Flesh and Fantasy

Flesh and Fantasy
Directed by Julien Duvivier
Written by Ernest Pascal, Samuel Hoffenstein, and Ellis St. Joseph from stories by Ellis St. Joseph, Oscar Wilde, and Laslo Vádnáy
1943/USA
Universal Pictures
First viewing/Universal Vault Series DVD

[box] “All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.” ― Edgar Allan Poe[/box]

Edward G. Robinson is the standout in this anthology of three supernatural tales from French exile Julian Duvivier.

In the framing sequence, a man (Robert Benchley) appears to be shook up about something.  He tells his friend that a fortune-teller told him something would happen.  Then he had a dream in which the event did not happen.  Since he doesn’t believe in either dreams or fortune teller, and one of the two must be true, he is scared.  The friend proceeds to read him three tales which will clear things up.  (How, I never understood.)

The first of the stories concerns an ugly, bitter woman (Betty Field) who has been yearning after a handsome law student (Robert Cummings).  It is Mardi Gras and the owner of a mask shop gives her a mask that will allow her to be a beauty for the evening.

The best of the bunch stars Edward G. Robinson as a none-too-ethical lawyer.  He attends a party where a mysterious man (Thomas Mitchell) is telling fortunes.  At this affair, the lawyer’s lady finally agrees to marry him.  But the fortune teller has seen something amiss with his palm.  He finally drags out of him that he is destined to commit murder.  The evil little man encourages him to pick someone who will never be missed to get the crime out of the way before the wedding.  The lawyer is willing but the intended victims prove to be surprisingly hard to kill.  With Dame May Whitty and C. Aubrey Smith as the elect.

In the final tale, Charles Boyer is a circus tightrope walker.  He has a dream in which he falls to his death, while a woman wearing odd earrings screams.  He is so disturbed he can no longer do his act.  The management takes the troupe back to New York where he suggests the acrobat resume a less dangerous trick.  En route in the ocean liner, he meets the woman of his dreams (Barbara Stanwyck).

All of the stories have twists, something like an early “Twilight Zone”.  Unfortunately, there is also quite a bit of fairly rote romance in the first and the last episodes.  The middle tale has some mild thrills and some excellent acting by Robinson and Mitchell.

Trailer – also includes at the end the trailer to the “B” feature Destiny which was a fourth episode split off from Flesh and Fantasy