Wed 17 Jun 2009
Movie Review: LORNA DOONE (1951).
Posted by Steve under Comic Books, Cartoons, Comic Strips , Films: Drama/Romance , Reviews[4] Comments
LORNA DOONE. Columbia/Edward Small Productions, 1951. Barbara Hale, Richard Greene, Carl Benton Reid, William Bishop, Ron Randell, Sean McClory, Onslow Stevens, John Dehner. Loosely based on the book Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor (1869) by R. D. Blackmore; adapted by George Bruce. Director: Phil Karlson.
Cramming a long book into a 90-minute movie is not an easy task, but as far I know, the essence of the story is all there. The reason I’m hedging in that last statement is that all I’ve ever read of the book, which has never been out of print, is the comic book version, Classics Illustrated edition (#32), the cover of which I show you here.
I had this comic book for many years, primarily for the cover, I think, but it finally went with the rest of my hoard of Golden Age comics about 15 years ago. I sold most of them off — unfortunately so, as I sorely miss them now.
But speaking of the cover, I didn’t know this when I was young, but it was done by Matt Baker, famed GGA artist of the late 1940s and 50s. GGA stands for Good Girl Art, a statement with which (in Baker’s case) I heartily agree. (And do follow the link. The covers on that site are terrific.)
The story of Lorna Doone takes place in an isolated valley in England in the late 17th century, isolated enough that the Doones rule the area at their whim, taxing the peasants unmercifully and punishing them viciously if they protest — roguish if not utterly outlaw actions which take place unknown to King Charles II.
When John Ridd’s father is killed at the hands of the Doones while he is yet a young lad, he vows revenge. When he is older (and looks like Richard Greene — an obvious choice, the latter later becoming TV’s Robin Hood), he’s also in love with Lorna Doone, the granddaughter of Sir Ensor, the patriarch of the family.
The movie is beautifully filmed — the colors are generally top notch, and the waterfall plunging downward near the Doone castle is rather spectacular — but it’s the actors that often seem to get in the way.
I don’t mean that as disparagingly as it sounds. There’s enough action and romance to satisfy almost anyone who watches, and Barbara Hale (who later became Perry Mason’s Della Street) is as ravishing beautiful as a young royal damsel could be — a perfect replica, I thought, of a Matt Baker drawing.
Otherwise, though, if you were to take another look through the cast, I think you will see as well as I what’s missing: no one of star quality. Workmanlike actors all, but no one with the flair of an Errol Flynn or an Olivia de Havilland (to pick a couple of obvious examples) who might have taken this film a step or two out of the ordinary.
Pleasurable enough then, but still ordinary and not more than mildly satisfying. The book been made into numerable films and various TV movies and mini-series. I’ll try another of them sometime, I think, as well as see if I can’t find another copy of the comic book as nice as the one I had.
June 17th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
I saw this movie in 1951 and was thoroughly impressed. I’ve never seen it again, which might be just as well. I’m sure it’s not as wonderful as I remember.
June 17th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
The movie is entertaining, but much like the Classics Illustrated, a bare bones version of the book. The silent version has played on TCM and is better and more faithful. It’s one of the more readable classic Victorian novels with enough blood and thunder to keep most readers turning the page.
Hale does look like she could have stepped out of the comic. Richard Greene, of course, got rich with televisions Adventures of Robin Hood in which he starred and produced. Later on he showed up as Denis Nayland Smith in the two Jesus Franco directed Fu Manchu films from the tail end of the Harry Alan Towers series. Hale was the wife of Bill Williams (Deadline at Dawn and tv’s Kit Carson) and mother of William Katt (Greatest American Hero).
George Bruce. who wrote the screenplay. was a successful pulp writer and the only such to have a pulp named after him — George Bruce’s Air Stories. He did quite a few screenplays too, and certainly knew how to boil a pot. Among many other things director Phil Karlson directed the three Shadow films with serial star Kane Richmond.
Aside from being one of the kings of good girl art (his Phantom Lady may be the highpoint of that type of comic) Matt Baker was unusual in that he was black. Not many black artists working in comics in the Golden Age, much less one of the best and most collectible artists in the field.
I’ve seen Lorna Doone in the last few years and it holds up well enough. You may notice the cast isn’t the most charismatic in the world and that the overall production is a little on the cheap side, but for what it was and when it was made it holds up better than most.
June 18th, 2009 at 10:07 am
When my mother was in high school circa 1940, Lorna Doone was on a list of Great Books, and my mother duly read it. She still remembered how incredibly long it was. The library version was printed in double columns of tiny print, like an old-fashioned Bible…
I’ve seen the 1922 silent version directed by Maurice Tourneur:
http://mikegrost.com/mtour.htm#Lorna
Phil Karlson is a major director. But I’ve never tracked down his version of the novel.
June 18th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
Wikipedia says that the first edition of LORNA DOONE came out in three volumes:
“Blackmore experienced difficulty in finding a publisher, and the novel was first published anonymously in 1869, in a limited three-volume edition of just 500 copies, of which only 300 sold. The following year it was republished in an inexpensive one-volume edition and became a huge critical and financial success. It has never been out of print.”
I wonder what copies of that edition go for these days?