#1006: ROBERTS, Stephen: The Story Of Temple Drake (1933)
ROBERTS, Stephen (United States)
The Story Of Temple Drake [1933]
Spine #1006
Blu-ray
The Booklet
Ten-page wraparound featuring an essay by Geoffrey O'Brien.
O’Brien is brilliant. He expounds on both the filmmaking process and the splendidly bizarre history of this early piece of cinema magic. He also spends several informative paragraphs on the rape scene.
Commentary
None, unfortunately.
Video interviews
The Story Of Temple Drake [1933]
Spine #1006
Blu-ray
Loosely adapted from William Faulkner's controversial novel Sanctuary, this notorious pre-Code melodrama stars Miriam Hopkins as Temple Drake, the coquettish granddaughter of a respected small-town judge. When a boozehound date strands her at a bootleggers' hideout, Temple is subjected to an act of nightmarish sexual violence and plunged into a criminal underworld that threatens to swallow her up completely. Steeped in southern-gothic shadows by influential cinematographer Karl Struss and shot through with moral ambiguity, The Story of Temple Drake is a harrowing vision of sin and salvation that boasts an astonishing lead performance from the fiery Hopkins, whose passage through the stations of terror, trauma, and redemption is a true tour de force of screen acting.
71 minutes
Black & White
Monaural
1:33:1 aspect ratio
Monaural
1:33:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2019
Director/Writers
Stephen Roberts was 38 when he directed The Story of Temple Drake.
The 1931 novel was a hit with its sensational quasi-pornographic, violent tale, which captured the public's imagination. The film adaptation toned down the sex and violence considerably.
The 1931 novel was a hit with its sensational quasi-pornographic, violent tale, which captured the public's imagination. The film adaptation toned down the sex and violence considerably.
Roberts directed seven more films in the 2-1/2 years left to him before he died in 1936.
The Film
This Pre-Code film is well-made, well-acted and beautifully restored by Criterion. A terrifying morality play, the action is just so darned exciting that it makes many post-Code films of this type seem like overly-censored pale copies.
After an atmopheric opening and a quick montage, we meet Temple Drake (Miriam Hopkins), at first seeing only her hand, as she flirtatiously flees an aggressive lover. Hopkins registers on the screen like an electric neon light bulb, shifting with her character's colors throughout, and projecting a fierce independence, even when she's most vulnerable.
Her dad, the judge (Guy Standing), her "good-guy" suitor, Stephen (William Gargan) -- a lawyer who is defending a Black man -- and the scary "bad guy" (Jack La Rue) are all terrific.
The film was taken out of circulation a year later when the Code was introduced; not to be seen again until the 1950s.
After an atmopheric opening and a quick montage, we meet Temple Drake (Miriam Hopkins), at first seeing only her hand, as she flirtatiously flees an aggressive lover. Hopkins registers on the screen like an electric neon light bulb, shifting with her character's colors throughout, and projecting a fierce independence, even when she's most vulnerable.
Her dad, the judge (Guy Standing), her "good-guy" suitor, Stephen (William Gargan) -- a lawyer who is defending a Black man -- and the scary "bad guy" (Jack La Rue) are all terrific.
The film was taken out of circulation a year later when the Code was introduced; not to be seen again until the 1950s.
Film Rating (0-60):
53
The ExtrasThe Booklet
Ten-page wraparound featuring an essay by Geoffrey O'Brien.
The wraparound is nicely decorated with contemporary ads, emphasizing the scandalous nature of the film.
O’Brien is brilliant. He expounds on both the filmmaking process and the splendidly bizarre history of this early piece of cinema magic. He also spends several informative paragraphs on the rape scene.
"If you can call a rape artistically done, it was," Hopkins (who called Temple Drake one of her favorites among her films) told an interviewer.
O'Brien also helpfully notates where the film self-censored itself from the novel.
Commentary
None, unfortunately.
Video interviews
- with cinematographer John Bailey and Matt Severson, director of the Margaret Herrick Library at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, about the film's visual style, as well as archival materials relating to its production
- with critic Imogen Sara Smith on the complexity of the film and its central performance by Miriam Hopkins
- with critic Mick LaSalle about the film, censorship, and the Production Code
Extras Rating (0-40):
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