(101 min) Released 1935-07-12
Directors: Lansing C. Holden, Irving Pichel
Stars: Helen Gahagan, Randolph Scott, Helen Mack, Nigel Bruce
H. Rider Haggard ... (from the novel by)
Benjamin Zemach ... dance director, Oscar nominated for "Hall of Kings"
Adventure | Fantasy | Romance | Sci-Fi
I chose to watch this now because it was nominated for Best Dance Direction, and I was ready to watch a non-musical. (See the winner and other noms here.) The nom'd scene begins around 1:20 of the 1:42 length Kino print (scene 11 of 13). [About 5 minutes before the dance scene, we're on a terrace of the palace, overlooking the enormous valley of her domain. The terrace and the sheer drop from its edge reminds me of Black Narcissus ('47).]
The pageantry (ooh, look at the word pagan there) of the She scene, and the parade of small groups of dancers is very satisfying. (That parade, and how they dance, reminds me of the future Jack Cole (b. '11) work in Kismet ('55); his first film credit is Kismet ('44).) The colorized version for this scene is worthwhile. (Otherwise, even though it's 2007 processing overseen by Ray Harryhausen, the colorization does NOT look good to me.) My ongoing gripe with RKO persists here: they cut the length of the parade by simply dissolving to a new group of dancers without changing camera angles, and they do so multiple times. This makes me too aware of the editor, more than with any other technique and I hate that. Fortunately, other editors cut to reaction shots or something else to mask the loss of time. This film is one of only 2 credits for DD Benjamin Zemach, the other in '61.
In the commentary track, they mention that Merian C. Cooper, the producer of this film, was frustrated by RKO's veto of funding to film this in color, and formed Pioneer Pictures Corp, which made the first color feature, Becky Sharpe ('35), and Dancing Pirate ('36, also Cooper-produced), the film I watched immediately before this one... by coincidence! They also mentioned that She did not make a profit until re-released in '49 with another Cooper-produced film, The Last Days of Pompeii ('35) on a double-bill. Pompeii is among the dance direction credits of Russell Lewis, who DD'd Dancing Pirate. (I know that once I stepped into RKO in the year '36 I would run into common credits, but the fact that I stepped BACK into RKO '35 at just this moment is amazing. I did not notice that Cooper produced Pirate until I looked for it now.)
The pageantry (ooh, look at the word pagan there) of the She scene, and the parade of small groups of dancers is very satisfying. (That parade, and how they dance, reminds me of the future Jack Cole (b. '11) work in Kismet ('55); his first film credit is Kismet ('44).) The colorized version for this scene is worthwhile. (Otherwise, even though it's 2007 processing overseen by Ray Harryhausen, the colorization does NOT look good to me.) My ongoing gripe with RKO persists here: they cut the length of the parade by simply dissolving to a new group of dancers without changing camera angles, and they do so multiple times. This makes me too aware of the editor, more than with any other technique and I hate that. Fortunately, other editors cut to reaction shots or something else to mask the loss of time. This film is one of only 2 credits for DD Benjamin Zemach, the other in '61.
In the commentary track, they mention that Merian C. Cooper, the producer of this film, was frustrated by RKO's veto of funding to film this in color, and formed Pioneer Pictures Corp, which made the first color feature, Becky Sharpe ('35), and Dancing Pirate ('36, also Cooper-produced), the film I watched immediately before this one... by coincidence! They also mentioned that She did not make a profit until re-released in '49 with another Cooper-produced film, The Last Days of Pompeii ('35) on a double-bill. Pompeii is among the dance direction credits of Russell Lewis, who DD'd Dancing Pirate. (I know that once I stepped into RKO in the year '36 I would run into common credits, but the fact that I stepped BACK into RKO '35 at just this moment is amazing. I did not notice that Cooper produced Pirate until I looked for it now.)
Works by H. Rider Haggard adapted to the screen: King Solomon's Mines, others in the Allan Quartermain series, and She (the first in the Ayesha series. The 2 series came together in one of his novels.) These generated 5 films with King Solomon in the title, 3 with Allan Quartermain in the title, and 8 (so far) with title She, plus The Hidden Valley, and The Vengeance of She for a total of 10. See them here. The earliest feature was 1916, the most recent 2001.
I think I first saw the 1965 version starring Ursula Andress. This 1935 version stars Helen Gahagan Douglas, who was the third woman and first Democratic woman elected to Congress from California; she served in the House for 3 terms (1945-51). She then ran for US Senate in a particularly ugly campaign against Richard Nixon. Read more here. This was her only film. She was married to Melvyn Douglas since '31 until her death in '80.
I enjoy the topics of eternal life and a remote hidden civilization. (Yes, Lost Horizon (1937) is a fave.) Nigel Bruce was well cast and well used, as was Randolph Scott. (Yes, I don't like him in F&G movies, but adventure is perfect for him.) I also like Helen Mack here, as I did in Kiss and Makeup ('34) and also as Mollie Malloy in His Girl Friday ('40). Gahagan is appropriate as the regal amoral immortal. Gustav von Seyffertitz as the queen's top advisor and manipulator is excellent.
Former Olympian Jim Thorpe is credited as Captain of the Guard. I didn't spot him, and the commentary track didn't help.
Next viewing: pay attention to the Max Steiner score.
Next viewing: pay attention to the Max Steiner score.
