I Walked with a Zombie

I Walked with a Zombie (Jacques Tourneur, 1943)

A young Canadian nurse (Betsy) comes to the West Indies to care for Jessica, the wife of a plantation manager (Paul Holland). Jessica seems to be suffering from a kind of mental paralysis as a result of fever. When she falls in love with Paul, Betsy determines to cure Jessica even if she needs to use a voodoo ceremony, to give Paul what she thinks he wants.

When producer Val Lewton was hired for RKO Pictures, the studio decided to start a line of Horror films. Beginning with the mysterious Cat People starring Simone Simon brilliantly directed by Jacques Tourneur, its success encouraged Lewton to reemploy the director for two other films. The second movie is I Walked with a Zombie, titled in a very weird way, the producer-director team almost surpassed its first collaboration.

Betsy (Frances Dee), a young nurse, is hired to take care of the wife (Christine Gordon) of a sugar plantation owner (Tom Conway) on the island of San Sebastian. In fact, she is brought into a particular family where many secrets are hidden by Wesley (James Ellison) the brother of Paul and their mother Mrs. Rand (Edith Barrett). Vaguely explained by the singing of famous calypso singer Sir Lancelot, the mystery around the permanent sleep of the wife Jessica is never really said or shown.

The strength of the film resides in the atmosphere of the superb contrasts of lighting and shadows. The constant blow of the wind that becomes almost a presence in every scene and the eerie looks of the settings. Jacques Tourneur’s mise en scène gets to its best part when Betsy takes Jessica in the night to use voodoo to try to get her out of her almost coma-like state. This trek in the sugar plantation is done without a word and filled with many voodoo elements like human skulls and the omnipresence of the drums.

In an interview Tourneur once said that he never turned down a script, one of the main reasons why he touched to many genres and managed to make a lot of films. With his entries in the Film Noir, it is easy to advance that he had the right touch to make moody Horror films. I Walked with a Zombie has superb aesthetics and the camera movements around Betsy are very engulfing.

So in this film got in my viewing list because of my October Horror event and the main reason was that it was on the TSPDT 1000 greatest films. It wouldn’t have been something I would have reached for if it wasn’t on the list. I’m very glad I did watch it because it’s not a Top 100 film but at least a Top 500.

Heaven Can Wait (1943)

Heaven Can Wait (Ernst Lubitsch, 1943)

An old roué arrives in Hades to review his life with Satan, who will rule on his eligibility to enter the Underworld.

Continuing the quest into my first goal in film watching, to watch the entire list of the 1000 Greatest Films of All Time of TSPDT, and my mini quest into this objective, watch in priority the films of the Pantheon Directors as stated by the late Andrew Sarris in his reference book American Cinema. I had only two films from director Ernst Lubitsch to see. Along with Heaven Can Wait, I have Angel to catch sometime soon. This one being my number 527 on the big total of 1000 I am slowly getting through the list one title at a time. Then it’s 473 films to watch, it means that I’ll be blogging and watching movies for a long time. In the same time you have some retro reviews I’m constantly writing to try to cover every entry on this list. Of the 527 movies I’ve seen almost half the films have been reviewed here. To get to those films quickly I have a 1000gf label that you can click on and discover the many titles already reviewed. I’m planning a whole big post about this obsession some time soon.

Let’s get to the movie directed by Ernst Lubitsch,  of his films I’ve seen and loved to different degrees; The Shop Around the Corner, To Be or Not to Be, Ninotchka, Design For Living, and Trouble in Paradise. Everyone who gets into his films will sense something called the “Lubitsch touch”. Many have tried to imitate it or reuse it but no one was Lubitsch other than Ernst Lubitsch himself. This so-called touch is a balanced mix of comedy, witty dialogues, quirky behaviors, a sense for bourgeoisie, and something a little bit of chivalrous.

In Heaven Can Wait, Henry Van Cleve (Don Ameche) arrives in Hades and must recall his life with the prince of darkness to see if he should be down in Hell or up in Heaven. Shot in bright colors and filled with superb costumes, the delicious dialogues and the subtle humor of the script makes this film a nice companion piece to a Max Ophüls film.

