The Story of Temple Drake

Just caught this gem last night at the Film Forum during their incredible Pre-Code Women festival!

Top acting honors to Miriam Hopkins, Jack La Rue et al. It is truly amazing how some of the pre-code dramas and comedies (sadly most of them missing from video, much less dvd!) hold up so incredibly well.

While I admire the ingenuity and class that some of the later 30's and 40's movies had in dealing with the Code restrictions, early dramas like The Story of Temple Drake demonstrate the same artistry in handling a sexually frank storyline.

Little Faulkner is left in this, but the mood and atmosphere of this film is superb!

I have not read "Sanctuary" but "The Story of Temple Drake" is a nasty story populated by some nasty people bracketed by some good people. Somewhere in the middle is Temple Drake, a southern tease who is asking for trouble, and finds it. This must be Miriam Hopkins' best performance as she goes from debutante to fallen woman before regaining her equilibrium and self-respect. Her final few scenes are outstanding and might have earned her an Oscar nomination in a later time period and in a less controversial film.

Mention must be made of Jack LaRue, who plays Trigger, the villain of the piece. A repugnant figure, Trigger is the thoroughly rotten personification of evil and LaRue is terrific in the part. Like Miss Hopkins, this must be the high point of his long career which began in silents.

"The Story of Temple Drake" was shocking for its time and still packs a wallop today. Unlike today's fare, it leaves much off the screen to the imagination, which can be substantial depending on your frame of mind. It was one of the pictures chiefly responsible for the introduction of the Hays Code the following year.

It's odd that this pre-Code morality tale was withdrawn by Paramount shortly after release, considering that despite its salacious content it pointed out that the girl at the center was capable of noble redemption. However that may be, "The Story of Temple Drake" works well on its own terms as a story about a flirtatious Southern belle (Miriam Hopkins in one of her best performances) whose behavioral excesses get her into a mighty mess with a band of bootleggers, including a character named Trigger (Jack LaRue in a role George Raft refused) and an embittered harridan interestingly played by Florence Eldridge (real life wife of Fredric March). Both actors benefit from Karl Struss's evocative photography.

Director Stephen Roberts and screenwriter Oliver H.P. Garrett do their early 30's best to cinematize a complicated novel (by William Faulkner) by crunching long passages of text into visually suggestive nuggets. The trouble with the gang of ne'er-do-wells is that none of them have even a twinge of a southern twang except James Eagles as the dimwitted Tommy. Besides him, the only key actor with even a slight southern accent in the whole film is Hopkins. William Gargan contrasts perfectly with the criminals as the clean-cut lawyer who loves and defends Hopkins despite her dark side. The drama builds to a breathless, memorable conclusion, concisely shot and directed for maximum effect.

Provocative and racy this hard to find film is loaded with infamy. If you started watching not knowing it was a pre-code it would only take a few minutes to realized it. Full of a wantonness and sense of depravity that wouldn't be seen in movies for decades after, this sin-fest features rape, murder and many other shocking events with a frank candor. Even the advertising for the film was lurid, just look at the poster to get an idea of how the film was sold. Many of the cast are rather ham handed in their portrayals, William Gargan in particular, but Miriam Hopkins lights up the screen with a vibrant sensuality and a compelling presence. A truly talented actress it's a shame that behind the scenes she was such a difficult and brazen up-stager that it irrevocably damaged her career and shortened her star period.

"The Story of Temple Drake" is an infamous Pre-Code film that was withdrawn from circulation for two decades because the content of the movie was considered inappropriate after the new Production Code was put into effect in mid-1934. The tale about rape and murder was simply impossible to show based on the dictates of the new system. However, the film was later rediscovered and is considered by some one of the most daring films of the era.

When the film begins, Stephen Benbow (William Gargan) is in love with Temple Drake (Miriam Hopkins) and has asked her to marry him. But while she cares about him, she's also a flirtatious lady and doesn't want to yet settle down. Unfortunately her lifestyle gets her into trouble one night when she and one of her many boyfriends have an accident and they are stranded in the middle of no where. They come upon a house run by a bunch of very stereotypical white trash and eventually one of them, a thug named Trigger (Jack La Rue) rapes her and then hold her hostage as a love slave for some time thereafter. Eventually, Temple is able to break free of this monster...and walks into the middle of a court case being defended by Benbow...and if she talks about her trials, she could help get Benbow's client acquitted. But this also means talking about her ordeal in front of folks....during an era where no one would dare talk about this.

Fortunately, while the content is rather racy, the rape was NEVER shown and was handled tastefully. And, surprisingly, the topic of rape was treated rather fairly considering this was an era when women were often blamed for the assault. An important and groundbreaking film that actually stands up pretty well today...and features some powerful acting by Hopkins and Gargan.