Men Are Not Gods

MEN ARE NOT GODS, a fascinating precursor to the justly lauded Ronald Coleman film A DOUBLE LIFE which in some ways surpasses its better known remake, is a rare film where a first class performance in one style clashes with a film exceedingly well made in another.

Alexander Korda gives us a well told tale of a drama critic's secretary who becomes entangled in the lives of a rising actor and his actress wife only to have the actor fall in lust with her and endanger his marriage, his very life and that of his wife when the lust becomes a consuming passion. A superbly chosen cast and settings build the story - from the final use of London's famed Alhambra theatre in Leicester Square for the production of OTHELLO which is at the core of the film (we get wonderful stretches of the play in a fine pre-Paul Robeson interpretation) to tiny touches like the Actor waiting in the wings snuffing out his cigarette presaging his "Put out the light...and then put out the light" speech.

Character actor A.E. Matthews is excellent as the drama critic, Rex Harrison shines in one of his best early supporting performances as the young obituary writer in love with the girl, Sebastian Shaw a fine British actor little known on this side of the Atlantic soars as the Actor breaking through as Othello and Gertrude Lawrence, the great stage star whose film career rarely showed her to best advantage gives one of her best performances as the Actor's wife and Desdemona (we even get to hear her singing Shakespeare's "Willow Song" beautifully! - although it is unclear if this from from the Othello Suite of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor used in the film's on-stage Othello or a setting by the film's composer, Geoffrey Toye?).

The only jarring note - and not all will find it jarring - is the over the top performance from top billed Miriam Hopkins, then near the peak of a successful Hollywood career, as the Critic's secretary persuaded by the Actor's wife to alter a crucial review of her husband's performance. Hopkins (17 Broadway credits of her own from 1921 to 1959, so one cannot blame the failure of her performance to blend with the others on her lack of the stage experience of her co-stars), has her character go essentially mad torn between loyalty to the Actor's wife and the two men who want her. In 1936 the idea of greater attraction between Hopkins and Lawrence than between her and either Harrison or Shaw was unthinkable (and beside the point in the story), but in 2011, one may see an unintended subtext.

Producer Korda and director Walter Reich turned out a marvelously detailed and satisfying film despite the clash of styles, but I do wonder at the IMDb listed running time of 90 minutes. The Greek-issued promotional DVD I screened comes in at a smoothly edited 79:20. I'd love to find a "more complete" print, but it's hard to imagine what might have been left out of this one!

Men Are Not Gods is a film along the same lines as Ronald Colman's classic Oscar winner A Double Life, an actor who starts really getting into the part of Othello. This production from Alexander Korda is not anywhere near as good as A Double Life.

Miriam Hopkins who works with Rex Harrison at a London newspaper is persuaded by Gertrude Lawrence wife of Sebastian Shaw who are a British version of the Lunts to change the critic's review of her husband's Othello to a rave. Of course that gets her fired and rightly so, but she becomes a fan, the incarnation of the theater going public as Shaw puts it. He starts falling for her, but Lawrence is still very much in the picture.

Starting out as a comedy, Men Are Not Gods should have stayed that way. But the switch to drama is jarring and not really well prepared by the writers. When Colman did A Double Life the whole idea was to show how seriously he prepared for his roles, so much so that they took over his life. Shaw's ready to kill Lawrence for what, a quick roll in the hay with Hopkins?

Rex Harrison has very little to do here, but stand around and alternate between calf eyes at Hopkins and witticisms to the world. The film really made little use of his talents.

See Men Are Not Gods and you'll long for Ronald Colman.

Ann is the secretary for a theatre critic...a critic who is about to savage the performance of Edmond Davey as Othello. But something weird (and completely unbelievable) happens...the Mrs. Davey (who plays Desdemona) begs the secretary not to send the article to the printer. While I have no idea why, Ann does something else...she changes the article to make it appear as if the reviewer LOVED Davey's performance! Not surprisingly, Ann loses her job. But then she does something else very strange...she goes to see "Othello" and soon finds herself falling in love with Edmond! Eventually, he begins to feel the same and soon you wonder if the finale of the next production might REALLY result in the death of Desdemona!

