User Reviews

1944's "Destiny" actually took two years to make it to the screen in its final form, only its second half intended to be part of the 1943 anthology "Flesh and Fantasy" (both titles are covered in the Brunas-Brunas-Weaver book UNIVERSAL HORRORS). Alan Curtis plays Cliff Banks, ex-con on the run, whose troubles always stem from a poor choice of women, two different flashbacks also depicting his unlucky alliance with a bank robber, and subsequent jail term. The opening 30 minutes are unquestionably shot on the cheap, like a precursor to Edgar G. Ulmer's "Detour," which starred Tom Neal as a perennial loser. Once Cliff is discovered resting in the home of farmer Clem Broderick (Frank Craven) and his blind daughter Jane (Gloria Jean), we are introduced to the "Fantasy" footage, with one notable difference; this 'Cliff' not only has a different last name, he has absolutely no redeeming features, a hardened criminal who resorts to theft and murder to get what he desires. Gloria Jean is a revelation, well cast as a sightless girl with psychic powers strengthened by her idyllic surroundings, totally helpless in the big city. Her abilities to divine water and commune with nature are superbly conveyed in the terrifying climax, the evil Cliff in pursuit through the dark, rain drenched forest, the trees parting for her like the Red Sea, all a-tangle for her would-be rapist. The tacked-on ending features a noticeably older Gloria in seven minutes of newly shot footage revealing Cliff's transgressions to be all a dream, redeemed in the end by his willingness to give. What could have been a hokey finale following such a brilliantly conceived 'nightmare' manages to 'redeem' the botched first half; a fine job on a short schedule by director Reginald Le Borg. Grace McDonald enjoys a rare dramatic role, while both Alan Curtis and Vivian Austin would soon be reduced to doing Philo Vance features at PRC (the careers for all three ended abruptly afterwards). Gloria Jean worked one more year at Universal, and joined fellow studio contractees Peggy Ryan and Lon Chaney for a last musical hurrah in Allied Artists' 1949 release "There's a Girl in My Heart."

Universal was so impressed with the opening story for Julien Duvivier's anthology film Flesh and Fantasy that they cut it and filmed new material (under the helm of director Reginald Le Borg) to make it its own picture. Being something of a Universal completist, I waited years to see this one and finally got the chance last year. I was pretty disappointed with what I finally saw after hearing so many good things. I decided to give it a second viewing after a little bit of time to see if it's better with less expectations. Truthfully it isn't any better than it was the first time. The Duvivier material is great. A haunting little parable with lots of atmosphere. Had it been left in Flesh and Fantasy, it would have helped that movie out tremendously. Unfortunately the new material is strictly forgettable B crime picture stuff. Worse it winds up sinking the movie with a tacked-on "it was all a dream" happy ending. For those wondering, basically the first half-hour and the final few minutes are the Le Borg scenes and most of the stuff with the blind girl and her father is Duvivier's work. It won't be too hard to distinguish which is which as the direction and photography on the Duvivier parts is clearly superior, even with the less-than-stellar copy I saw.

It's not a bad movie but not the classic it could have been either. I'm glad I got to see it. Maybe someday Universal will release a cleaned-up version. Better yet maybe they'll release Flesh and Fantasy with the Destiny scenes Duvivier directed edited back in. I'd love to see that.

I've always had the idea of what it would be like in crime dramas for either the anti-hero or femme fatal to be on their death bed and having a flash to the life they could have had. In particular, the femme fatal being caught and seeing her life had she taken the right path. That isn't the case here, but the anti-hero does look to his own destiny, and what he finds is that he needs people unlike what he thought. He's on the run from the law, accused of robbing a bank, and after being betrayed by the woman he trusted ends up in the dream like world of a complete innocent who changes his whole way of thinking. The fantasy here is stronger than the flesh, because ultimately that pretty much saves his soul.

