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She (1935)

 
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 22, 2015 4:00 pm    Post subject: She (1935) Reply with quote

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An ambitious tale of adventure with some very impressive names listed in its title credits. The novel is by H. Rider Haggard ("King Solomon's Mines"), the producer is Merian C. Cooper ("King Kong"), the music is by Max Steiner ("King Kong"), and the special effects are by Kong's creator, Willis O'Brien.

Stop motion sequences were originally planned, but never done. The closest we get to them is a scene in which a group of explorers discover a frozen sabre-toothed tiger inside a wall of ice.

High above the Arctic Circle the explorers discover a lost civilization, the Kingdom of Kor, hidden inside a mountain. Kor is ruled by a 500-year old queen who stays young and beautiful by entering the Flame of Life, which bathes her in a "new form radiation" (great special effects).

This is the only screen appearance by actress Helen Gahagan (later a Congresswoman). The immortal gueen beleives one of the explorers (Randolph Scott) is the reincarnation of her lost lover, an ancestor of Scott's who found the lost kingdom centuries earlier. She wants him to enter the Flame of Life with her. Helen Mack ("Son of Kong") is the pretty heroine who accompanies the explorers.

Co-starring Nigel Bruce (Dr. Watson from the Sherlock Holmes series), Noble Johnson (the native chief in "King Kong"), and Gustav Von Seyffertitz (frequent character actor from the 1930s).

Directed by Irving Pichel (who later did "Destination Moon") and Lancing C. Holden. The action is lack-luster by "Kong" standards, and the ending seems both abrupt and weak. But the huge art-deco sets are very impressive.

_________________
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Sun Oct 16, 2022 12:11 pm; edited 4 times in total
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Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
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Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Mon May 02, 2016 9:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

This fan-created trailer demonstrates what a remarkable movie this is.


_____________________ SHE - 1935 - TRAILER


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_________________
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Wed Dec 05, 2018 2:05 pm; edited 2 times in total
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orzel-w
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 22, 2016 4:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Is it just me, or is that a beautiful job of colorizing? Embarassed
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Brent Gair
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 22, 2016 7:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

orzel-w wrote:
Is it just me, or is that a beautiful job of colorizing? Embarassed

It's just you Smile.

Believe it or not, I have the colorized SHE on Blu-ray Disc!

It was released about 5 years as a BD double feature with THINGS TO COME. I had little interest in a colorized SHE but I wanted the other feature. THINGS TO COME was subsequently released by Criterion and I also have that...but I still have SHE. This was described as a "Ray Harryhausen Double Feature" because, as mentioned in another thread, Ray basically sold his name to Legend Films who did this colorization.

From Blu-ray.com:

"The Ray Harryhausen Double Feature is presented on Blu-ray by Legend Films with AVC encoded 1080p transfers in 1.33:1. ... The good news is that She really looks quite good, at least most of the time, with a largely damage free print, decent contrast and an acceptably sharp and well detailed image. Some noise filtering has been applied but it hasn't given the film a smeary, waxy look. There is an interpolated reel at around 43 minutes which was obviously sourced from 16mm and that is decidedly softer and grainier than the bulk of this film, which was sourced from 35mm. (Why this reel was cut at one point is a little strange, since it has some salient plot points. You'll notice Harryhausen and Vaz's commentary track also stops abruptly at this point, indicating that this "lost" reel must have been found and reinserted after the commentary had been recorded). "

This was about a $12.00 BD if you bought it in 2011. It's out of production now and a new, unopened copy can run near $100.00 from some sellers!
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 23, 2016 6:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Good black-and-white is wonderful. Good Technicolor is wonderful. Good movies with other "real" color are pretty good, most of the time.

But colorization is none of the above. It just makes me yearn for real color . . . or no color at all. I simply turn down the color setting on my TV to zero and enjoy the good black-and-white.

But hey . . . that's just me, okay? Rolling Eyes

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Thu Jun 29, 2017 10:18 am; edited 2 times in total
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Eadie
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 24, 2016 12:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The only time I've seen colorization work is when Disney released Zorro (ABC 1957 - 1959) the Walt Disney's Disneyland non-fiction episode The Fourth Anniversary Show - September 11, 1957) plus 4 episodes of Walt Disney Presents (ABC El Bandito - October 30, 1960; Adios, El Cuchillo - November 6, 1960; The Postponed Wedding - January 1, 1961; Auld Acquaintance - April 2, 1961). These last 5 where hour long with commercials and movie preview.

Most Zorro episodes where done in Black-and-White but Disney colorized them in the early 1990s using color footage from the original movie versions of the episodes. By using them most of the episodes where colorized for syndication.

Some of them can be seen on YouTube starting at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVqFbWvDVjw
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 24, 2016 1:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Yes, as colorized shows and movies go, Zorro is about as good as it gets. For whatever that's worth. Very Happy

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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orzel-w
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 24, 2016 5:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Brent Gair wrote:
It's just you Smile.

Yes, I checked it out, and it is just me.
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John Thiel
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 21, 2017 1:24 pm    Post subject: SHE...Can take the sky.... Reply with quote

I'd like it if this movie were more optimistic in its approach, if the lady had been less evil...for she seemed to have things to offer the world. But I think the author was too obsessed by considerations of heresy from the medieval church to go into anything better by way of the plot he was creating and the ideas he was promoting.
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Bud Brewster
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Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Sat Nov 23, 2019 7:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Eadie wrote:
The only time I've seen colorization work is when Disney released Zorro.

The link you provided no long works, but the link below (with a seven minute clip) proves that the colorization of Zorro is amazing. I'm very impressed.

However, Amazon offers the DVD box sets for each season at about $300 each!

Wow. . . Shocked


_______________ Clip from Colorized Episode 1


__________

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____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 27, 2022 3:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

IMDB only has 11 trivia items, but there's a few good ones. The first two items are related.

Enjoy! Cool
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~ For many years this film version was considered lost.

~ This film exists at the present time because silent film star Buster Keaton had a copy of the original print stored in his garage, which he gave to film historian Raymond Rohauer for preservation.


Note from me: I'm surprised that the print survived in Keaton's garage. Film is notoriously fragile. I sometimes wonder if we might find the spider pit scene from Kong . . . but it's deteriorated so badly it can't be saved. Sad

The two items below are related also.

~ The movie lost $180,000 at the box office, a major reason why Helen Gahagan's movie career ended abruptly.

~ According to the book "The RKO Story", this film cost $180,000 more than it grossed in its original release, but finally broke even with its 1949 re-release, when it was paired with The Last Days of Pompeii (1935).


Note from me: I can understand the public's lack of enthusiasm for this movie. I consider it fairly dull.

~ The sets, costumes, etc., were all prepared for a color film. At the last minute RKO pulled producer Merian C. Cooper's budget, so he was forced to shoot the film in black and white. Friend Ray Harryhausen and Legend Films later colorized the film as a tribute to Cooper.

Note from me: As I stated in a post above, I've never seen a colorized movie that impressed me in the least. Watching one is like having a blind date with girl who has a "great personality". Rolling Eyes

~ According to author Philip Liebfred, when Helen Gahagan was running for Congress, she attempted to buy up all prints of the movie that were still extant.

Note from me: Thank God one of the prints asked Buster Keaton for sanctuary in his garage! Shocked

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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