The Man Who Played God (1932)

The Man Who Played God: Directed by John G. Adolfi. With George Arliss, Violet Heming, Bette Davis, André Luguet. After losing his hearing, a musician uses lip-reading to help others.

“This story has been made and remade many times. The first was back in the 1910s as u0026quot;The Silent Voiceu0026quot;. Then, a decade later, George Arliss made u0026quot;The Man Who Played Godu0026quot;…and then again, a decade after this, Arliss made a sound version. But that wasnu0026#39;t all…in the 1950s, Liberace made u0026quot;Sincerely Yoursu0026quot;…yet another version of this story!u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe story is about a world famous concert pianist (Arliss), a man who is beloved and loves life. He also has a significantly younger woman (Bette Davis) who wants to marry him. But in spite of this, his life takes a sour turn when he is deafened…and sour is the word for it! This is because the pianist soon becomes bitter and resentful from his hearing loss and he spends much of his time brooding. So what is his salvation? See the movie.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eArliss, as usual, is very good. And, the story is a wonderful tale about loss and coping with it. My only complaint, and itu0026#39;s a minor one, is that the story seems a tad old fashioned. Now this does NOT mean I suggest you see the later Liberace version…itu0026#39;s not particularly good. But the 1932 film is well worth seeing…with a great object lesson for us all.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBy the way, late in the film look carefully at the minor character of an embezzler…itu0026#39;s played by the soon to be discovered Ray Milland.”