LAND OF THE PHARAOHS

The imposing pyramid-tomb

LAND OF THE PHARAOHS (1955). Producer/director: Howard Hawks.

"Strange religion to deny a future to those who failed in the past."

Pharaoh Khufu (Jack Hawkins) has one main goal, and that is to see that his tomb will be completely safe from violation so he can enjoy his treasures in the after-life. Learning that many other tombs have been broken into, Khufu has the slave and architect Vashtar (James Robertson Justice) design and build an impregnable -- and clever -- burying place for him. In the meantime foreign Princess Nellifer (Joan Collins), herself turned into a slave, manages to make herself one of Khufu's wives, and is determined to become Queen of All Egypt no matter whom she has to kill; obviously power has gone to her head. But will she achieve her goal, or succumb to a much more ironic fate ... ? Land of the Pharaohs is a very entertaining movie, with a splendid lead performance from the authoritative and commanding Jack Hawkins [Ben-Hur]. Joan Collins is also very effective, especially in her early confrontations with Hawkins -- as are Sydney Chaplin as Nellifer's lover, Treneh, the captain of the guard, and Alexis Minotis as Hamar, the Pharaoh's good right hand. There's some odd casting in this, however, with Justice (who usually plays blustery characters in such films as Doctor in Love) adequate as Vashtar and Dewey Martin [The Thing from Another World] handsome and acceptable as Vashtar's grown son, Senta. (Hawks used Martin in other movies as well.) At times the brassy musical score [Dimitri Tiomkin] reminds one of a Broadway musical, and Hawks' direction is not as assured or inspired as it might have been, although the settings are always colorful and the movie has an elaborate production. There's a scene when some who have displeased Pharaoh are thrown to the gators. Believe it or not, William Faulkner was one of the screenwriters! Great ending! Oddly, the movie was a commercial failure.

Verdict: Perhaps not as fictional as one might imagine, although this is still Hollywood. ***.

THE STORY OF TEMPLE DRAKE

THE STORY OF TEMPLE DRAKE (1933). Director: Stephen Roberts.

"If I was the old judge I'd marry her off quick!"

This first film version of William Faulkner's "Sanctuary" concerns the flighty young lady Temple Drake (Miriam Hopkins), granddaughter of a judge, who goes out one night with drunken Toddy (William Collier Jr.) and winds up in a dilapidated house occupied by a gang of bootleggers. Although the young and somewhat "slow" Tommy (James Eagles) tries to protect her, she is raped by the brutish if slick "Trigger" (Jack La Rue) after he murders Tommy. A frightened and ashamed Temple goes off with Trigger, and her close friend Stephen (William Gargan) winds up defending Trigger's associate Lee (Irving Pichel) on the charge of murdering Tommy. Can he convince Temple to not think of herself and her reputation and testify as to Lee's innocence? The Story of Temple Drake has little to do with Faulkner's original story -- the ending is completely changed -- but it is well-directed for the most part and features competent (if never outstanding) performances. Hopkins has her moments but is uneven, possibly due to her role. Florence Eldridge plays Lee's wife, and there are appearances by Elizabeth Patterson and Grady Sutton. Photographed by Karl Struss, who has one scene in complete darkness except for the lighted tip of Trigger's cigarette. Remade in 1961 as Sanctuary.

Verdict: Rather unpleasant all told. **1/2.

SANCTUARY

SANCTUARY (1961). Director: Tony Richardson.

