She (1965)

When one thinks of Hammer Studios the image of a fanged, blood shot eyed Christopher Lee will probably be the first thing that comes to mind. In the 1950s and 60s, Hammer was king when it came to horror films, producing such titles like Curse of Frankenstein, Horror of Dracula, The Gorgon, and Curse of the Werewolf, to name a few. However, by the mid 60s Hammer began to broaden their output by producing a whole sub genre of Lost World films; these films were characterized by either setting the films in modern times and having an expedition stumble upon an ancient society hidden deep in the jungle/desert (She, Prehistoric Women), or setting the films in prehistoric times where cave people struggled to survive (One Millions Years B.C., When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth). The other common trope found in these movies was the sight of gorgeous women running around in fur bikinis; Raquel Welch's bikini clad performance in One Million Years B.C. made her an international sex symbol. Needless to say these movies aren't very good, though they are highly entertaining; the stop motions effects in One Million Years B.C. and When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth are especially good.
By default, She is probably the best film of  Hammer's Lost World sub genre and this is largely due to it's unusually strong supporting cast. One Millions Years B.C. and When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth are populated with lots of eye candy and bogus caveman slang, but completely lack any strong characterizations; whereas the only worthwhile thing to be found in Prehistoric Woman is Martine Beswick's commanding performance as the cruel Queen Kari.
She is an adaptation of H. Rider Haggard's 1887 novel "She: A History of Adventure." In fact, it was the seventh screen adaptation of Haggard's novel; it was adapted a few times in the silent era and then most famously in 1935 with Helen Gahagan in the title role. It must be said that the 1935 is an extremely enjoyable film with wonderful sets by Van Nese Polglase, a great musical score by Max Steiner, and a lively performance by Helen Mack as Tanya Dugmore. Unfortunately, Helen Gagahan is simply awful in title role and lacks the ethereal beauty that was key to Haggard's novel.

 In the 1935 version, Leo (Randolph Scott) is never tempted by Ayesha's offer of immortality and seems content to spend the rest of his remaining years with the far more likable Tanya. In 1965 version, it is completely believable that the bland Leo would easily give up everything to be with the cruel Ayesha, because she's played by the extremely gorgeous Ursula Andress; still riding the fame of her bikini clad appearance in Dr. No.  The less I say about the 1982 adaptation, starring Sandahl Bergman and set in the post apocalyptic future, the better.

Sorry, I just had to. 

The Leo Vincey/Ayesha romance in the 1965 version is extremely interesting in that it never comes across as true love, but rather an act of impulse on the part of Leo. Ayesha is convinced that Leo is a reincarnation of her lost love, Killikrates, whom she murdered 2,000 years ago in an act of jealous rage. Leo, for his part, is taken aback by her the first time they meet. Ayesha tells Leo that in order for them to be together he must make a dangerous trek across the desert and if he survives everything he ever wanted will be his. Leo impulsively takes on this challenge, never thinking about how difficult and dangerous it might be. Hell, it never occurs to Leo that Ayesha, a woman he JUST MET, might be lying. Leo is willing to risk his life (and that of his companions) based on Ayesha's promise he will be given everything he ever desired if he makes this journey.

He is convinced that his love for Ayesha is genuine, yet his constantly tempted by the beautiful and kindly handmaiden, Ustane (Rosenda Monteros).  Ustane, for some inexplicable reason, is in love with and extremely loyal to Leo; when Leo gets deathly ill in the desert, after being shot by a tribe of Bedouins, Ustane is by his side, nursing him back to health. When he is taken to the city of Kuma, Ustane follows even though it might prove deadly to her existence. Leo's attraction to Ayesha is superficial one, based on the glories of now rather than the consequences of later. He enjoys Ustane's company and likes her devotion of him, but he can't shake himself free of Ayesha's beauty.  Ayesha offers Leo the gift of immortality (provided by the Flame of Eternal Life) and Leo, in his limited thinking, doesn't believe anything can possibly go wrong. Towards the end of the film Leo has this conversation with his friend Major Holly (Peter Cushing):

Maj. Holly: I suppose there's a time in everyone's life when the idea of immortality seems very desirable. But now at my age I'd have to give it a great deal of thought. 

Leo Vincey: What's age got to do with it? You'd stay as you are. 

Maj. Holly: That's not what I meant, Leo. What one would accept eagerly at your age doesn't necessarily have the same appeal at mine. It's the age of the mind that's important, not the body. You see, you're young. Still on the threshold of life. The joy of living is not to be denied, but to know that it'll be there for all time, without change. Life at a standstill. It's not quite the same thing. 

