It might have been nice if RKO had gone through with the original budget for She with color and everything else they planned for it. It might even had meant a more substantial film career for Helen Gahagan Douglas.
As it was Helen Gahagan Douglas left the screen and performing altogether for politics and a seat in Congress which she gave up to run against Richard Nixon for the Senate. The two Representatives set some new low standards for dirty campaigning, it wasn't completely one sided, but Helen coined the name 'Tricky Dick' for Nixon which clung to him the rest of his life.
But in She, Douglas made an indelible impression as the ageless beauty from H. Rider Haggard's novel who tries to win the love of Randolph Scott, the descendant of a love several generations removed.
It's on the quest for that ancestor that Randolph Scott and Nigel Bruce set off for the far reaches of Siberia where the widow of that ancestor left a journal telling of a lost civilization in the Arctic, built around an eternal flame promising eternal life for those who step into it. Along the way Scott and Bruce pick up Helen Mack and the three of them literally stumble on the cave entrance that leads to this fabulous place run by the thousand year old beauty Helen Gahagan.
Randolph Scott is the stalwart hero that you see in many of his westerns. His American accent is explained by saying his branch of the family took off for America a generation or two back. Nigel Bruce is far from Doctor Watson, he's quite the two fisted action hero here, an aspect I never thought I'd see.
For reasons I don't understand, the location was changed from Africa to the Arctic. Especially because RKO had that jungle set that was used for so many of their classics like, The Most Dangerous Game, King Kong, and Five Came Back, I don't understand the change. Maybe someone thought the jungle was starting to look familiar.
This adaption of She contains all of H. Rider Haggard's sense of high adventure and drama. Unfortunately it lost money and killed the film career and started the political career of Helen Gahagan. It remains today though, not a bad film, the best known version of an often filmed tale.
As it was Helen Gahagan Douglas left the screen and performing altogether for politics and a seat in Congress which she gave up to run against Richard Nixon for the Senate. The two Representatives set some new low standards for dirty campaigning, it wasn't completely one sided, but Helen coined the name 'Tricky Dick' for Nixon which clung to him the rest of his life.
But in She, Douglas made an indelible impression as the ageless beauty from H. Rider Haggard's novel who tries to win the love of Randolph Scott, the descendant of a love several generations removed.
It's on the quest for that ancestor that Randolph Scott and Nigel Bruce set off for the far reaches of Siberia where the widow of that ancestor left a journal telling of a lost civilization in the Arctic, built around an eternal flame promising eternal life for those who step into it. Along the way Scott and Bruce pick up Helen Mack and the three of them literally stumble on the cave entrance that leads to this fabulous place run by the thousand year old beauty Helen Gahagan.
Randolph Scott is the stalwart hero that you see in many of his westerns. His American accent is explained by saying his branch of the family took off for America a generation or two back. Nigel Bruce is far from Doctor Watson, he's quite the two fisted action hero here, an aspect I never thought I'd see.
For reasons I don't understand, the location was changed from Africa to the Arctic. Especially because RKO had that jungle set that was used for so many of their classics like, The Most Dangerous Game, King Kong, and Five Came Back, I don't understand the change. Maybe someone thought the jungle was starting to look familiar.
This adaption of She contains all of H. Rider Haggard's sense of high adventure and drama. Unfortunately it lost money and killed the film career and started the political career of Helen Gahagan. It remains today though, not a bad film, the best known version of an often filmed tale.