DESTINY (1944)

 

Movies have always been a big part of my life, whether going to theaters or curling up on the couch and watching them on television. But what actually turned me into a film fanatic was reading. It all started with Leonard Maltin's first TV Movies book, which was published in 1969, I believe. I read that book from cover to cover, A to Z. It opened my eyes to just how many films there were to see, and to the reality that I would need several lifetimes if I wanted to see them all, so I'd better get busy. During the 1970s, the decade when I was in my 20s, I saw as many movies as my crazy work/college class schedule would permit. As the decade was coming to a close, I began reading film books that suddenly were filling the shelves in bookstores. One of my early favorites was The Golden Age of B Movies by Doug McClelland, published in 1978. There were many films I had seen and a few others I'd heard of, but many titles were unfamiliar. One such title was DESTINY, a film made at Universal in 1944, starring an actress named Gloria Jean, whose name was only familiar because I'd seen it in Maltin's book.

Gloria Jean Schoonover was an operatic prodigy who began singing on the radio at age three. When she was twelve, she signed with Universal Pictures after auditioning for producer Joe Pasternak. Mr. Pasternak was responsible for making a major star out of another child opera singer, Deanna Durbin. Now that Miss Durbin was growing up, the studio was looking for another similar actress to, hopefully, repeat the success they'd had with Durbin. Gloria made her film debut in THE UNDER-PUP (1939), when she was thirteen. She followed this success with IF I HAD MY WAY (1940), co-starring Bing Crosby, A LITTLE BIT OF HEAVEN (1940), and possibly her most well-known film NEVER GIVE A SUCKER AN EVEN BREAK (1941), opposite the legendary W.C. Fields. She then showed off her singing talent in musicals such as GET HEP TO LOVE and WHAT'S COOKIN'?, both released in 1942. 

Gloria Jean during her years at Universal Pictures

In 1942, when she was sixteen, Gloria Jean was cast in the prestigious FLESH AND FANTASY, an anthology film directed by Julien Duvivier. The other stars were Edward G. Robinson, Barbara Stanwyck, Charles Boyer, Robert Cummings and Betty Field. Each story dealt with supernatural themes. The Gloria Jean segment, also featuring Alan Curtis, Frank Craven and Dorothy Vaughan, was the opening part of the film. Although this segment received positive responses during previews, Universal decided to cut it from the film, making FLESH AND FANTASY, released in 1943, a trilogy. Different reasons have been given for why the segment was cut, the film's overall length being the most likely explanation. Two years later, Universal decided to use the segment, with additional footage, as the feature film DESTINY, running a total of sixty-five minutes.

The cover art for Vinegar Syndrome's excellent release of FLESH AND FANTASY

The article about DESTINY made me very curious to see it. However, the film remained elusive. It never played on TV in my area, and it never seemed to be available as the home video era came into existence in the 1980s. But I recently was able to purchase a copy from an online seller. It turned out to be very watchable with decent sound quality, although not remastered in any way. It was most likely recorded from television or copied from a VHS tape. Still, the film appeared to be complete and proved to be a fascinating watch. The original footage, running about thirty minutes, is surrounded by scenes directed by Reginald Le Borg and using a different cinematographer. In the original segment, Cliff Banks (Alan Curtis), an escaped killer, takes refuge at a secluded farm where Clem Broderick (Frank Craven) lives with his blind daughter, Jane (Gloria Jean). Jane lives an almost enchanted life, totally attuned to nature, with animals and plants responding to her, and watching over her, as if she were an angelic creature. The evil Cliff has plans to take over the farm for himself and take advantage of Jane. When she flees from him and runs into the forest, he pursues her, only to be overtaken by the angry forces of nature and ending up drowning. This good vs. evil, light vs. darkness story plays out like a dark fairytale, with Jane even dressed to resemble Snow White. The B & W art direction and special effects are quite impressive, making me wish the film had the remastered treatment so as to better appreciate the imagery. By the way, one brief shot of the drowned body of Cliff at the beginning of FLESH AND FANTASY is all that's included from this excised episode.

The scenes added by Le Borg are more fast-paced and resemble a standard B crime thriller with a Noirish overtone. In these scenes, Cliff is a good guy who gets involved with the wrong crowd (femme fatale Vivian Austin and her criminal boyfriend Frank Fenton), ends up in prison, gets released, only to get caught up in crime once again and having to flee the police. All of these plot points are related in flashback sequences told to nice girl Grace McDonald who makes the mistake of giving Cliff a ride when he's running from the cops. When Cliff is double-crossed by another conniving female (Minna Gombell), he finds himself at the Broderick farm. Cliff's bad behavior with Jane and his ultimate demise are explained away as a bad dream. And then all the loose ends are quickly and neatly tied up, including Cliff being wanted by the police, and we are rewarded with a happy, sentimental ending. This all happens in sixty-five minutes. The big problem with DESTINY isn't that it plays like two different films awkwardly spliced together, but rather it seems like three different films. The first part setting up the complicated life of Cliff and his series of bad decisions moves at breakneck speed, as do many Noir programmers, but it nevertheless makes sense as a story, flashbacks and all. The emergence of Cliff into Jane's enchanted world is definitely a little hard to swallow, considering what has preceded it. But the Duvivier footage has its own foundation and integrity. What becomes quickly problematic is the obvious change in Cliff's demeanor. Up to now, he's been a hapless victim, a not terribly smart guy who lost his way, becoming somewhat cynical and mistrusting after his release from prison. In Jane's world, he turns into a shifty-eyed opportunist looking for a quick buck and some womanizing activity on the side. The "bad dream" explanation doesn't address this obvious dichotomy.

