Prestige

"Race" has become a Hot Topic in the Media brought to the Forefront by the Election of the First Black President of the United States. Of Course the Scourge of Bigotry is Still Around, but We sure have Come Along Way.

Colonial Rule in South East Asia is On Display in this Pre-Code Film and is Considered Honorable, Patriotic, and the Movie Makes it Clear that to Uphold the "Prestige" of the White Man is a Noble and Proud Thing, and the Darker Races are Less than Human.

Director Tay Garnett Makes All of this "Artistic" with a Fluid Camera. Like a Kid with a New Toy, He uses the, Recently Released from its Immobility, Camera to Dolly Continuously and it Adds a New Dimension to the Art of Cinema and Considering the Cumbersome Technical Tools of the Time, it is Rather an Amazing Display of Daring.

Overly Empathetic Viewers will Cringe and May have a Tough Time Sitting through the Ethnocentricities of the Film. There is Torture, Executions, and Generally the Locals are Treated like Animals. There's Some Creepy Stuff here and it Reminds of "Island of Lost Souls" (1933) with its Third Act as the Natives become Restless and are Out for Revenge.

The Power, or "Prestige" if You will, of the White Man is Brought Home with Melvyn Douglas Beating Off a Horde of Haughty Types with Nothing More than a Belt and a Dirty Look.

The Movie is So Much a Sign of its Time and is Recommended for a Sweaty and Sometimes Depressing Peak at Attitudes of the Day through the Adventurous Setting Worlds Away from the Homeland, but Not Really.

Yes the movie is full of racists, has racist language but I wouldn't call the movie itself racist - the whites are shown no mercy. This movie is worth seeing for its realism, and the way it ends. No spoilers here, but I found the ending eminently satisfying, unlike other reviewers. And Ann Hardy is such a gem - so much better than the stars who held the screen for longer than she (Crawford, Davis etc). Adolph Menjou is a perfect snake. Melvin Douglas captures arrogance - and its consequences perfectly - and the "natives" are brilliant in their forceful presence.

Another pre-code movie that is startling contemporary (except for the "racist premise") in its depiction of how the relationship between a man and a woman can be impacted by events beyond their control, especially if they ignore their environment.

Like virtually all films of its era that deal with Africa, the Middle East and the Far East, this one is totally matter-of-fact about the impact of colonialism on the affected nations and their people, and instead concentrates on the hardships suffered by Europeans assigned there. Melvyn Douglas, ordered to command a penal colony in French Indo-China, falls victim to heat, boredom, loneliness; so severe is his decline into alcoholism and despair that not even the arrival of his beloved, Ann Harding, is able to pull him out of it for long.

The prisoners would gladly trade his problems for their own. What lifts this melodrama out of the realm of the ordinary is the outstanding work of director Tay Garnett, particularly his use of a very mobile camera and the construction of perhaps a dozen long tracking shots that are stunning to behold. It is always notable when conventional material is transformed into on-screen excellence by the talent behind the camera, as well as in front of it. Here is a prime example.

The mostly B director, who made a lot of exotic back-lot adventures (his amusing memoir is called "Light Up Your Torches and Pull Up Your Tights"), is blessed with the most mobile camera 1931 could offer in this impressively atmospheric melodrama, set mainly in an Indochine penal colony, where bride Ann Harding has come to help commanding officer Melvyn Douglas. Garnett and his DP roam all over the place, with some tracking shots that are quite amazing for their time--one, taking Harding and Adolphe Menjou from a hotel lobby to a train station, lasts a couple of minutes and takes in every word of dialog, and is perfectly framed. Some of the tracking isn't to any particular purpose, but it's a lesson in how versatile the sound camera had gotten in just two years (compare this to anything from 1929). The premise is offensively racist and may have raised some eyebrows even in its day: As Harding's stiff-upper-lip father tells her, in so many words, she and Douglas are fighting for the white man's prestige and dignity, by proving their ability to lord it over all other races. But if you can put up with that, you get a sweaty, compelling little picture with some show-stopping set pieces. Harding is, as always, womanly and unforced, with an innate calm, and Douglas, replacing Robert Williams, who died unexpectedly, convincingly goes through some awful mood swings. It's very well and innovatively shot on what may be an RKO back lot but sure looks like the real thing. The climax strains credibility, and Garnett pushes harder for atmosphere than he absolutely has to, but it's interesting throughout and quite different from much of the assembly-line studio product of the day.

Is very good as Verlaine, military man assigned to field outpost in Saigon circa 1900's. His wife, Therese Verlaine is portrayed by Ann Harding, whose father is in charge of her husband's assignments.

When she first embarks to join her husband, her father issues the speech as quoted on title page. ..."It is their job to uphold higher standards to restore order....to rise up to the upbringing and status of the white man"... . This he says is "prestige" (which today is rather out of context, the word prestige in America has been decimated to a materialistic meaning and has nothing to do with honor or pride in today's America. Sadly, I might add.

However, it is an interesting antiquated viewpoint. Verlaine is in charge of a rather ramshackle bamboo prison in the third world country then known as, Annam (later North and South Vietnam). Captain Verlaine tries to rule with an iron fist at first as we see a prisoner is executed for a petty crime in the most brutal fashion. There is some sort of gallows device made of bamboo. The scene is very effective and believable.

Then Captain Remy Baudoin arrives as he is friends with Therese and wants to see if she is surviving the jungle and heat. He somewhat cheers her up, to which Verlaine becomes drunk, jealous of his wife's friendship and angry at his overall job requirements. Douglas is believable here, while very young and unless most of us check the credits we would not be sure this was him.

The natives eventually revolt, as Therese first visits the prison and is shocked at the conditions. She is disturbed that her husband maintains such a facility, for native peoples whose primary crime is poverty. They eventually revolt but succumb in the end, Captain Verlaine has restored order.

While the story is a bit unreal at times, the photography (mostly filmed in Venice, FL) is intriguing and realistic, we can feel the heat and what it must be like to live in a bamboo hut in 104 degree, humid temperatures.

Well worth seeing for the era, the dialog and Douglas in an early dramatic role. 9/10.