She (1935 film)
She | |
---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Lansing C. Holden Irving Pichel |
Screenplay by | Dudley Nichols Ruth Rose |
Based on | She by H. Rider Haggard |
Produced by | Merian C. Cooper |
Starring | Helen Gahagan Randolph Scott Helen Mack Nigel Bruce Gustav von Seyffertitz |
Cinematography | J. Roy Hunt |
Music by | Max Steiner |
Production company | |
Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 102 min (original theatrical release) 94 min. (1949 re-release) |
She is a 1935 American adventure film produced by Merian C. Cooper. Based on the 1887 novel of the same name by H. Rider Haggard, the screenplay draws on all the books in the series: the first aforementioned book, She and Allan, The Return of She and Wisdom's Daughter.
The ancient civilization of Kor is depicted in an Art Deco style with imaginative special effects. The setting is Arctic Siberia, rather than Africa, as in the first book. With music by Max Steiner, the film stars Helen Gahagan, Randolph Scott and Nigel Bruce.
It was hoped that She would follow Cooper's previous success, King Kong. Cooper had originally intended to shoot the film in color, but budget cuts by RKO forced him to shoot the film in black and white at the last minute.[1] However, the black and white film had disappointing results at the box-office. It initially lost $180,000, although it later had a successful re-release.[1][2] The film is listed in Golden Raspberry Award founder John Wilson's book The Official Razzie Movie Guide as one of the 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Dance Direction at the 8th Academy Awards.[3]
Plot
[edit]Leo Vincey is called from America to the family's ancestral estate in England where his dying uncle John Vincey and his friend Horace Holly convince him that his ancestor, also named John Vincey, found the secret of immortality nearly 500 years ago in the far north, though only his wife returned. Dying, she wrote a letter to her son describing their adventures, including the Flame of Life. Leo is shown a painting of his ancestor, which looks remarkably like him.
Following the route outlined in the letter, Leo and Holly travel through frozen Arctic wastes, with a guide named Tugmore and his daughter Tanya joining them on their quest. During their travels, Leo and Tanya begin falling in love.
They find a corpse beside a bag of gold, as well as a sabre-tooth tiger, all encased in ice, all as mentioned in the letter. Tugmore attacks the ice with his axe for the gold, despite Holly's warning that any sound could trigger an avalanche. Holly is proved correct, and Tugmore is killed, but the avalanche reveals a passageway through the massive cliffs barring their way north. Inside the cave system, they encounter a primitive tribe and are about to be killed when they are saved by Billali and his soldiers. They are taken to the ancient city of Kor, following the standing order that all strangers are to be brought to its ruler, She Who Must Be Obeyed.
She is immortal, due to her immersion in the Flame of Life. She believes that Leo is the reincarnation of John Vincey — her long-lost love — and vows to make him immortal too to rule by her side. Later, she reveals she killed John in a fit of jealousy. Tanya warns Leo that nothing human can live forever, but Leo cannot resist the temptation of eternal life. When She becomes jealous again, Billali suggests that Tanya be forced to replace the human sacrifice required to make Leo immortal.
During the ceremony, Leo finally recognizes the veiled Tanya. He frees her, and the trio battle their way through the crowd and flee ... straight to the chamber containing the Flame of Life. She and Billali arrive by a shorter path. She asks Leo to step into the Flame of Life. To prove it is safe, She steps into the Flame herself, but her second immersion proves fatal: She ages with each eruption of the Flame, finally becoming a withered crone and dying. Leo, Holly, and Tanya escape and return to England.
Cast
[edit]- Helen Gahagan as She (Who Must Be Obeyed)
- Randolph Scott as Leo Vincey
- Nigel Bruce as Professor Horace Holly
- Helen Mack as Tanya Dugmore
- Gustav von Seyffertitz as Billali
- Lumsden Hare as Dugmore
- Samuel S. Hinds as John Vincey
- Noble Johnson as Amahaggar Chief
- Jim Thorpe as Captain of the Guard (uncredited)[4]
Production
[edit]In July 1932, Universal Studios announced they had bought the rights to the story.[5]
In July 1934, RKO announced they would make the film the following year as one of the studio's big productions.[6] Helen Gahagan's and Nigel Bruce's casting was announced in January 1935.[7] It was Gahagan's first movie after a long theatre career.[8] This film, along with The Last Days of Pompeii, were part of a two-picture agreement with Cooper, with the initial agreement stating that each film would be made for $1 million each. However, in pre-production, RKO informed him of their slashing of the budget, as he would now have to shoot the two films for a combined $1 million rather than $1 million each. He would later refer to the film as the "worst picture I ever made."[9]: 259, 263
Gahagan's depiction of the "ageless ice goddess"[10] inspired the Evil Queen in Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937).[11][12]
Reception
[edit]Writing for The Spectator in 1935, Graham Greene reviewed the film positively, but gave a disclaimer that as "an unrepentant Haggard fan" he could not write reasonably about it. Describing the film as showcasing "earnestly manly Boy Scout virtues", Greene did acknowledge that it "bore its symbolism a little heavily", and ultimately characterized it as both thrilling and childish.[13]
Later releases
[edit]She originally had a running time of 102 minutes, but was edited to 94 minutes for its 1949 re-release to better fit on a double bill with Cooper's The Last Days of Pompeii.
