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Four Frightened People (1934)

9/22/2013

 
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Back into the Malaysian jungles we go again for Cecil B. DeMille's early survival pic, Four Frightened People. Released just under the wire before the studios started fully enforcing the Hays Code in 1934, the movie retains a few spicy Pre-Code moments, even in its edited-down theatrical release form (the studio hacked it down from 95 minutes to 78, most of the cuts seemingly not eliminating juicy or saucy material, but mostly unnecessary backstory for the four main characters.)  The film starts out like gangbusters, full of lots of witty banter and some fun character interactions, but becomes increasingly ridiculous and melodramatic the more it goes on.
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The four people in the title are Claudette Colbert, as Judy, a mousy spinster of a schoolteacher no one takes seriously - at least at first, until she loses her glasses and goes all nature girl sexpot later in the film; the refined Herbert Marshall, believably snarky if hard to buy as a downtrodden rubber chemist and henpecked corporate schlub named Ainger; Mary Boland as Mrs. Marsdick, a cheerful (and surprisingly tough and resilient) society grand dame and wife of a British official, on a mission to educate the East about the dangers of overpopulation; and William Gargan as a brassy, boorish newspaper reporter named Corder.

The movie opens with our protagonists sneaking off ship to escape an outbreak of bubonic plague on their steamer. No sooner do they arrive on shore in the wilds of Malaya (once again, Hawaii acts as a substitute) then they find themselves tramping through the jungle to get to the port on the other side of the peninsula, led by an amiable native guide, Montague (Leo Carillo), who thinks of himself as a "white man" (fittingly, as he's played by one) and wears a necktie over his bare, barrel chest.

PictureClaudette Colbert playing frumpy (with William Gargan)
The rest of the film details the party's plight as they get lost, contend with miscellaneous wild beasties, thick underbrush, deteriorating clothing and hostile native tribes - as the layers of civilized behavior gradually peel away.

All of this sounds good on paper but in execution, it's a bit lacking, mainly because any last shred of credibility flies out the window as the movie goes on, and film lapses into a lengthy middle reel interlude lacking in any real threat, eventually winding up in a series of rather silly, sub-Swiss Family Robinson-style scenes of domestic housekeeping in the jungle.

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The two men go from ignoring shrinking violet Judy (fat chance, as any hetero male would spot the hot bod and good looks behind those specs and frumpy clothes right away) to swooning once they see her showering nude under a waterfall. The increasingly confident Judy gradually comes to prefer the soulful Ainger over the more overtly masculine Corder, though is dismayed to learn he's stuck in a loveless marriage. The viewer is also dismayed to witness Herbert Marshall suddenly go from enjoyably sarcastic misanthrope to sensitive, poetry-quoting drip. Meanwhile, and more amusingly,  Mrs. Marsdick is kept captive by a tribal elder (Tetsu Komai) in ransom for a large payment of rice for invading his home turf, and that enterprising lady is soon organizing spear throwing tournaments for the tribe's children and enciting the women to wrestle some power back from the men.

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Herbert Marshall, giving one of his priceless looks.
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Not going to ignore me now, are you, boys?

Despite its exotic setting (there's a title card stating how the exteriors for the movie were filmed in Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea), there's little in the way of panoramic scenery; instead, the close, chokingly dense vegetation of the jungle heightens the more intimate, character-driven atmosphere of the film - quite a change of pace to director DeMille's usual style of  epic filmmaking. While the film remains entertaining overall, starting and finishing strong, it's marred by its baggy middle section, general silliness and lack of peril, and its myriad plot inconsistencies (For instance: Just exactly how did Judy fashion her jungle bikini get-up? And her glasses get broken and, miracle or miracles, it turns out she never needed them in the first place, and can now see well enough to shoot down birds with a bow and arrow she somehow fashioned out of thin air. Also, are we to presume these city folk were capable of building the numerous huts and shelters they use throughout the film? We later see Ainger skinning a leopard to give its pelt to Judy - are we supposed to actually believe that he killed it himself? The list goes on and on...I know it's "just a movie," but jeez!) I'm not sure how much blame for these gaffes rests with DeMille or with the screenplay (by Bartlett Cormach and Lenore Coffee), but I'm willing to bet that the original source novel by E. Arnot Robertson bears up to closer scrutiny.

