I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (1943)

 

(Director: Jacques Tourneur. Screenwriters: Curt Siodmak, whose screenplay was reworked by Ardel Wray, based on Inez Wallace’s article of the same name in American Weekly Magazine, and structured by Charlotte Brontë’s uncredited novel Jane Eyre.)

 

Review

In the Caribbean, on the island of St. Sebastian, a nurse (Betsy Connell, played by Frances Dee) attends to a catatonic, somnambulist wife of a sugar plantation owner─even as Betsy falls in love with her charge’s husband (Paul Holland). According to Mrs. Holland’s physician (Dr. Maxwell), the cause of her hypnotic sickness is a “tropical fever.” But it’s clearly more than that, rooted in racism and slavery─the previous generation of Hollands brought their dark-skinned workforce to St. Sebastian. As a result, Haitian voodoo, evidenced by nighttime ceremonial drums, an arrow-riddled statue of Ti-Misery (St. Sebastian) and other things, casts a huge shadow over this sad island.

The roiling, collective emotions of the Hollands (including Wesley, Paul’s younger, alcoholic brother) and Betsy come to a head when their maid (Alma) convinces to Betsy to take Paul’s wife to a houmfort where a houngan (voodoo priest) might be able to cure the zombie-like Mrs. Holland. Things don’t turn out the way Betsy and Alma hope, leading to further plot Reveals and point-of-no-return situations.

A palpable, shadow-drenched melancholia and spookiness suffuses this romance-, imperialism- and superstition-fueled sixty-nine-minute film, briefly narrated by Betsy and, later, one of the servants. WALKED, for its time, is almost shocking in its blunt, constant acknowledgment of slavery and racism, a movie that proved to be a major influence on cinema, although critics at the time of its release were wildly divided in their opinions. Time has enhanced the reputation of this reworking of Charlotte Brontë’s uncredited novel Jane Eyre (per RKO Pictures producer Val Lewton’s wishes, who was not impressed with Inez Wallace’s film-source article), and deservedly so─it’s a masterful mood-piece work, full of iconic shots (e.g., Betsy’s first encounter with the unsettling Carrefour, played with silent, terrifying intensity by Darby Jones) and an impressive, effective layer-mix of moods and themes.

Like RKO’s THE SEVENTH VICTIM (1943), the censors at the Breen office took umbrage at WALKED’s original ending (suicide was not to be shown onscreen), so a different, but no less haunting ending replaced it. Another element that was toned down per the Breen office’s edict was Wesley’s alcoholism, which took up more screentime in its original version.*

WALKED's notable cast includes: Tom Conway (CAT PEOPLE, 1942, and its loosely linked prequel, THE SEVENTH VICTIM, 1943) as Paul Holland, Betsy’s initially cold object of desire; James Ellison (THE UNDYING MONSTER, 1942) as Wesley Rand; Theresa Harris, billed as Teresa Harris, as Alma, the Hollands’ maid─Harris, uncredited, also appeared in CAT PEOPLE, 1942; and James Bell (THE MONKEY’S PAW, 1933) as Dr. Maxwell.

WALKED’s behind-the-scenes talent includes: art directors Albert S. D’Agostino and Walter E. Keller (THE CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE, 1944); cinematographer J. Roy Hunt; film editor Mark Robson (who directed THE SEVENTH VICTIM, 1943); and composer Roy Webb (who, uncredited, also created the soundtrack for RETURN OF THE FLY, 1959).

TALES FROM THE CRYPT: RITUAL (a.k.a. RITUAL), a remake of WALKED, was released in 2002. Directed by Avi Nesher, it featured Jennifer Grey, Craig Sheffer, Tim Curry and Erick Avari.

 

Citation

*Clive Dawson, “Lewton vs. Breen” (article, The Dark Side magazine, issue 210, pp. 40-9)