Henry Ryder Haggard’s novel “She” is, along with “King Solomon’s Spears”, the most screened work of the classic of world adventure literature. The most famous is, of course, the 1965 version with Ursulla Andress as the immortal princess Aisha.
The 1935 Hollywood version of the famous novel by H. R. Haggard turned out to be a rather vivid mystic-adventure fantasy with special effects by Ray Harrihausen. The ancient civilization is made in the Art Deco style and is located, unlike the book, not in Africa, but in the Arctic. And in general, the plot and characters are very different from Haggard's book.
The main stars of the film were Randolph Scott, Nigel Bruce (future Dr. Watson from the film series about S. Holmes with B. Raithbone) and Helen Mack. The role of Aisha (perhaps the most vivid in the film) was the only one for Helen Gahagan, the wife of actor Melvin Douglas, who later became the second woman in history to get to Congress (from the Democrats of the state of California).
The film was produced by Marian Cooper, known for the famous “King Kong”. He wanted to shoot the picture in color, but due to a limited budget, the picture came out in black and white. In this form, it was unprofitable, although the new release in 1949 was quite successful. The tape was restored and released in a colorized version in 2007.
Judging by the color version, the tape looks somewhat outdated, which is understandable. But for adventure fans and classic Hollywood can be quite curious.
6 out of 10