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Thirty-one years old here, Claudette Colbert looks great in her jungle girl outfit and does a decent job both as the hesitant "old maid" from Chicago and the proto-Sheena she blossoms into, even if the transition is a bit abrupt. (By the way, September 13th 2013 marks the star's 100th birthday...readers are encouraged to head over to fellow blogger Patti's site They Don't Make 'Em Like the Used To for lots of good coverage of the lovely Ms. Colbert and her career). It's amusing to see Herbert Marshall, so delightfully urbane in later films like Foreign Correspondent, here trying to portray earnest romantic yearning and keep a straight face. I don't know much about William Gargan but found him just fine as the prototypical rough, loudmouth newspaperman.

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Leo Carillo as native guide, Montague
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The real delight here is Mary Boland, who constantly defies character type expectations by gamely and cheerfully trudging through the wild in her pearls, Pekinese clutched in one arm, rarely batting an eyelid at whatever dangers cross their path. She also gets quite a few choice lines, for example: "Aren't men fussy about their food? Robinson Crusoe ate leaves." (plucks a leaf from a nearby bush, chews it and makes a grimace.) "Stupid book."

Some other pluses include some excellently designed jungle sets, which blend pretty well with real exterior shots; the occasional nice directorial flourish (such as a scene near the opening, where we see sailors pitch a dead, shroud-wrapped body overboard and the camera pans down along its falling trajectory until it splashes into the water below); and a goodly number of funny little throw-away moments, such as when the two male leads, having just discovered what Judy really looks like during her waterfall bathing moment, hasten back to camp and attempt to shave and comb their hair with makeshift tools in order to make themselves more presentable.

PictureMary Boland as Mrs. Marsdick
Cecil B. DeMille was a powerhouse figure in early Hollywood, though his reputation has somewhat diminished with the passing decades. Never one for subtlety, DeMille is most famous for his huge spectaculars like Cleopatra, The Sign of the Cross, The Greatest Show on Earth, and The Ten Commandments, among others. Whatever you might say about DeMille's films, they were rarely boring, and the same holds true for Four Frightened People. Certainly far from the best the now-defunct "jungle adventure" field has to offer, but far from the worst, either.

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Schoolteacher Judy, luminous after her wild jungle adventure.

DVD Note: Considering its age, Four Frightened People looks and sounds quite nice (albeit grainy), and is part of the very affordable 5-disc Cecille B. DeMille Collection from Universal, which also includes Cleopatra, The Sign of the Cross (both also starring Claudette Colbert), Union Pacific and The Crusades.
R.A. Kerr link
9/22/2013 04:40:12 am

The Mary Boland character sounds like my kind of woman. Pearls in the jungle? Sounds terrific!

I laughed at your phrase when describing Herbert Marshall's transformation into a poetry-quoting drip.

There really is nothing subtle about Cecil B. DeMille's movies, is there? But you're right -- they're never boring.

Jeff
9/24/2013 07:58:09 am

Thanks, Ruth! Yessir, DeMille is about as subtle as a sledgehammer, no doubt, but I usually have fun with his movies. I think you'll get a kick out of Mary Boland when/if you catch up with this film.

Patti link
9/22/2013 08:37:27 am

Jeff, thanks for the sound-out about my Claudette Colbert posts this month. I'm enjoying having her as star of the month and catching some of her "new to me" films, one of which was "Four Frightened People."

I caught this for the first time a couple weeks ago, and I had intended to review it during her month. Time has gotten away from me, though, and I know I won't get to it, but with your fantastic, informative review, that is okay. You've covered the film much better than I would have.

Another of the scenes that didn't quite make sense to me was when Herbert Marshall got shot with the arrow. The very next scene, he was completely well and tied up with Claudette. There was no explanation of how he managed to survive. Or, put it this way, if there was such a scene, I missed it.

My husband, who wears glasses, made the comment that he wishes he would wake up one day and suddenly have perfect eyesight and not need glasses anymore. Definitely, that was unrealistic, but since glasses in the movies signify nerdy guys or undesirable women, they had to figure out a way to get her out of them.

Really great photos you included. Terrific post.

Jeff
9/24/2013 02:06:50 pm

Thank you very much for the kind comments, Patti! I'm glad to have not stolen your thunder with my FOUR FRIGHTENED PEOPLE review, and glad to send any traffic your way that I can.