However, it felt a little flat for me and amongst the many Lubitsch films I’ve seen, this is my least favorite. The themes of a man loving beautiful women and getting to Hell for it seems a little conventional and too much Hayes coded. Far from being as great as Design For Living, his pre-code movie about a ménage à trois where two men a woman talk freely of sex, passion, and love. Heaven Can Wait is a little too sophisticated and of good taste in the filmography of our talented director.

At last, the role of Martha portrayed by beautiful brunette Gene Tierney is a much appreciated presence. Of all the beautiful young ladies in Heaven Can Wait she is the prettiest.

All in all, this average Lubitsch is not a torture and his lesser films are far better than any film from an average director. Recommended.

Shadow of A Doubt

Shadow of a Doubt (Alfred Hitchcock, 1943)

In this quest to view and review all the films mentioned in the book 1000 Movies You Must See Before You Die, there is a nice little club hosted by my good friend Squish over at Filmsquish, you can participate if you are interested or to just browse through the reviewed titles. This exercise made me discover some lesser known pictures and other films I wouldn't have been interested at the first time but I pushed myself into the viewing and the sometimes it had been very rewarding. However, since I've been working on many classic films list since around 2001-2002, lots of titles are second to multiple watches for me. Other titles hold the status of being personal favourites. Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt isn't less than a masterpiece and a personal favourite from Hitch's great filmography.

When traveler uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten) comes to town (Anytown, USA) the Young Charlie (Teresa Wright) is more than excited, because she wants to know more about his voyages and the real life that he lives. However, since she is not a dumb girl, she discovers that uncle Charlie's has a dark past.

The story evolves around the duality (recurring Hitchcock theme) of the name Charlie and the opposites between both character. As if uncle Charlie is the bad side and Young Charlie is the good side. One example is the shoot when uncle Charlie's train arrives there's a giant black smoke that encaptures the locomotive as if the train came from hell. Cotten delivers a very subtle performance that helps Hitchcock's tension building around the principle of the criminal in the house with young Charlie and the fact that she discovers her uncle's secrets.

The technique and the mise en scène are the most important aspects of the film to notice when watching Shadow of a Doubt. It is also Hitch's creativity that pushes the boundaries of film making at this time and the brilliant cast that gives a more than notable ensemble performance.

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger, 1943)

Structured a lot like Lawrence of Arabia, a film that constantly reminds The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp even if Lawrence was made twenty years later, Colonel Blimp feels fresher and deserves as much if not more recognition than the other British film. The structure evoked before, is how the prologue of the film opens with actions that will brings us back in the story where it all begins. Another War drama influenced by this film of The Archers: Patton, the persona of the main character especially, reminds of the romantic good hearted Colonel Blimp. Made in vibrant colours like many of The Archers’ films of the 1940’s, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp is one of the most notorious films of this prolific duet. Although the saturation of the colours didn’t overshadows the quality of the ensemble of the film.
The strengths of the Powell/Pressburger “mise en scène” is the sober approach and the clear subtext to every script they directed together. Their classic placing of cameras, the terra cotta palette used in Colonel Blimp gives a clear naturally neat feeling to the package.

Secondly, the subtext of their scripts is important because every story told by The Archers has its meaning in terms of sexuality, violence, philosophy, and life. The mainstream appeal of the story is the perfect setting to reach a wider audience while spreading concepts that goes beyond the actual script. The imagery of Powell & Pressburger is clear and the situations have plenty of deep meanings. The camaraderie between Colonel Blimp and his fellow military men is important and it shows how romantic Blimp conceives War and life in general. There’s also the aspect of time passing by the characters without any other clear indicator than the aging of the main character getting grades and being more and more into the bourgeoisie of high military ranks. The lesson we feel like getting is that success always isolate those who are earning it. This is the case here with Colonel Blimp.

Overall, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp is a nice gem of British Cinema that most of the times is shadowed by Powell/Pressburger’s other great films like The Red Shoes and Black Narcissus and also by other epic films like Lawrence of Arabia, Patton, and The Bridge on the River Kwai. There’s probably the age factor, made in 1943, and the fact that The Archers are not as widely known as Francis Ford Coppola or David Lean. Anyhow, they deserve much more recognition for their extraordinary work on their films. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp ranks amongst their strongest efforts. Highly recommended.