The third part of DESTINY is what ruins it. With Gloria Jean and Frank Craven brought back after nearly two years to shoot more footage, Cliff, having awakened from his horrifying dream in a cold sweat, has once again regained his nice guy persona. Gloria/Jane has obviously matured and is given the most stilted dialogue imaginable while the different parts of Cliff's confused life are quickly cobbled together and solved to, presumably, the viewing audience's satisfaction. Credibility is another matter. I'm not sure if DESTINY was intended as an A picture release, but it's obvious from the poster art that Universal was unsure of how to market the film. Some of the posters exploit a sexy image of actress Vivian Austin, the femme fatale in the expanded footage, even though Gloria Jean was the top-billed star.

The release of DESTINY didn't do much to promote Gloria Jean's career, and she was featured in B pictures from then on. Her final Universal film, RIVER GANG (1945) was released after she had already decided not to renew her contract. She made several films at different studios over the years and also worked on television, but by the early 1960s, her acting career was over. She became a receptionist for a cosmetics firm and died in 2018 at the age of 92.

Gloria Jean in 1947

Handsome Alan Curtis, with his dark, brooding gaze, had made a good showing of himself in HIGH SIERRA (1941) and in the excellent cult film PHANTOM LADY (1944). He worked in films until 1951, mostly supporting roles in minor films. He died in 1953 at the age of forty-three following kidney surgery.

Alan Curtis

I hope someday DESTINY is eventually given a proper release on Blu-ray. While Universal has generously provided fans with good quality releases of most of its horror film catalogue, B pictures included, it has a vault filled with other B pictures, including musicals, that it has chosen to ignore. Maybe this situation will change. DESTINY is an important film that deserves to be seen and given serious consideration.

Destiny • 1944 • Theatrical Trailer

THE ROSE (1979)

 

If you decide to choose THE ROSE as your evening home video entertainment, make sure your prescription for Xanax is filled and sitting on your end table within easy reach. You may need it before the movie is over. 

I hadn't seen this flick since my old Cinemax days back in the 80s, but I remember being very impressed with the energetic performance of Bette Midler doing a thinly disguised interpretation of legendary rock diva Janis Joplin. I also remember being impressed, and quite surprised, by her powerful singing. Miss Midler was nominated for Best Actress of 1979. During one of my recent visits to Disc Replay, my favorite place to purchase all the used DVDs that everyone else is throwing away, I picked up a copy of this film and looked forward to watching it again.

It's amazing how one's perceptions can change over time. I now find the movie exhausting rather than impressive, and more a wicked parody of Janis Joplin than a serious interpretation. There can be no doubt that Midler gave 100% of herself to this project, physically and emotionally. Perhaps she gave too much.

The film was supposed to be called PEARL, the nickname Joplin had given to herself. But her family refused to allow a biographical film. Therefore, the lead character, Mary Rose Foster, was known professionally as The Rose. Like Joplin, she was a famous rock star in the late 1960s who was burning herself out with too much touring, and too much wild living. She grew up in Jacksonville, Florida, whereas Joplin hailed from Port Arthur, Texas. The film's plot has The Rose getting ready to appear at a huge stadium concert in her hometown, a prospect that is causing her a great deal of insecurity, as she experienced a lot of pain during adolescence, including rejection from her peers. Her hard-driving manager, Rudge Campbell (Alan Bates), cares for her deeply, but is determined to make sure she is able to fulfill her contractual obligations and resists her pleas to take a year off in order to rest. When Rose meets a young limo driver, Huston Dyer (Fredric Forrest), and enters quickly into a romantic affair, she brings him along for the rest of her singing tour. The two lovers talk about having a future together, even though their association is volatile from the start. 

Bette Midler as The Rose, emoting with great effort.

As we follow The Rose on The Road, we are treated to a by-the-numbers depiction of what happens when rock stars work as hard as possible to destroy themselves. When Rose isn't performing onstage for her adoring fans, she keeps herself busy fighting, screaming, crying, drinking, smashing liquor bottles over the heads of total strangers and being generally unpleasant most of the time. When we first encounter Rose, she is onstage doing her blues-rock thing, including an incredible rendition of the song When a Man Loves a Woman. So far, so good. Then we see her in an argument with her manager during which she laments that, among her many other troubles, she can't get laid. (This detail, of course, is taken care of when she meets the limo driver.) The viewer can easily sympathize with this young woman being forced to continue touring and performing even though she's reached the point of exhaustion. Still, it's frustrating to watch someone who refuses to make even the slightest attempt to take care of herself.

Midler appears to be working hard to bring this character to life. Her stamina is quite amazing, I must admit. It takes a tremendous amount of energy to scream and cry for nearly 134 minutes of screen time. Maybe I've grown more cynical over the years, but this long delayed second watch made me feel that Midler was condescending to the character of Rose rather than trying to inhabit her. I felt like she was slumming. There are certainly good moments in her performance, mostly when she quiets down. But the close-ups of her agonized face, complete with copious amounts of running mascara, and all the Joplin-esque voice inflections, seem more calculated than sincere. Maybe the fault lies with the director, Mark Rydell, or maybe the actress is out of her element. 

After the film's somber finale, with Rose shooting heroin in a phone booth at her old high school football field and then dying onstage in front of her hometown audience, we are left with one of the most heartbreaking songs ever written: The Rose, composed by Amanda McBroom and beautifully sung by Midler, which became a major hit. This song is, for me, the shining moment of the film, even though it seems to have only a tenuous connection to what happened in the previous 2+ hours. Maybe, all things considered, it's best to skip the movie and just listen to the song. No Xanax required.