Tag Archives: 1935

A Tale of Two Cities
Directed by Jack Conway
1935/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Repeat viewing

[box] Knitting woman (tricoteuse): [the guillotine strikes once more] I lost a stitch. Cursed Aristocrats![/box]

This is a fairly faithful adaptation of the Dickens novel.  The evil Marquis St. Evremonde (Basil Rathbone) denounced Dr. Manette and had him imprisoned without trial in the Bastille for 18 years.  Manette is finally freed through the efforts of the seditious De Farges and is reunited with his daughter Lucie.  Lucie and Manette travel by ship to England and meet Charles Darnay on the journey.  Darnay is the free-thinking nephew of the Marquis who has arranged that he be framed and arrested for treason upon arrival.  Darnay is a acquited through the efforts of barrister Stryver and his associate, the dissolute but clever Sidney Carton.  Carton and Darnay both fall in love with Lucie, while Lucie’s heart belongs to Darnay whom she marries.  A few years later after the French Revolution, Darnay is in danger of the guillotine due to his aristocratic ancestry and the ills done by the Marquis to a number of poor people.

1935 was quite the year for big-budget literary adaptations and this is a fine one.  It is rescued from an excess of sentiment (also present in the novel) by the fantastic performance of Ronald Colman as Sidney Carton.  His eyes are wonderfully expressive and he delivers his dialogue with just the right touch of irony.  Among the supporting players, I particularly like Basil Rathbone as the supercilious Marquis and Edna May Oliver as Lucie’s maid, Miss Pross.  Oliver has a really touching and funny scene near the end in which she defends the interests of her mistress.  MGM spared no expense on the settings or costumes.  Recommended.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJXrkhnn3BQ

Re-release trailer

She
Directed by Lancing C. Holden and Irving Pichel
1935/USA
RKO Radio Pictures
Repeat viewing

She, Queen Hash-A-Mo-Tep of Kor: I am yesterday, and today, and tomorrow. I am sorrow, and longing, and hope unfulfilled. I am Hash-A-Mo-Tep. She. She who must be obeyed! I am I.

Leo Vincey’s (Randolph Scott) dieing uncle tells him of the family legend that a 15th century ancestor, John Vincey, found the flame of immortality. Leo bears a remarkable likeness to his ancestor.  He sets off with the uncle’s assistant on a journey to the Arctic to locate the flame. On the way, they meet up with Tanya (Helen Mack), a guide’s daughter. An avalanche reveals the entrance to a volcanic cave and from there to Kor, a land ruled by Hash-A-Mo-Tep or She (Helen Gahagan), an immortal beauty and absolute monarch who has bathed in that same flame. She has been waiting through the centuries for the return of her beloved John Vincey and believes Leo is his reincarnation. In the meantime, Leo has fallen in love with Tanya which does not bode well for Tanya’s survival.

Helen Gahagan and Randolph Scott

Marien C. Cooper, who produced this film, intended it as a lavish special effects successor to his 1933 King Kong. Unfortunately, it was a box office bomb. I believe the problem may have been that Helen Gahagan just lacked the charisma to bring life to the title role. In addition, the rituals of the civilization of Kor and the screenplay are both fairly clunky. The film is nothing special on any front, though the Max Steiner score is rather nice and the settings are certainly lavish.

I thought it was fun to find out where Rumpole of the Bailey’s wife got her nickname (“She Who Must Be Obeyed”). This movie killed Helen Gahagan’s film career. She went on to become a U.S. Congresswoman from California.

Excerpt – scene between Helen Gahagan and Helen Mack