An extracted reel from the 1943 compilation, "Flesh and Fantasy", this was expanded, and while the new parts are obvious, when it comes together, you can see why they chose to format it the way they did. Alan Curtis is excellent as the young hero, and it takes a minute to figure out if he's guilty or innocent. Several flashbacks reveal what lead him to where he is, and often, it seems like two different films. Minna Gombell us excellent and very amusing as the chatty but hard boiled dame who picks him up and ends up being the opposite of whom he assumed her to be. The first half is rather standard on the run crime drama, obviously the flesh, but what follows is obviously the fantasy.

The second half is obviously the cut reel, and turns the story into a mix of home spun light drama to a dark view of the man's soul. Curtis ends up on the farm of elderly Frank Craven and his blind daughter, Gloria Jean, who unknowingly changes his life. He finds himself torn in this world, and in a shocking scene, attacks her with obvious rape on his mind. This is a dream like sequence which visually is breathtaking, but psychologically haunting and possibly nefarious. The two segments blend well, thanks to the fine performances and intriguing editing, and makes it all blend together beautifully.

A few months ago I saw a little-known, underrated anthology movie called "Flesh And Fantasy" - it was very different from most of Hollywood's output during the time it was made (the mid-1940s), probably because it was helmed by a French director, Julien Duvivier. Later I found out that an entire segment had been cut out of that movie, which made the events at the start of the next segment inexplicable. The 30-minute story that was cut was expanded into the hour-long "Destiny", and if you've seen "Flesh And Fantasy" you'll know pretty much exactly what was changed; the "nightmare sequence" near the end was probably not a nightmare at all in the original film - it was what actually happened. The "new" part of the film - the introduction - plays more a "Whistler" entry - it has the intriguing characters, the twists-of-fate, the same you-never-know-what-will-happen-next pull. The second part does eventually touch on the supernatural like "Flesh And Fantasy" does, but the uplifting ending completely alters the intentions of the original's creators. Basically what you get here are two separate movies pretending they are one, and almost - but not quite - succeeding in convincing you. The performances are all above average. **1/2 out of 4.

Is Cliff a sympathetic figure or a monster? A wronged man, looking for redemption and something to believe in? An idiotic weakling who lets himself be led astray? A calculating criminal mastermind plotting the murder of innocent people who have only been kind to him? These questions might intrigue you, but don't be fooled. These questions come up because of bad writing, that's all. It's no wonder the protagonist is written inconsistently (not even taking into account the scene where it turns out he's dreaming) with new scenes being shot around footage cut from another movie - as other reviews have explained - "Destiny" has an interesting history - more interesting than the story the movie actually tells, about a cynical ex-con, constantly being duped and drawn into crimes. The dumb schmuck even drives a known robber to a bank, and waits for him to finish what he foolishly believes is an innocent transaction - this after the guy already got him into trouble with the law and sent to jail. Naturally he's just using Cliff again, as a getaway. Hard to have sympathy for someone so stupid. The opening police chase reminds me of an Ed Wood movie. It certainly looks low-budget. Most of the actors are Ed Wood-calibre as well. Alan Curtis seems to be attempting a Chester Morris impression, which only makes me want to re-watch some of Chester's great gangster movies.

I suspect the writer or director of "Destiny" was influenced by Disney's "Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs". I'm thinking of the best sequence in "Destiny", wherein Cliff (after killing her father with a hunting rifle) chases Jane, and her apparent power of nature causes the trees to aid her by entangling him and delaying his pursuit. This is reminiscent of Snow White running in panic through the forest after the Huntsman tries to kill her, and she imagines that the trees come alive to attack and thwart her escape. The villain (Cliff) even falls into deadly water during a raging storm, similar to the demise of the Wicked Queen from "Snow White". Jane is quite like Snow White, both being incredibly innocent and good. Birds even land on Jane's shoulder. And she sings operatic arias while she works!

