She (DVD)

...obeyed’ or Ayesha (Ursula Andress). She gives him a gold ring and a map, saying that if he finds her again, he will be given everything he wishes – including her love.

So Leo, Holly and Job head off on a journey to find the Lost City, for Leo to claim his prize.

While this quest idea is certainly not original, I have seen these films done well before. Sadly, this one makes a complete mess of it. Despite being just over ...
...woefully under-used here as Billali, She (who must be obeyed)’s main guy. Ursula Andress (She) and John Richardson (Leo) have big parts (Ursula’s are regularly displayed in V-neck togas, ha ha!), but both come across as completely devoid of personality.

Andress is beautiful and graceful, but delivers her lines as if by metronome. (Mind you, the script is terrible!) While her lack of facial expressions throughout could be attributed ... more

Film's Title – She
Year of Release – 1965
Director – Robert Day
Stars of the Film – Ursula Andress, Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Bernard Cribbins, John Richardson
UK rating – U

I recently bought myself The Hammer Collection – a 21-film set of some of the movies produced by the Hammer Studios on DVD. Although being known mainly for their horror films, Hammer has produced films in other genres. The first film in the set is She, so I watched that first. This I would put in the adventure or romance genre.

After a bizarre set of opening titles (accompanied alternately by traditional African music and romantic flowery melodies), we first see three British men in a club, enjoying its delights – wine, women and song! We discover they have recently finished military service in the Middle East and are now celebrating by experiencing the local culture.

There is the distinguished archaeologist Holly (Peter Cushing), his friend Leo (John Richardson) and Holly’s valet Job (Bernard Cribbins). They all come across as very English and are enjoying themselves as “Englishmen abroad”, when an attractive brunette arrives – a local girl called Ustane (Rosenda Monteros), who Leo goes over to talk to.

Leo walks out of the club with the alluring Ustane and after being knocked unconscious, he is taken to a palace where he meets a mysterious and beautiful woman, known as ‘She who must be obeyed’ or Ayesha (Ursula Andress). She gives him a gold ring and a map, saying that if he finds her again, he will be given everything he wishes – including her love.

So Leo, Holly and Job head off on a journey to find the Lost City, for Leo to claim his prize.

While this quest idea is certainly not original, I have seen these films done well before. Sadly, this one makes a complete mess of it. Despite being just over one hour 40 minutes long, it still drags and has long dull sequences, which surely could have been edited to hike the pace up a bit.

When the titles displayed ‘She’ then starring ‘Peter Cushing as Holly’, I fleetingly wondered if Cushing was going to turn up in a dress and – believe me – that would have made for a more interesting film! Despite the impressive cast list and two beautiful women, this movie is really not worth seeing.

When the three men are trekking through the desert, I’m sure I felt every step with them. This film feels like walking through deep sand – with no oasis in sight, except the closing credits. I kept waiting for it to get better, but it didn’t.

I also felt uncomfortable with the portrayal of the ‘natives’ here and the black slaves as well. While I wouldn’t say the film itself was racist, there were certainly some black stereotypes which felt dated, watching it in 2010.

There were some good points. I loved the set with the giant warrior being the gate for the city. Also the scenes involving Cushing and Cribbins were saved by their excellent acting, comic timing and general likeability. These two are brilliant actors and I could happily watch Bernard Cribbins in anything, as he has such warmth and charisma. For me, he was the star of the film.

Talking of stars, Christopher Lee is woefully under-used here as Billali, She (who must be obeyed)’s main guy. Ursula Andress (She) and John Richardson (Leo) have big parts (Ursula’s are regularly displayed in V-neck togas, ha ha!), but both come across as completely devoid of personality.

Andress is beautiful and graceful, but delivers her lines as if by metronome. (Mind you, the script is terrible!) While her lack of facial expressions throughout could be attributed to the regal bearings of a queen, I’m inclined to think she just wasn’t feeling the part. (I wasn’t either.) Still, if the current Hollywood trends for plastic surgery continue, we should expect this kind of non-acting from all its stars in the future.

As for John Richardson, the only good thing I can say about him is that he is pretty. That’s it. His acting is dead-eyed and wooden, so you just don’t connect with his performance and therefore, you don’t care. Personally, I think he should have been killed by that hit on the head early on, then we could have had a film following Cushing and Cribbins on their travels. That way, we might have got a decent film.

But as it stands, She is dire. Don’t bother.

DVD INFORMATION

£3.98 from Amazon UK. But, seriously, there are LOADS of other films at Amazon for that price. Buy something else. You can get Vincent Price’s House of Wax for £2.98. That’d be a much better buy.
 

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