John Barrymore was easily the most suitable actor for film, in comparison with his older brother and sister. He knew when it was right to town down the theatrical approach and when to be a bit larger-than-life. "The Mad Genius" was Barrymore's final film for "Warner Bros." He was paid the rather handsome sum of about $70,000 a film and gave some fine performances. "The Mad Genius" is a remake of a previous film for the studio, "Svengali." The former movie is far better than this inferior remake. The above film suffers from a very poor plot, leaden pacing and disappointing dialogue. Only the performance of John Barrymore and the direction from Michael Curtiz save this film. Boris Karloff is completely wasted in a brief appearance at the beginning of the film. "The Mad Genius" has no imagination or much in the way of sustaining the viewer's interest.
Review of The Mad Genius
