The Living Idol

This film was shown today at the NFT in the season celebrating the career of Albert Lewin.This i believe was his last film so you could say that it went out with not a bang but a miaow.It is a sort of cross between Leopard Man and The Cat People.It tries hard to install a sense of the supernatural but teeters on the edge of silliness.In fact it has to be said that this film is one of those which is so bad as to be eminently watchable for that reason.The plot ,such as it is,resolves about Justice and his obsessional quest to communicate and understand Jaguars and the place in Mayan society.he believes his best friends daughter is in some way possessed by them,so instead of taking her to a shrink he lets a jaguar out of the zoo.This leads to a rather mirthful climax.i am rather ashamed to admit that in the august confines of NFT1 i let out a burst of uncontrolled laughter at the climax.I am sure i must have woken up the rather sparse audience.One i would recommend to lovers of truly bad films.

MGM stalwart Albert Lewin's last film is a bizarre romantic fantasy as lush and scenic as his PANDORA AND THE FLYING DUTCHMAN, only twice as bonkers. "A girl's adventure in reincarnation" begins when her father's archaeological expedition discovers a jaguar idol in a secret chamber of an Aztec pyramid which so frightens Juanita (Liliane Montevecchi) she flees the ruins, getting blue smudges on her white dress in the process. Blue pigment is what the Aztecs painted their human sacrifices with so you know exactly where the movie's going from the get-go. After her father gets crushed by a stone monolith depicting the jaguar god devouring a human heart, she goes into an understandable funk and her worried fiancé (Steve Forrest) thinks marriage is the answer but the girl's new guardian, Dr. Alfred Stoner (!), is convinced the jaguar god has stolen her soul. In order to get it back, he befriends a jaguar ("the living idol") in a zoo, sets it free, and sics it on his ward...

WTF?

Val Lewton's CAT PEOPLE (Juanita mesmerized by a caged jaguar at the zoo) and THE LEOPARD MAN (said jungle cat prowling the night streets of Mexico City) were obvious influences only this time they get MGM gloss, Eastmancolor, and Cinemascope which also gives the film something of a colorful Mexican travelogue feel. I would have loved to have heard all of Dr. Stoner's university lecture on human sacrifice which still goes on in the form of capital punishment (with blindfolded Justice the latest goddess) and the subject obviously fascinated Lewin as well since he adapted his own novel. Filmed on location at Churubusco Azteca Studios, Mexican horror icon René Cardona is credited as assistant director and if THE LIVING IDOL had been made a few years before, MGM would no doubt have assigned it to Ava Gardner or even Lana Turner, who also visited "Leo The Lion La La Land" in THE PRODIGAL two years earlier. Instead we get ballet dancer Liliane Montevecchi who would later find real renown on Broadway but at this point, she's more-or-less another Anna Maria Alberghetti or Pier Angeli -and just as hard to understand. Rarely seen and a reel find for me but obviously mileage may vary. 8/10

Incredible Ancient Mexican Locations with WideScreen and Color, Surreal Scenes of Expressionism, and a Mythological Story for the Ages.

It's about a God (Jaguar), and its Reincarnated Soul Stealing are Things that Resonate and Entertain in this Experimental Final Film from Director Albert Lewin Based on His Novel.

It had some MGM Financing but was a Horrendous Horror Story Flop that Virtually No One Saw and those that Did were anything but Kind.

The Film, to this Day, Lingers in Obscurity.

The Criterion Folks have Paid Homage, but it's an Unknown Artwork that is Ripe for Discovery for Movie Buffs, Fans of the Supernatural, and those Seeking Off-Beat Entertainment.

It will Echo Val Lewton to those that See this Wonderful Movie.

An International Production Worth a Watch, at Least, and if the "Movie Gods" are Dispensers of Justice, it could become a Cult Movie and Reincarnate this Work that Deserves an Appreciation and a Bigger Audience.

The beginning promised great things ; it's obvious the screeenwriteers had "cat people" and William Irish 's thrillers ("black alibi" ) and extraordinary exotic horror tales (the overlooked terrifying " savage bride" )in mind .Both "cat" and "alibi " were masterfully transferred to the screen by Jacques Tourneur .

With a comfortable budget ,wide screen , color, a good actor (Justice ) and a little help from the Mexican government , Albert Lewin , a director who produced genuine classics ("the picture of Dorian Gray ", "Pandora and the flying Dutchman ",his estimable adaptation of Maupassant, " private affairs of Bel-Ami"), was not able to hold a candle to Tourneur and ended his career with his worst efforts( " Saadia" and this one)

After the "accident " which claims the heroine's father's life ,one expects something really spooky : instead of that, the action drags on and on ; to give the movie a "serious" "intellectual " "meaningful "side ,one is granted an interminable stodgy lecture by professor Justice dealing with commonplaces about sacrifice ; Steve Forrest ,who tells the story , is apparently waiting for something concerning his character to happen ;and Liliane Montevecchi plays like a zombie.

The first pictures are splendid and would make a nice ad for a holiday in Mexico, among its Pyramids.

The only things I enjoyed about this were the lovely panoramic views of Mayan ruins and the fiesta costumes. Plodding., interminable initial dialogue reminiscent of 193Os horror movie exposition, a bizarre dance sequence in front of a bluescreen of extras .. I kept wondering, "Is she gonna turn into a jaguar, or what"? Steve Forrest is the Great Value Kirk Douglas with all the charm of ...a charmless thing. Odd occuring references to soup. There's also some obvious overdubbing. Some quotes by Plato.and Blake fail to add any depth to this shallow stream of a story. I watched till the end in order to write a more complete review. Don't make the same mistake.