I'm reading a biography of Disraeli, so I thought I'd dig out the film to watch again. While the screen play uses the basics of the Suez Canal episode as a starting point, like so many film biographies, it plays fast and loose with the truth.
Disraeli's wife had died several years before. There was no intrigue with Russia. The race to buy the company shares was to beat out two French consortiums. As it turned out, the French couldn't raise the money, so the race was unnecessary. The purchase of the Khedive's shares gave the English only 44% of the shares, but did prevent a French monopoly. By international agreement, ships of all nations could use the canal, despite who owned the shares, but the purchase did insure that the French couldn't meddle unchecked. And Queen Victoria wasn't named Empress of India until two years later.
That said, George Arliss is marvelous in an old fashioned play, that is made more old fashioned by the limitations of early sound. It positively creaks. Joan Benet is ravishing in a second lead part. Too bad they didn't give her more closeups, but that is remedied by watching Moby Dick (1930). I like Disraeli more as a cultural artifact than as a film. In another ten years , I may watch it again.
Disraeli's wife had died several years before. There was no intrigue with Russia. The race to buy the company shares was to beat out two French consortiums. As it turned out, the French couldn't raise the money, so the race was unnecessary. The purchase of the Khedive's shares gave the English only 44% of the shares, but did prevent a French monopoly. By international agreement, ships of all nations could use the canal, despite who owned the shares, but the purchase did insure that the French couldn't meddle unchecked. And Queen Victoria wasn't named Empress of India until two years later.
That said, George Arliss is marvelous in an old fashioned play, that is made more old fashioned by the limitations of early sound. It positively creaks. Joan Benet is ravishing in a second lead part. Too bad they didn't give her more closeups, but that is remedied by watching Moby Dick (1930). I like Disraeli more as a cultural artifact than as a film. In another ten years , I may watch it again.