley) in the company of a rich old playboy, Gordon Bronson (Theodore Roberts). Feeling that he needs to "save her soul", he tells Vivian that he must save Emilie from herself. Anatole sets her up in an apartment and tries to turn her into a socialite...a sort of "My Fair Lady" scenario. He tries to get her to throw away the jewelry that Bronson had given her, but she hides the jewels from him. Once a gold digger, always a gold digger, Emilie goes back to Bronson and ..............

Anatole goes back to Vivian and the two decide on a second honeymoon. A farmer's wife, Annie Elliot (Agnes Ayres) has just stolen church funds from her husband Abner (Monte Blue) that he had been keeping for the local church. As luck would have it, the despondent Annie is just jumping from a bridge in a suicide attempt as Anatole and Vivian's boat is rowing under the bridge. Anatole saves the woman and brings her ashore to administer first aid. While Vivan goes for help, Annie sees her chance to redeem herself by stealing Anatole's fat wallet that has fallen conveniently to the ground. Playing up to him, she steals the wallet and.............

Next Anatole meets "vamp" Satan Synne...there's another name (Bebe Daniels) who is a thinly disguised prostitute whom Anatole decides to save. Satan in reality is Mary Deacon who is living the life to get money to finance her war veteran husband's many operations. Complete with an octopus' tentacled cloak, she puts her coils around Anatole to obtain the $3,000 required for her husband's latest operation and.....................

Repentant, Anatole returns to Vivian yet again only to find that she is on an "all nighter" with his best friend Max and...................

Even though De Mille tries to paint each of these ladies as pure of heart, there's no doubt what is REALLY going on. The fact that Vivian keeps taking Anatole back after each affair is a little hard to believe. But hey, this was 1921.

Wallace Reid was now a major star as was the diminutive Gloria Swanson. Reid, a life long alcoholic, was now addicted to morphine resulting from an accident in 1919. This combination proved lethal and Reid died prematurely at the age of 31 in 1923. Bebe Daniels was just coming into her own as a star after years in Harold Lloyd comedies. Agnes Ayres received a measure of immortality, as the girl carried off by Rudolph Valentino in "The Shiek" (1921).

Others in the cast include Theodore Kosloff as an Indian mystic, Raymond Hatton as a music teacher, Polly Moran as an orchestra leader and William (don't call me Hoppy) Boyd as a party guest at the apartment of Emilie.

Interesting but..........

Are Husbands and Wives always Faithful to one another?

[Spondonman · 8/10 · 6 September 2013]

This is one of my favourite silent films, very preachy with sly sexual sub-texts as usual from DeMille but with its tongue firmly in its cheek. And with the passage of time it (presently) reflects back to us a dead world, where people seemed to think, talk and behave in strange ways, and where innocence and sublety are intermixed.

Man with honourable knight errant tendencies rescues pretty girls and repeatedly gets burned much to his and his faithful wife's disgust, eventually causing her to paint the town red in revenge. What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. Wallace Reid and Gloria Swanson are perfect in their respective roles of handsome couple Anatol and Vivian, bringing an old fashioned story not only to life but to a credible and dignified level too. Their staunch friend Max seems to have a lot to think of judging by all the gurning asides he pulls. Of the three distinct sections in the film the third with Bebe Daniels as Madame Satan Synne in her quasi-brothel is the most fascinating, the money shots for me being of her introducing Anatol to her startling companion in her bedroom. What a vamp. You will have to draw your own conclusions at the end with the unanswered question but seeing Max's blissful face I know what I think… But it ill behooves me to talk about any of them after all! There's nice camera-work and also nice tinting throughout which usually helps.

It's essential to see if you're a silent film fan, and hopefully still enjoyable if you're not but you'll probably be severely puzzled by all of the moralising.

It's too great to know that this film was made before Murnau's Masterpiece "Sunrise" (1927), or else the Female Acid vs Make Ego conflict would have ignited, unknowingly.

