classicsoncall Miriam Hopkins portrays the conflicted Temple Drake in this tale of rape and murder that must have set film goers on their ear when it was initially released. Not only are there allusions to prostitution and illicit sex, but treatments of subjects that would be considered controversial even today in terms of political correctness. I refer to attorney Stephen Benbow (William Gargan) calling out 'Boy' to a black waiter at a party, and another scene that reverses the stereotype when a black man responds to Toddy Gowan (William Collier Jr.) coming out of his drunken stupor at the railroad station - "You askin' me, white man?" This is why films of an earlier era genuinely fascinate me. Not to mention how thin a plot could often be in order to advance the story. Wouldn't anyone have noticed that when Benbow issued the subpoena, he stated to Trigger (Jack La Rue) and Temple Drake that he was presenting it to both of them. How would that subpoena have involved Temple since Benbow had no idea she would even be there, which was certainly more than evident when he expressed his shock and surprise to see her with him. Sometimes I wonder how a director or the principals in a scene would let something like that go by.It wouldn't be unusual in the Thirties to see a story like this in one of those exploitation flicks dealing with the same type of subject matter. A few titles that come to mind would be "Gambling With Souls" (1936), "Slaves in Bondage" (1937) and "Mad Youth" (1940), all having to do in one way or another with the theme of prostitution. To see it here in a more or less mainstream film must have been quite a shock for it's time, perhaps even making it difficult for some movie goers to even concentrate on the story.The finale does allow the title character a redemptive moment by having her summon the courage to testify against her evil captor, but at the same time the picture leaves a lot more questions for the viewer than it answers. How is it, for example, that no one ever made mention of the car crash that resulted in Toddy and Temple heading for the Godwin house in the first place? It's not like the aftermath of the accident would have disappeared once the story turned into a murder investigation.

richard-1787 Even for a pre-Code movie, this is pretty tough stuff. Granted, it doesn't get into the most sordid aspects of Faulkner's novel - a pot-boiler that he wrote when his serious works failed to earn him any money - but it's still very somber: a Southern society girl out on a binge with a drunken playboy gets raped by a gangster, set up in a Memphis brothel, and then finally kills the gangster. (In the novel, the gangster, originally named Popeye, is impotent, and so likes to watch others do what he cannot do.) You can certainly understand why the League of Decency went after this. And, frankly, I'm not sure I see what the point of making this movie was. I don't know who would enjoy it.Which is not to say that it's a poorly made movie. Quite to the contrary.Miriam Hopkins, whom I know from a string of fluffy mildly suggestive Ernst Lubitsch-type comedies - The Smiling Lieutenant, Trouble in Paradise, Design for Living - gives a very impressive performance here as a Zelda Fitzgerald type who ends up being terrified out of her wits when she encounters a world of people very different from her native high-society circles. I have a lot more respect for her as an actress after seeing this.The direction here, by Stephen Roberts, is also quite good at times, with very effective cinematography in the scenes set at the gangsters' hideout.I can imagine that this movie would be very unpleasant viewing for a lot of women. It tells a gruesome story, and does nothing to keep it light. It's certainly worth seeing for Hopkins' performance, but it won't put you in a good mood.