There are two main problems with the film. A few performances are a bit shrill--particularly Miriam Hopkins as Ann. Additionally, again and again, the actions of folks (most often but not exclusively Ann) make little sense. For a better take on "Othello", try "A Double Life".

Fine stage presence from Gertrude Lawrence, who was at the top of her stage career around this time; unfortunately this is a film and screen presence is something entirely different. She makes numerous blunders, looking for her mark and even staring, obviously out of character, at the camera and the microphone... very amatuerish for 1926 let alone 1936. She had a fine voice as we can hear from her song during the performance of Othello, and legend has it she was a competent dancer although of course this part doesn't call for it. She can stand on screen with a major star like Hopkins, who was also at her peak, but Lawrence is clearly overpowered by Miriam's star wattage. Sebastian Shaw (who many decades later was still active with roles like Anakin Skywalker in "Return of the Jedi") has the role of her husband in this movie, and he completely outperforms her.

It is absurd to think of Gertrude Lawrence as a big screen star at any point. Critics who thought Lawrence should have had the lead in 1944's 'Lady in the Dark' - basically the only major push she ever received for a movie - would have been well served to watch her screen performances first. She simply doesn't show any indications of being able to carry a film herself like a Rogers or Hopkins or a Colbert, or like her compatriot Olivia DeHavilland, who in 1936 was taking Hollywood by storm.

Initially and quite ironically called "Triangle," this film was Hopkins' first English production although she had acted on the London stage before this. Making this film was a turning point in Hopkins' life; on her return trip on the 'Normandie' she met her future husband, director Anatole Litvak, with whom she was allegedly to find herself in a love triangle with Bette Davis.

This melodramatic affair, with a comedic component prominent in its first half, showcases American Miriam Hopkins amidst an English cast and setting and she performs very well in a role that is not written in a unified fashion. Ann Williams (Hopkins) is personal secretary to Mr. Skeates, caustic theatre critic for the London Daily Post. Skeates has dictated to Ann a very negative review of a new production of Shakespeare's Othello, particularly focussed upon his perceived shortcomings of its titular lead, played by Edmond Davey (Sebastian Shaw). Before Ann has an opportunity for submitting the review to press, she is called on at her office by Barbara Halford (Gertrude Lawrence), the maligned performance's Desdemona and also Davey's wife. As a result of Barbara's entreaties in support of her husband, Ann alters the review causing Davey, who had suffered first-night jitters, to become a great success, after which Ann and he share mutual infatuation with complications ensuing. Director Walter Reisch is responsible for the work's storyline but the screenplay, written by others, falls short of his high standard. His direction is inventive throughout the quickly moving piece, and montage is seamless. Lawrence, a great actress, and Hopkins each displays keen awareness of the importance of body movement and control; there is not a slack moment when these share the screen. Indeed, the acting is quite good by most of the cast throughout, with the exception of the always peculiar Rex Harrison who performs as Ann's suitor with his customary prissy mannerisms; fortunately, his appearance time is minimal. Reisch, in accord with cinematographer Charles Rosher, provides thoroughly interesting visuals by way of cleverly designed shots employing fluid camerawork for tracking and full images as well as for closeups. As stated in the script by Skeates, the music is drawn from themes within the Othello Suite of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, augmented by a melodic Geoffrey Toye score. In a whimsical scene, Skeates enters his office, populated by a bevy of Daily Post secretaries, while a phonograph plays a jazzy rendition of "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" Vincent Korda's interiors are superb for this production under the aegis of his brother Alexander and the costumes crafted by Rene Hubert are faultlessly designed. Only the age of the available print reveals an editing misstep or two. The highly capable control of extras comes from one of the assistant directors, Jack Clayton, renowned later as helmsman of his own productions. This engaging love triangle features locations scattered through London, including Hyde Park and Trafalgar Square. The footage from Shakespeare's play (the title is from Act III/Scene IV) is shot in the venerable Alhambra Music Hall (now the famous film theatre Odeon) in Leicester Square within London's West End. It was the last performance given at the Alhambra, torn down at the completion of the filming of MEN ARE NOT GODS.