Holly is the voice of reason throughout the film, often questioning Leo's motives. Like the audience, Holly is not convinced that Leo's love for Ayesha is genuine, but rather just a superficial fantasy.  Leo is so entranced by her beauty that he completely overlooks her flaws, like her extreme cruelty and jealousy. In the end, Leo enters the Flame of Eternal Life with Ayesha and watches in horror as she ages to nothingness right in front of his eyes; the Flame gives eternal life the first time around, but takes it away the second time. In the end, Leo is forced to live the next thousands years alone, waiting for the Flame to reappear so he can end his miserable existence.

I mentioned before that She has an unusually strong supporting cast for what is essentially a silly adventure film, but it's these performances that really help elevate it to being a decent, watchable movie as opposed to being a painful mess. This is pivotal as both of the leads, Ursula Andress and John Richardson, are rather dull to watch. They are both appropriately attractive  and make for wonderful eye candy, but that's about it. Granted, Ayesha is  meant to be a fairly one dimensional, tyrannical character, but Richardson's Leo lacks any really personality; his character is defined by his longing for Ayesha. He's also kind of a cad, he talks about his endless love for Ayesha, yet consistently puts the moves on Ustane.
 

Peter Cushing is great in practically everything he's in, but really delivers the goods in this movie as Major Holly. In previous Hammer films Cushing portrayed Dr. Van Helsing, Baron Frankenstein, and Sherlock Holmes; extremely stiff and humorless characters who constantly obsess over one thing. Major Holly is a nice change of pace for the great actor. It's true that Major Holly is an authority figure, but he's not obsessive like these other roles and more importantly seems to actually get a joy out of living; in the film's opening scene we are shown two of Major Holly's vices, women and alcohol. While Leo is chatting it up with Ustane, Major Holly and his butler, Job, get up and start dancing with belly dancers; this antic gets uproarious laughter from Ustane. At the beginning of the film the idea of finding the lost city of Kuma excites Holly, but at the end he is disenchanted with the place and says, "All my life I've dreamed of finding a city such as this. But now that I have, I'd like to see it destroyed and all that is stands for."

In many ways She is about the battle for Leo's soul with Ayesha as the devil and Holly as the angel, pleading for him to make the right decision. In the end, Holly loses the battle and admits as much to Job when he observes,"We've lost him." Major Holly is the moral center to the film, constantly questioning both Leo and the high priest Billali's blind obedience to Ayesha, hoping that he can sway one of them into making a stand against her tyranny.

Billali is played by Cushing's longtime co-star and good friend, Christopher Lee, who like Cushing, makes the most out of the material he is given. There's no sense of condescension coming from either actor and both do their best to elevate the silly material. The film does a huge piece of misdirection with the character of Billali, it makes the audience believe that he will have a change of heart and help the heroes at the end. There is a sense that he is completely unhappy serving Ayesha and he longs to be free. This gets confirmed later on when he has a conversation with Holly inside the city's temple:

Maj. Holly: Will you tell me something? This women Ayesha, why do you all do her bidding without question? 

Billali: It has always been so. 

Maj. Holly: Yes, but why? She's only a woman and alone. You are men and many. 

Billali: And like all men we are born, live a span and we die. But she has been here forever. She is like the mountains, like the desert. Changeless, ageless, deathless. 

Maj. Holly: That I cannot believe. In your fear you have accepted the impossible as truth. No-one lives forever. And no one was born to be the vessel of another. You know this too, I've seen it in your eyes. Your body does her bidding but your spirit cries out to be free. Is that not true? 

Billali: Each one of us has his own destiny to fulfill. 

Maj.Holly: And yours, I suppose, is to fill the next alcove. I can't believe you're such a fool, Billali. 

Billali: No, Mr Holly. I am not such a fool. 

In the end Billali doesn't directly betray Ayesha, rather he tries to kill Leo so he can enter the Flame of Eternal Life himself. During the brawl he gets speared in the back by Ayesha and tries to crawl into the flame, but dies just inches short of his goal. As Holly predicted, Billali becomes just another in the long line of high priests that lived and died during Ayesha's long dictatorship.