kidboots It was Faulkner's marriage in 1929 to a woman who bought two children from her first marriage that caused him to start thinking seriously about writing a book for financial profit which ended up being "Sanctuary". He said he then forgot about it but that didn't stop it becoming a sensation. It would be nice to think that Faulkner could have realised a nice profit but with his usual luck the publisher that he had given the book to, Harrison Smith, went bankrupt six months after "Sanctuary" was published and so he received almost no royalties. The only money he made from it was to come from Hollywood. By the time "Sanctuary" was ready to be filmed in 1933 the novel had been denounced as obscene and degrading. The Hays office became involved by informing Paramount that neither the film nor the credits were allowed to mention the title so Paramount compromised by calling it "The Story of Temple Drake", hoping the heroine's name would cause the public to remember the book's scandal.George Raft, who had been scheduled to star pulled out. He had no intention of hurting his newly won box office allure by playing a sadistic gangster who had no sympathetic qualities. He had already played a pretty despicable gangster with both Miriam Hopkins and Mae Clarke so there was method in his rejection. Probably the only role rejection that actually helped his career. Jack La Rue was given the assignment and it certainly didn't catapult him to stardom. He played Trigger (in the book it was Popeye) a city punk living in the Mississippi hill country.Temple Drake (Hopkins), Southern belle and grand daughter of prominent judge, has rejected Stephen Benbow's marriage proposal as she finds him too serious and unromantic. She craves excitement and unfortunately finds it. Exiting a stuffy party with inebriated Toddy (William Collier Jnr.) she is plunged into a nightmare world when their car overturns and they seek shelter at an abandoned mansion with a group of misfits. There's a baby in a wood box- "so the rats don't get it", a cretinous teenager, Tommy, a worn down woman (Florence Eldridge, Frederic March's wife) and a couple of men who wouldn't be out of place in "Deliverance". The rape scene between Temple and Trigger, a sadistic city gangster, is very powerful. The film drips with sexuality and decadence and the artfully lit soft focus photography of Karl Struss went far to diffuse the story's more shocking implications.Trigger kills Tommy who has appointed himself Temple's guardian and is determined to see no harm comes to her. Trigger takes a shell shocked Temple into the city to establish her in a brothel. Goodwin (the wonderful character actor Irving Pichel) one of the men from the house, goes to the police to report Tommy's murder and suddenly finds himself charged. Of course Benbow is assigned to the case and it is up to him to find Temple and convince her to testify and with it destroy her character!!!! Temple Drake was a challenging role and Miriam Hopkins, in one of her best screen performances, gives it everything she has. Her scene in the old house where she suddenly realises this is real and there is no escape, she starts to really cry and makes you believe in her. Jack La Rue is simply chilling as Trigger, a thug with no redeeming qualities. It is a pity it didn't lead to bigger and better parts but he could always be proud of his performance in "The Story of Temple Drake".

Michael_Elliott Story of Temple Drake, The (1933) *** (out of 4) Notorious pre-code tells the story of Temple Drake (Miriam Hopkins), a Southern Belle who uses her beauty to turn men on only to quickly throw water on them. To Temple turning men on is just a joke but when a date takes her to a dangerous bar, she's quickly held hostage by a bootlegger named Trigger (Jack LaRue) who will stop at nothing to feed his lust. THE STORY OF TEMPLE DRAKE was highly controversial when it was first released and in large part it was one of the main reasons that the Hayes Office would have to finally stand up and keep on eye out for the "products" being released by Hollywood. Seen today the film is certainly less shocking but there's no doubt that the subject matter is still rather touchy and especially the "wannabe" bad girl who finally gets broken down when sexually, physically and mentally abused by an evil man. I think the best thing going for the film is the performance by Hopkins who was clearly born to play this role. Even though the film runs a very short 70-minutes and a lot of the material from the William Faulkner novel has been left out, the character of Temple Drake still goes through quite a bit of developments. Hopkins nails all of them and I really loved the early scenes where she was just playing the men to get them worked up so that she could just dump them and then move onto the next. These scenes with the actress are perfectly done but she also handles the later moments when she's terrified of what's going to happen to her and then of course at the end when she's broken down. I was also impressed with LaRue who gets to shine even if the screenplay doesn't do too much justice to him. William Gargan plays the lawyer who also just happens to be in love with Drake and he too is pretty good. Flrence Eldridge really stands out in her role and those with a quick eye can spot John Carradine in the courtroom. The pre-code elements are somewhat strong with a rape and several sexual moments with Hopkins either stripping down or showing off her legs. The most notorious scene happens when she strips down to her bra and panties only to have one of the thugs rip off a coat that she's wearing and the viewer gets even more of a glimpse of her. At 70-minutes the film moves extremely fast and there's no question that film buffs will want to search this one out.