Good catch on the "Herbert Marshall being shot" scene. I think he was trying to portray pain and suffering but merely looked constipated (not to pick on Marshall, as I think he's excellent in many other films.) Certainly a few minutes later it's like he was never shot at all, no septicemia or other infections setting in, etc. And I'm with your hubby - the whole glasses thing is ridiculous, though it does fulfill the Hollywood cliche that you and Classic Becky (further down) refer to.

Patricia Nolan-Hall (Caftan Woman) link
9/22/2013 12:41:10 pm

Sounds like a hoot!

Jeff
9/24/2013 02:00:40 pm

Caftan Woman - it is! Thanks for stopping by!

Kevin Deany
9/23/2013 05:20:11 am

I love this movie in all its demented glory.

Jeff
9/24/2013 02:01:24 pm

"Demented" is a good word to describe this film, for sure. Thanks for the comment, Kevin!

Colin link
9/23/2013 08:00:48 am

I have this movie on that DeMille collection - a beautifully packaged set - but somehow I never managed to get round to viewing it. Your great piece here has convinced me to do so soon,

DeMille is an odd filmmaker, surely the master of the spectacular but his films have a hokey quality to them that means I need to take lengthy breaks between watching a number of them.

Jeff
9/24/2013 02:09:08 pm

Thanks for the nice comments, Colin! That DeMille set is indeed a nice one. I haven't seen most of the films in it, and so am slowly working my way through them. You're right about the "hokeyness" of a lot of DeMille's work...I think it's partly what makes him a less appreciated filmmaker these days, despite his huge success at the time.

ClassicBecky link
9/23/2013 11:58:56 am

Jeff, I had to laugh when you said: "Just exactly how did Judy fashion her jungle bikini get-up?" In your last article, about "Rampage", I mentioned Deborah Kerr's perfectly coiffed hair throughout her trek in "King Solomon's Mines." This reminded me of that. Somehow the women in these jungle movies always manage to look simply fabulous, dahling! Don't you just love it in so many movies when the mousy heroine takes off her glasses, removes one hairpin, and suddenly the hero does a doubletake and says "Why Miss Dingleberry, you're GORGEOUS!" I LOVE Cecile B. DeMille. His movies are over-the-top, and just up my alley. I haven't seen this one, and would give my left arm and right leg to have that set you mention. This was such a fun article...

Jeff
9/25/2013 07:47:55 am

Thank you for the great, funny comments, Classic Becky! You got to love that about old Hollywood (and often enough, the new) - no matter how dirty, dire and grotty the situation, the actresses especially always looked glamorous. I loved your summation of the "Miss Dingleberry" cliche - it's so true! I usually look on that sort of thing with mild affection, but it's taken to ridiculous extremes in this movie. That DeMille DVD set is pretty inexpensive right now - just $13.99 on Amazon.

Sergio (Tipping My Fedora) link
9/23/2013 06:13:50 pm

Never seen this one Jeff - it is easier, for me, to admire De Mille's historical importance than to enjoy any of his films which i always find a bit turgid and slow-moving, though admittedly I would like to catch up with more of his silent films. Love the description of Colbert as 'proto-Sheena' - great! One tends to forget that she was often cast as a saucy minx (even by Preston Sturges) - thanks mate.

Jeff
9/25/2013 07:54:45 am

Hey there, Sergio! I can see where you're coming from with the "turgid" claim. Some of DeMille's films work better for me than others. I'm fond of THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH and THE TEN COMMANDMENTS the most, but find a lot to like in his others. THE PLAINSMAN is also a hoot, its sheer entertainment value overcoming its historical inaccuracies. Even then, though, his films have a ponderousness to them that could be tiresome for some.

As for Claudette - yes, despite her somewhat innocent appearance, she was indeed often cast as a hot number earlier in her career (CLEOPATRA's milk bath scene, anyone?)...somewhat akin to Myrna Loy who played the slinky, sexy "exotic" for years before being relegated to more matronly roles (love her both ways). Cheers for the comments, mate!

Douglas B. link
2/20/2015 06:56:46 pm

In FFP I didn't even recognize Claudette Colbert when she first appeared (she doesn't take off her glasses until more than 20 minutes into the film) -- and I always thought she was a knockout.

The 5 disc set is well worth buying; it has SIGN OF THE CROSS, UNION PACIFIC and CLEOPATRA, in which Colbert puts Liz Taylor in the shade.


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