User Reviews

This is the old story which has been handed down to us from time immemorial, and which was woven into a drama by Goethe and set to music by Gounod. The story of Faust and his temptation by the devil is so well known as to render a repetition of the story unnecessary. The film follows closely the Goethe dramatization, and is magnificent in its scenery, action and coloring. Like Il Trovatore, the music has been arranged to suit the film, scene for scene, and, with the musical accompaniment, forms a spectacle unequaled in the world of motion pictures. Faust is shown in his study, tired of life. Mephistopheles tempts him, shows him Marguerite, and offers to restore Faust's youth if he will sign away his soul. Other scenes show Faust at the Kirmess; show him changed to a youth again; show his love-making to Marguerite, his duel with her brother; Marguerite's final arrest, the loss of reason and death, and finally Mephistopheles claiming her soul. Undoubtedly this film will make a tremendous impression, and be thoroughly enjoyed by everyone who witnesses it. - The Moving Picture World, June 17, 1911

A presentation of Goethe's famous tragedy which will appeal to lovers of the drama as an unusually accurate interpretation of the great play. Its principal theme, the triumph of love over evil, and Faust's hastening to the prison, where Marguerite, restored briefly to reason, dies in his arms, is admirably managed and constitutes an entrancing piece of dramatic work. The three principal characters are admirably acted, each one performing his or her part in a manner that indicates the most careful and elaborate preparation. In dramas of this type there is always some theme around which it all centers, and in this instance the real feature of the play has never for a moment been lost. The result is that one acquires a deeper comprehension of the play and what it means, with a more searching analysis of the fundamental elements of human life upon which it is based. - The Moving Picture World, July 16, 1910