The Man Without Desire (1923)

The Man Without Desire is a 1923 British silent film fantasy drama, directed by Adrian Brunel and starring Ivor Novello, who also co-produced the film along with Miles Mander. The film was Brunel's feature-length directorial debut and has been described as "one of the stranger films to emerge from Britain in the 1920s". The film's theme of loss of sexual desire, and by implication impotence, was exceptionally frank for its time; oddly however, it appears to have been passed for release without interference by the British film censors, who at this period has a reputation for extreme zealousness where sexual matters in film were concerned.



^ The Man Without Desire (1923) Duguid, Mark. BFI Screen Online. Retrieved 24-08-2010

Synopsis

18th-century Venetian Count Vittorio Dandolo (Novello) is devastated by the death of his lover Leonora (Nina Vanna) and loses all interest in life. Wishing to escape from his grief, he devises a method of putting himself in a state of suspended animation. He awakens 200 years later in 1920s Venice where he meets Genevia, Leonora's double, who turns out to be a descendant of his former love. Falling immediately in love with Genevia, he proposes marriage which Genevia accepts. He then discovers that his 200-year slumber has left him with the ability to love but unable to experience passion, and the marriage remains unconsummated.

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