A housekeeper named Nancy (Odetta) is sentenced to hang because she murdered an infant, but strangely the baby's mother, Temple (Lee Remick), wants to save the murderess' life. To that end she tells her father, Governor Drake (Howard St. John) what transpired during some very dark days in her past. In this second film version of William Faulkner's "Sanctuary" after The Story of Temple Drake [with parts of Faulkner's sequel, "Requiem for a Nun" thrown into the mix], Temple again winds up at a bootlegger's hide-out, is raped by "Candy Man" (Yves Montand) and taken to a whorehouse, but eventually winds up married to straight arrow Gowan Stevens (Bradford Dillman), whereupon she hires old associate Nancy to look after her children. Sanctuary idiotically tries to convince the viewer that somehow her infant's murder is all her fault, which is so morally moronic it isn't funny. And that isn't the only problem with the movie. Montand is screamingly miscast as the rapist ["Wanna dwink?" he asks Dillman in one hilarious scene], and although Remick has given some nice performances elsewhere, she is defeated by the sheer stupidity of James Poe's screenplay. Ironically Sanctuary emerges as more dated than The Story of Temple Drake because in this version Temple falls in love with her rapist, an odious notion that even soap operas finally began to reject in recent years. [Yes, one could argue that it's really sexual obsession, and Temple is not normal, but it's still offensive.] Dillman gives one of his "I'm not really sure what I'm doing here" performances; Harry Townes is notable as Nancy's lawyer, Ira; and Reta Shaw is fun as the painted madame of a brothel. Folksinger Odetta isn't a seasoned enough actress to make much of an impression as Nancy, but her part is so unbelievable it would tax the talents of an experienced acting genius. This very stupid movie seems to forget that there is never any justification for taking the life of an innocent child. The phony quasi-religious ending may have you screaming at the TV. In black and white CinemaScope.

Verdict: Looks like "fun," but isn't. *1/2.

THE TARNISHED ANGELS

THE TARNISHED ANGELS (1957). Director: Douglas Sirk. Produced by Albert Zugsmith.

Burke Devlin (Rock Hudson), a reporter, becomes involved with an air show troupe consisting of Roger Shumann (Robert Stack), his wife LaVerne (Dorothy Malone), and their buddy and associate Jiggs (Jack Carson). A WW1 flying hero, Roger can't recapture his glory days and takes it out on his wife and young son, Jack (Chris Olsen) while Jiggs, who loves LaVerne, fumes, and Burke and LaVerne bond out of sympathy. This has the same producer, director and stars of Written on the Wind, but a more prestigious literary source, William Faulkner's "Pylon," but it isn't as entertaining. This is supposed to take place during the 1930's but it has absolutely no period atmosphere [despite the black and white photography]. The four leads are all good, but none are outstanding. Robert Middleton scores as promoter Matt Ord, who has his own plans for pretty LaVerne. The movie is well-intentioned, and tries hard to be a thoughtful piece, but the characters lack dimension and the story never quite comes to a boil, with the climax coming twenty minutes too soon. One of the better sequences has the little boy stuck on a fun ride as disaster strikes at the air show nearby. Troy Donahue has a small role as a doomed young pilot.

Verdict: So so and ho hum, unfortunately. **1/2.

INTRUDER IN THE DUST

INTRUDER IN THE DUST (1949). Director: Clarence Brown.

When a white man is shot in the back, a lynch mob wants to string up the black man, Lucas Beauchamp (Juano Hernandez), who was near him at the time, even though the bullet couldn't have come from his gun. A young man, Chick (Claude Jarman, Jr.), importunes his uncle John (David Brian) to represent Lucas, and together they try to ferret out the truth. Elizabeth Patterson has a great scene as the elderly Miss Habersham holding off the angry mob who has come to the jail to grab and string up Lucas. William Faulkner's novel has sort of been reduced to a murder mystery, but the film is effective and holds the attention. Hernandez and young Jarman are very good, but a fairly wooden David Brian is miscast as John. To be fair, John isn't really a kindly type like Gregory Peck in Mockingbird (and his attitude toward Lucas is consistently patronizing), but Brian rattles off his lines without the slightest trace of nuance or even much acting ability. [Brian was better playing a gangster to Joan Crawford's gun moll in a couple of pictures.] One assumes Brian was a contract player and the studio insisted on his use.

Verdict: Okay, but nothing special. **.