Across the top of the 1981 poster
for Raiders of the Lost
Ark was the promising pitch, “From
the creators of Jaws and Star Wars." It
seems silly in retrospect that Paramount's
marketing department would nervously resort to
using other titles to sell such an extraordinary
movie. But, in 1935, moviegoers largely ignored
a grand fantasy/adventure film called She.
Perhaps RKO would have fared better had they put
on their posters, “From the creators of
King Kong and
King Solomon's
Mines."
That is the promise of She,
a merging of two creative giants renowned for
their exotic adventure stories: Merian C. Cooper
and H. Rider Haggard. How anyone could have resisted
this back then I'll never understand.
The film opens on a ticking clock.
An old man says, “What time is it?"
A younger man responds, “Ten minutes after
you last asked me." We discover the old
man has spent his life searching for the path
to immortality. He is now dying. He awaits his
nephew who he hopes will pick up the search. Randolph
Scott plays the nephew, Leo Vincey.
Leo Vincey
& Tanya. |
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Inspired by his uncle's mysterious
tales and a centuries-old journal from an earlier
Vincey family member, Leo travels to the Russian
Arctic in search of a sacred flame that grants
immortality. Leo is joined by his uncle's
friend, Holly (Nigel Bruce). Along the way they
pick up Tanya (Helen Mack), the daughter of a
northern trader.
Beneath the frozen wastes, the
three eventually discover a lost city, the Kingdom
of Kor. It is there that they meet the cruel Queen
Ayesha, who is in love with Leo Vincey, believing
him to be a man she once knew and has for five
hundred years awaited his return.
The Hall of
Kings. |
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The novel by H. Rider Haggard had
been adapted before and would be again. The only
surviving silent adaptation is quite good but
it is this Merian C. Cooper version that is the
very best. Ray Harryhausen recently colorized
the film for a special edition DVD release. Apparently,
the film was originally intended to be in color
but RKO couldn't accommodate for that in
the budget. Previous experiments with colorization
of black and white films were disastrous. However,
Mr. Harryhausen has actually managed to improve
this film. The color version puts a greater emphasis
on the exotic. The best black and white cinematographers
paint with shadows, which allows for less within
any given composition to be the focus. She offers
as much of the strange new worlds of science fiction
as old-fashioned adventure and therefore benefits
from a broader palette. Everything set within
the composition should stand out in a film like
this, and does so in this fantastic new release.
The human
sacrifice ceremony. |
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The script by Ruth Rose maintains
a sharp focus on the story's themes, largely
through the character of Tanya. Despite the repeated
terrors she is made to endure, hers is the voice
of wisdom and Helen Mack's performance adds
a heavy dose of humanity to the film. Randolph
Scott, Nigel Bruce and Helen Gahagan as the Queen,
all do fine work. Their performances may seem
a little stage-influenced but this was not so
unusual for 1935.
Tanya bound
& gagged. |
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Art director Van Nest Polglase and
special effects wizard Vernon Walker are two of
the great heroes of this production, especially
for a scene which takes place in the Hall of Kings.
Leo and Holly watch a human sacrifice ceremony
without realizing that the victim is their friend
Tanya. bound and gagged, with a veil draped over
her head, Tanya is to be thrown into a pit of
fire while dancers in weird costumes and gold
masks circle her with a frenzied and bizarre performance.
Max Steiner, re-teaming with Cooper after Kong,
composed an appropriately maniacal score for this
extraordinary set piece.
Books and movies will never return
in any meaningful way to the Mysterious Island
exoticism so popular a hundred years ago. The
Victorian Age of Exploration inspired the imaginations
of H. Rider Haggard, Jules Verne, Arthur Conan
Doyle, Edgar Rice Burroughs and many others. Hollywood
was quick to capitalize on the popularity of such
authors, recognizing the unique ability of cinema
to offer a visual counterpart to their outrageous
stories. Many of these films have improved over
time as what was so common then is unlike anything
today. Enormous gratitude is owed Ray Harryhausen
for offering us a return to this wonderful example
of old fashioned fantasy adventure as if it was
something new. (Stephen
Jared)
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