I'd like to respond to a few things in Tom Barrister's IMDb review. Although I agree with him that Gloria Jean gives a fine performance (making the best of a super-saccharine role as a cheerful blind girl who communes with nature and prays a lot) and the tacked on footage brings down the quality of the film, I question his conclusion that Deanna Durbin is responsible. According to his review, "Years later, it was stated that an unnamed major Universal stockholder wanted Gloria's sequence cut from Flesh and Fantasy" - and I ask, it was stated by *whom*? He also claims Deanna "was jealous of anybody else who cut into her fame." This seems like a baseless generalization. What are his sources? How on earth can he possibly know this about Deanna? Especially considering how reclusive she's been since retiring, rarely giving interviews. I respect her desire for privacy, so refreshing in this age of obsession with celebrity. I don't see how anyone can come to decisive conclusions about her character or state of mind, when Deanna's such a mysterious figure. However, I'd conclude that she cares little about fame, since she willingly left it behind.

I admit, as a fan of Deanna's talent and on-screen charm, I don't want to believe her capable of viciously sabotaging anyone's career. But I also have a hard time believing she could, even if she wanted to. One thing that *is* well-documented about Deanna Durbin, is her frustration with Universal typecasting and giving her poor-quality (in her opinion) scripts. That's why she retired so early, while still a major box-office attraction. The one interview she's done since then, discusses her desire for script approval, which she couldn't get, despite making tons of money for Universal. But this was a common complaint in those days when the studios pretty much owned the stars under contract. Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Tyrone Power, etc, bemoaned the movies they were forced to do. Even Oscar noms/wins were no guarantee an actor would receive better material next time. So I find it improbable, this accusation that Deanna Durbin had the power to dictate the quality of Gloria Jean's scripts, when she was powerless over her own, and quit for that very reason. This alleged jealousy of anyone she might perceive as a threat to her fame, seems unlikely coming from someone who chose to give up the spotlight while still in her prime, and who gives no indication that she wants to change her current obscure status. From what I can tell, Deanna values integrity, privacy and her family, over the pursuit of fame.

Why was Gloria Jean's segment cut from "Flesh & Fantasy"? My personal theory is that preview audiences or studio execs found it too bleak & frightening as it originally was. What with the attempted sexual assault and murderous chase of a sweet innocent blind girl, the murder of her father, and a total lack of redemption for the criminal. I can see how it might be an awkward segue into the happier segment that was to follow. Although Edward G. Robinson's segment in "F&F" also deals with murder, the tone is more black comedy, and it's just not as upsetting as watching poor Gloria's character terrorized in "Destiny". In the classic era, many movies with downbeat endings were re-shot due to audience reaction. It seems plausible that altering it in order to soften Cliff's character, make the worst of his actions only a dream, and contrive a happy ending, required a full-length film. It's too bad they didn't spend more time or money on the new footage, but Universal could be cheap. Deliberate sabotage or incompetence/carelessness on the studio's part? Guess we'll never know for sure.

This film was originally a segment of the fantasy anthology film "Flesh and Fantasy" (1943). The footage was excised from the final print and expanded into an independent feature.(IMDb) That film was directed by French director Julien Duvivier and it's probably the last part of the movie ,including the scene of the nightmare -by far the best of the whole movie;only a great artist could reach such peaks : Duvivier had transferred to the screen Jules Renard 's "Poil De Carotte" twice ,and one of the chapters he omitted (La Tempête Des Feuilles (the leaves storm))probably inspired him for the nature going mad ;the contrast between the quietness of the garden where the blind girl finds solace and the night these plants seem to come alive is striking.Snow White lost in the forest or Shyamalan's "the happening" ! Taken out of context ,the rest of the movie seems derivative .The key to it is given in the warden's office: "Have you already done something for somebody? " Selfishness only leads to betrayal (Marie who "helps "the fugitive then turns him in ).It's only when the hero shows some sympathy for his fellow man that he will redeem his soul .

The last part is really great and any French lover of Duvivier's work will feel his pessimistic touch and his sense of mystery and of supernatural :(which was not born in "flesh and fantasy" but which was already present in "La Charrette Fantôme" and "la Tête D'Un Homme" ) the blind girl has got a sixth sense (actually a fifth one for she can't see),she sees thing we don't.I'm not sure that Duvivier would have kept the happy end but who knows?