Flesh and Fantasy (1943) Review

Title: Flesh and Fantasy

Directors: Julien Duvivier

Writers: Ernest Pascal, Samuel Hoffenstein, Ellis St. Joseph

IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035885/

Genre: Drama

Two club men, intrigued by the occult and supernatural, explore the meaning of dreams and premonitions introducing three strange tales. The first one is about an ugly bitter woman named Henrietta and her secret love for a law student named Michael. On Mardi Gras night she is stopped from committing suicide by a strange old man, who apparently knows everything about her, and gives her a mask that she can wear to make Michael notice her. The catch is Henrietta has to return the mask before midnight. This one's certainly one of the more interesting stories, although the moral is rather dubious.

The second story involves and uncanny accurate palmist Podgers telling skeptic Marshal Tyler(played by Edward G. Robinson) he will murder someone. This idea obsesses Tyler, who struggles with himself, deciding eventually to try and murder someone just to get it over with. This is certainly the best of the three story, although it has one of the most predictable but satisfying twists. Robinson's acting shines in this one, as you can see the changes that occur to the character, from a mild mannered lawyer becoming an insanely paranoid murderer.

The third story is directly linked to the first one, continuing where the other left off. High wire artist Gasper dreams of falling during his “drunk acrobat” act and apparently loses his nerve. On a ship he recognizes a woman named Joan from his dream(recognizing her earrings) and falls in love with her. This is certainly the least interesting of the three, though the idea of knowing the consequences but pursuing happiness regardless is fascinating enough to sustain the mood of the movie.

Overall the morals of this movie are contradicting, while at the same time achieving some sort of strange balance. The last two stories present the hypothetical dilemma of knowing the future, and how that could affect us and our lives. Similar to Tales Of Manhattan this is one of those unexpectedly entertaining noir film, with a great cast, great score and great directing.