[SAMTHEBESTEST · 7/10 · 6 March 2022]

The Affairs Of Anatol (1921) : Brief Review -

It's too great to know that this film was made before Murnau's Masterpiece "Sunrise" (1927), or else the Female Acid vs Make Ego conflict would have ignited, unknowingly. Having seen FW Murnau's eternal masterpiece #Sunrise, I thought that it was quite an original piece, but after watching DeMille's several films from the 1910s decade and this film, I gathered a lot of references. What's different between Sunrise and The Affairs Of Anatol then? Sunrise is about a faithful wife not knowing about her husband's extramarital affair and how he realises his mistake, whereas The Affairs Of Anatol is about a woman who knows about her husband's platonic affairs and she even tries to make him equal. There comes a male ego. The husband, who himself isn't loyal enough, seeks full loyalty, and there you see a lot of controversial stuff (which thankfully didn't take place at all). For a moment, I thought the film went really wrong there, but then came a strong climax. I loved the conclusion part where the husband finally surrenders his love to the wife, throwing that male ego aside. He wasn't really that bad. As you see, he wasn't going for every woman like a playboy. He was trying to help them but somehow was lured. "He learned about women from her," what a poignant quote it was. And the other one too, which says, "The Devil's not a man, it's a woman. She knows but doesn't say." That was about female acid, I suppose. But then the film goes on proving the other side of women, and that's purity and loyalty. Some mixture it was for the early 20s. Wallace Reid and Gloria Swanson's chemistry is beautiful, and the rest of the cast members are impressive too. DeMille's attempt is close to the classic tag but not a classic for me. It just misses it by an inch, owing the loss to its happy ending. Gosh, it just happened like that. Come on, that woman deserved more respect.

RATING - 7.5/10*

By - #samthebestest.

Compulsive Reformer

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 27 December 2014]

A whole flock of Cecil B. DeMille favorites from the silent era got into The Affairs Of Anatol. Wallace Reid, Elliott Dexter, and Theodore Roberts for the men and Gloria Swanson, Wanda Hawley, Agnes Ayres, and Bebe Daniels for the women. The title role is played by Wallace Reid who after a couple more films would have his career and life end tragically.

This is one terribly dated Victorian era morality play that no doubt before films would have been a staple of the theater. In fact its origins were from the stage, a play by Arthur Schnitzler and the lead that Reid plays here was originated by John Barrymore. It only ran 72 performances so the great Barrymore could do little with it himself.

Which is why we can't totally blame DeMille, Reid and the rest. The whole concept behind the play would leave audiences scratching their heads.

Reid is married to Swanson, but he's a compulsive reformer in the William Gladstone tradition. Even when he got to be Prime Minister Gladstone used to prowl the streets of London looking for women to help from a life of degradation. And even back then he got a few catcalls from his Tory opposition and even from some in his own party.

Reid leaves Swanson looking women he can mold into someone virtuous. In order they're Hawley, Ayres, and Daniels. Each one of them leaves him sadder, but only wiser later on. Adding to insult Swanson is not being ignored by Reid's best friend Elliott Dexter.

Of course this is the movies and more important a DeMille movie. Virtue has to triumph and it inevitably does.

In his autobiography DeMille only says that for some reason W. Somerset Maugham was threatening a lawsuit saying DeMille had plagiarized one of his works. He was talked out of it before going to court.

I'm surprised Maugham would want to claim anything to do with this.

Good cast, middling results

[scsu1975 · 5/10 · 2 December 2022]

Anatol and Vivien Spencer are newly married, but Anatol cannot resist trying to help out women in need. He first tries to assist an old schoolmate, Emilie, whom he thinks is being taken advantage of by an old lecher. This ends disastrously. Next, he rescues a woman who has attempted suicide by drowning. She ends up swiping his wallet, and gives the money to her husband, to replace money she had taken from him. Finally, Anatol assists an entertainer whose husband, a veteran of World War I, has just had a serious operation. All the while, Vivien fumes at these escapades, and starts hanging around with Anatol's best friend. Will Anatol ever learn his lesson, and will Vivien forgive him?

This film has a great cast. Besides the two leads, the three women Reid helps are played by, in order of appearance, Wanda Hawley, Agnes Ayres, and Bebe Daniels. Daniels in particular looks great, as "Satan Synne," who keeps a leopard in her apartment: Good support is provided by Theodore Roberts as Hawley's sugar daddy (although his trademark cigar-chomping is starting to wear thin). Monte Blue has a small role as Ayres farmer-husband. But despite the cast, the film misses the mark somewhat. The length is a problem; the first segment with Hawley takes up almost half the film, and could have probably been cut down. Ayres appearance is fairly brief, while Daniels gets more screen time. But the film is a tough slog at times, and I had trouble staying interested because the material was just not that compelling. And some of the title cards are paragraphs.

There are some very good scenes, though; one in particular, where Reid blows his stack and trashes Hawley's things, is pretty raw. There are also some very weird scenes, like one involving an Indian hypnotist who gets Swanson to remove her stockings, much to her embarrassment:

Reid's character is problematic. It's hard to root for him since he keeps messing up. It doesn't help that his eyebrows appear to be painted on, making them look like caterpillars.

I'd give the film an "eh" overall.