She was among the films believed lost in a fire at the RKO archives,[14] but an original print was discovered in the garage of the silent film star Buster Keaton and was turned over to film distributor Raymond Rohauer for preservation.[15]
In 2006, Legend Films and Ray Harryhausen colorized the film as a tribute to Cooper. The colorized trailer for She premiered at the 2006 Comic-Con.[16]
In 2007, Kino Video produced a version that reinstated the eight minutes of scenes deleted in the 1949 re-release,[17] drawing from a lower-quality 16mm print.[18][19]
Home media
[edit]Legend Films release:[20]
- Picture Format: 1.33:1 (1080p 24fps) [AVC MPEG-4]
- Soundtrack(s): English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Dual Mono)
- Extras (Blu-ray):
- Things to Come (1936) in colorized and black & white versions
- Commentary by Ray Harryhausen and Mark Vaz on She
- Interviews with Ray Harryhausen [She (1080i; 4:32)] [Things to Come (1080i; 3:47)]
- Colorization Process with Ray Harryhausen [She (1080i; 8:58)] [Things to Come (1080i; 8:51)]
- Extras (DVD):
- The Most Dangerous Game (1932) in colorized and black & white versions
- Ray Harryhausen on the Importance of a Movie Score (2:31)
- James V. D'Arc, Curator of the Merian C. Cooper Papers, BYU (4:30)
- John Morgan, Composer, on Max Steiner (7:15)
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b Harryhausen, Ray; Vaz, Mark. She DVD, Legend Films, 2006, audio commentary. ISBN 978-1-60673-060-7
- ^ Richard Jewell & Vernon Harbin, The RKO Story. New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House, 1982. p85
- ^ Wilson, John (2005). The Official Razzie Movie Guide: Enjoying the Best of Hollywood's Worst. Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 0-446-69334-0.
- ^ Shaffer, G. (Apr 11, 1935). "Penny matching piles up $3,000 charity fund". Chicago Daily Tribune. ProQuest 181569593.
- ^ Hall, C. (Jul 24, 1932). "NOTES FROM HOLLYWOOD'S STUDIOS". New York Times. ProQuest 99559141.
- ^ "R.-K.-O. plans "family" films". Wall Street Journal. Jul 14, 1934. ProQuest 131173858.
- ^ "SCREEN NOTES". New York Times. Jan 11, 1935. ProQuest 101609935.
- ^ "Helen gahagan adds films to A busy career". The Washington Post. Jun 30, 1935. ProQuest 150682898.
- ^ Vaz, Mark Cotta (August 2005). Living dangerously The adventures of Merian C. Cooper, creator of King Kong. Villard. ISBN 978-1-4000-6276-8.
- ^ "The Wonderful World of WALT: Walt Disney and the Villain | Disney Insider". Blogs.disney.com. Retrieved May 4, 2014.
- ^ "Disney Villains: Queen". Disney.go.com. Archived from the original on February 27, 2011. Retrieved November 6, 2013.
- ^ "D23′s Dateline Disney: 1935 (Evil Queen) « Disney D23". D23.disney.go.com. December 10, 2012. Archived from the original on December 16, 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
- ^ Greene, Graham (25 October 1935). "Joan of Arc/Turn of the Tide/Top Hat/She". The Spectator. Retrieved 10 October 2018. (reprinted in: Taylor, John Russell, ed. (1980). The Pleasure Dome. p. 32. ISBN 0192812866.)
- ^ "Empire of the Imagination: Rediscovering She (1935) by matthew c. hoffman". Screen Deco. 2012-05-19. Retrieved 2020-07-24.
- ^ Harper, Marla (August 27, 1989). "'She' (NR)". Washington Post. Retrieved 2007-03-07.
- ^ "Comic-Con 2006 :: Programming for Friday, July 21". Archived from the original on 2007-02-24. Retrieved 2007-03-07.
- ^ DVDCompare Retrieved: 7 May 2012
- ^ Monster Kid Classic Horror Forum Retrieved: 7 May 2012
- ^ Nitrateville classic film forum Retrieved: 7 May 2012
- ^ "The Ray Harryhausen Double Feature Blu-ray".
External links
[edit]- She at IMDb
- She at AllMovie
- She at Rotten Tomatoes
- She on Escape: July 11, 1948
- She at Legend Films