I can't believe the reviews so far on this movie on IMDb. So far, one reviewer gives it a score of 1 and two others a 10!! The simple fact is that very, very , very few films deserve a 10 or 1 but reviewers routinely throw these numbers about without thinking. After all, there's no way that anyone could place this movie among GONE WITH THE WIND, THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES or even STAR WARS just as there is no way this film deserves the same rating as BABY GENIUSES or PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE!!! Like most movies, a realistic score would definitely be somewhere in between.
Now this isn't to say that the film reviewers were totally wrong. The one perceptive person who thought the movie was evil because it propagates "the rape myth" is 100% correct--the film is terrible because it seems to indicate that the way to a girl's heart is to kidnap and probably rape her--or at least whip her into submission!! In the 21st century I cannot understand how anyone could rate a movie that treats women like cattle with a score of 10! And, people who would kind of scare me.
On the other hand, the film is gorgeous. The cinematography and costuming is incredible and made Myrna Loy (often the "nice girl" in films of the 1930s) into an incredibly alluring figure. Her bathing scene is simply one of the sexiest scenes in screen history--not so much for what it showed, but how it showed so much without showing everything as well as not being pornographic but artful and beautiful. She was, in many ways, like a modern Venus de Milo. Plus, when Ramon Navarro isn't busy trying to rape Ms. Loy, he is a very, very dashing and gorgeous figure himself. So beautiful and compelling that he was like a better and more romantic version of Valentino from THE SHEIK. Plus, given that Mr. Navarro was in real life gay, he deserves a lot of kudos for his convincing romantic scenes. The problem, though, is that the writers didn't know what to do with this romantic figure. One minute he is kind of funny and clever, the next he is an ardent suitor, the next he is selling her into sexual slavery and the next he's a sex offender trying to rape her!!!! The fact is the movie strongly implies he DID rape her (though it is a bit vague in this respect). And, having this confusing package ruins the wonderful romantic elements of the film. After all, what's romantic about a rapist or spousal abuse?! This is in the end, a complete muddled mess that could have been a wonderful film. With a re-write to remove the sick aspects of the film (the physical and sexual abuse AND Ms. Loy's ultimate choice to run away with this sick, twisted freak after being abused), it could have been among the most memorable and romantic films of the age. As it is, mostly it will be remembered for the pre-Code titillating bathing scene with Ms. Loy.
Now this isn't to say that the film reviewers were totally wrong. The one perceptive person who thought the movie was evil because it propagates "the rape myth" is 100% correct--the film is terrible because it seems to indicate that the way to a girl's heart is to kidnap and probably rape her--or at least whip her into submission!! In the 21st century I cannot understand how anyone could rate a movie that treats women like cattle with a score of 10! And, people who would kind of scare me.
On the other hand, the film is gorgeous. The cinematography and costuming is incredible and made Myrna Loy (often the "nice girl" in films of the 1930s) into an incredibly alluring figure. Her bathing scene is simply one of the sexiest scenes in screen history--not so much for what it showed, but how it showed so much without showing everything as well as not being pornographic but artful and beautiful. She was, in many ways, like a modern Venus de Milo. Plus, when Ramon Navarro isn't busy trying to rape Ms. Loy, he is a very, very dashing and gorgeous figure himself. So beautiful and compelling that he was like a better and more romantic version of Valentino from THE SHEIK. Plus, given that Mr. Navarro was in real life gay, he deserves a lot of kudos for his convincing romantic scenes. The problem, though, is that the writers didn't know what to do with this romantic figure. One minute he is kind of funny and clever, the next he is an ardent suitor, the next he is selling her into sexual slavery and the next he's a sex offender trying to rape her!!!! The fact is the movie strongly implies he DID rape her (though it is a bit vague in this respect). And, having this confusing package ruins the wonderful romantic elements of the film. After all, what's romantic about a rapist or spousal abuse?! This is in the end, a complete muddled mess that could have been a wonderful film. With a re-write to remove the sick aspects of the film (the physical and sexual abuse AND Ms. Loy's ultimate choice to run away with this sick, twisted freak after being abused), it could have been among the most memorable and romantic films of the age. As it is, mostly it will be remembered for the pre-Code titillating bathing scene with Ms. Loy.