| She | |
| Director: | Lansing C. Holden Irving Pichel |
| Producer: | Merian C. Cooper |
| Screenplay: | Dudley Nichols Ruth Rose |
| Starring: | Helen Gahagan Randolph Scott Helen Mack Nigel Bruce Gustav von Seyffertitz |
| Music: | Max Steiner |
| Cinematography: | J. Roy Hunt |
| Studio: | RKO Radio Pictures |
| Distributor: | RKO Radio Pictures |
| Runtime: | 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. 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]
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.
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]
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]
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]
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]
Legend Films release:[20]