The most thankless role goes to Bernard Cribbins as Holly's faithful butler, Job; he's really giving very little to do but stand around in the background and on occasion offer up a few quips. Cribbins makes the most out the very little he has to do, but it's to his and the filmmakers credit that the character never becomes a distraction. The filmmakers could have easily made Job a bumbling, Jar Jar Binks type of character, killing practically every scene he is every time he opens his mouth. Instead, Job is a fairly competent character, who serves his master faithful and does all he can to help out. In the film's climax Ayesha's slaves revolt and Job is shown fighting along side them; at point even saving Holly from the thresholds of death.

His best scene comes early in the movie when a rowdy patron steps on Job's bowler hat, while him and Holly are dancing with the belly dancers. Job picks up his crushed hat, laughs for a few second, and then proceeds to punch the offender in the face, which in turn sparks a bar fight. It's a throwaway scene that's played for laughs, but it does effectively set up Job's fighting skills for the film's climax; without this small scene, the audience might wonder how a butler could hold his own against Ayesha's guards.

And finally, there's Rosenda Monteros as the handmaiden Ustane. If She were a teen comedy, Ayesha would be the hot, popular bitch that all the males lust after and Ustane would be the awkward, but pretty misfit who eventually wins the heart of the male hero. Ustane is defined by her warm and rebellious spirit; she constantly defies the orders of Ayesha so she can be with Leo. First, she saves Leo and his companions from certain death in the desert when she arrives just in the nick of time to give them water. This goes counter to Ayesha's original orders, which was for Leo and his friends to make the trek alone. If Leo survived the journey, then, in the eyes of Ayesha, he most definitely is Killikrates reincarnated. If he died, then he was obviously an impostor. Ustane showing up throws a wrench in the works.
Second, Ustane begs Billali to let her go with Leo to the city of Kuma and he reluctantly agrees. This makes Ayesha furious and she threatens to kill Ustane, but Billali intervenes and states, "To be rid of her would be simple, but unwise. If you are to prevail, it is the fair one who must banish her, who must turn against her. He is a man of soul and conscience. These you must destroy."

Ayesha acquiesces for the time being, but inevitably her jealously towards Ustane consumes her and she orders for Ustane to be executed, by lowering her into a pit of lava. Leo protests and Holly interjects that if Ayesha executes Ustane, then it is doubtful that Leo would ever agree to join her in the Flame of Eternal Life. Ayesha tests this out by holding out a dagger and giving the Leo the chance to avenge himself by stabbing her in the heart. If Leo can bring himself to kill her, then Ustane will go free. Leo grabs the knife and it looks like he's going to lunge it into Ayesha's heart, but he can't bring himself to do it, turns to the jelly and bows down to Ayesha. This seals Ustane's doom.

Ustane's death is probably one of the most disturbing moments on film, because it happens off screen  In fact, the audience is given a sense of false hope that maybe she will survive after all. Ustane is last seen standing in a golden cage, looking on as Leo and Ayesha leave the room. We are then given a short love scene between Leo and Ayesha, this is then followed by a scene of Leo saying goodbye to Holly and Job.  Neither Holly or Job make a mention of Ustane's death, which leads the audience to believe that it hasn't happened yet or that  it won't happen. However, in the next scene one of Ayesha's guards walks up to Haumeid, overseer of the slaves and Ustane's father, carrying an urn and says, "Ayesha returns your daughter." The guards throws the urn on the ground and it shatters, revealing Ustane's ashes. This enrages Haumeid that, without any hesitation, he orders the slaves to revolts.

Next to Holly, Ustane is probably the most likable character in the movie. Whereas Ayesha is completely cold and unable to comprehend the human condition, Ustane is warm and genuinely caring soul. She puts Leo in front of her own needs and ultimately ends up paying the ultimate price for her devotion. She's a tragic character; her love and devotion is wasted a man that could never offer her happiness. The audience realizes that Leo is not deserving of Ustane's love, which makes her blind loyalty to him all the more frustrating.

She is an extremely flawed movie; half of the film's running time is devoted to Leo's journey to Kuma, the effects often quite chintzy and laughable, and the lead characters are wet mops. However, compared to The Lost World films that would follow it is entertaining and worth seeing mainly due to the contributions by the supporting cast. Not to mention that any film that has a scene with Peter Cushing dancing is definitely worth a look.


Credits:
Cast: Peter Cushing (Maj. Holly), Ursula Andress (Ayesha - She Who Must Be Obeyed), John Richardson (Leo Vincey/Killikrates), Rosenda Monteros (Ustane), Bernard Cribbins (Job), Christopher Lee (Billali), Andre Morrell (Haumeid).
Director: Robert Day
Screenplay: David T. Chandler (based off the novel by H. Rider Haggard)
Running Time: 106 min.