H. Rider Haggard’s adventure story has been filmed at least eight times. I’ve never seen the five silent versions, nor the 1965 version with Ursula Andress, and the 1985 version with Sandahl Bergman is awful, but the original 1935 version is a stunning film achievement, at least in visual terms.
The story concerns a journey into the far reaches of Siberia by two men, Randolph Scott and Nigel Bruce, to locate the mythic Flame of Eternal Life. Along the way, Scott falls for the beautiful daughter, Helen Mack, of their guide, Lumsden Hare. Hare’s greed leads to his death, but opens the way for the others. In dire straits, the trio finds the lost world of Kor, a perennially warm and comfortable place where She Who Must Be Obeyed (Helen Gahagan) rules — and waits for Scott’s return. She’s been waiting for five hundred years, for She is immortal, and Scott is the descendant of the man she loved.
Although the romantic plotting seems a bit corny today, it is played with dramatic conviction, especially by Mack, who is quite good. Critics complain that Gahagan, an opera singer by trade, is stiff, and this was her only film appearance. I think she’s fine, appropriately other-worldly as a lonely woman forced to wait centuries for a second chance at love.
Produced by Merian C. Cooper, the same man who had produced and co-directed King Kong in 1933, this version of She is a feast for the eyes. It was such a complex production that two directors were required: Irving Pichel worked with the actors while Lansing C. Holden coordinated the visual elements. And what visual elements they are!
Max Steiner’s music score is one of his finest, and even the choreography is cool. Its script makes worthwhile points about time, aging and the advantages and disadvantages of immortality. Yet it’s the visual elements that are truly remarkable. The film’s set design is incredible, and only a last-minute economic decision prevented the picture from being filmed in Technicolor. Whether it’s inside the mammoth halls of Kor or outside, in the frozen wastelands of Siberia, She is a visual treat. My rating: ✰ ✰ ✰ ½. (8:2).