Now I have an odd opinion about Four Frightened People… it was not
terrible the story was interesting but the characters and the acting got on my
nerves so bad that I wanted to punch my computer! I was hoping for it to be a
good film because, one, it is a Cecil B. DeMille film and the guy made great
films and, two, Claudette Colbert is one of the lead characters and the films I
have seen her in so far I adore her. I did not have any expectations going into
the film, well maybe I did to some extent, but I felt a little let down when it
ended.
A
ship traveling from the tropics has become infested with the bubonic plague. Two
men happen to have overheard some of the crew talking about how two other
crewmen have already died. Arnold Ainger (Herbert Marshall), a rubber
scientist, and Stewart Corder (William Gargan), a newspaper reporter, are the
two men and they manage to get a small boat. They take along an older woman
named Mrs. Mardick (Mary Boland) who speaks the native language fluently. They
had to grab a young school teacher named Judy Jones (Colbert) who almost had a
screaming fit and created a panic.
The
“four frightened people” land on an island. Each of them needs to get back to
New York within a certain amount of days. They learn from a native named
Montague who speaks English that he can get them through the jungle to the
other side to a ship in three or four days. Stewart, Arnold, Mrs. Mardick, and
Judy walk and crawl through the treacherous jungle. For the first day and a
half things go somewhat smoothly. Then things go from bad to worse and what was
supposed to be a three or four day walk turns into weeks. The group comes up
against dangerous animals and even more deadly natives.
As
with all films from the 1930s and classic Hollywood the story does end happily
if incredibly cheesy.
The
biggest issues I had with the film was the acting and the crappy romantic story
with Colbert and Marshall’s characters. The acting was so over dramatic it just
got in the way and made the whole film laughable. As I said I love and adore
Claudette Colbert but she was so bad! There were a few scenes where she had to
be scared and sad and what she came up with was just a mess. Then to top the
whole bad-acting bit off was the ridiculous romantic handle between Judy and
Arnold. Blah! I mean I understand they each found a new confidence in
themselves and the two had that in common but it was so silly. The very ending
was a load of garbage. Oh and I also cracked up with how Colbert's clothes were all matronly and by the time they got out of the jungle she was sexily clad in animal skins.
Besides
the over acting in moments of calm the acting was not bad. Colbert was great at
the beginning when she was this nerdy, timid woman who never lived her life. It
was a shock to see her look so demur and timid after seeing her as the
seductive Cleopatra and the feisty Ellie
in It Happened One Night. Herbert
Marshall I have seen in other films and to me he always seems to be the
gentleman who just stands aside or gets walked all over. Seems to me that every
classic film needs to have that one obnoxious woman who has an annoying voice
and constantly talks about nonsense. Four
Frightened People has Mary Boland as Mrs. Mardick. Boland was not
incredibly annoying she was actually good and her character was interesting to
some extent. All I think of her as is one of the yappers in The Women. William Gargan fit his role
of a tough newspaper reporter perfectly.
Four Frightened People is not one of
Cecil B. DeMille’s greatest films. Compared to his epics and other well known
films this is very tame. As I started off this post I have a weird opinion of
the film. I did not necessarily love it or really hate it but for some reason I
wanted to punch it… it is better not to ask, it is just how I feel. If you ever
happen to come across Four Frightened
People I say watch it but do not expect anything too great.
No comments:
Post a Comment