Temptation *** (1946, Merle Oberon, George Brent, Charles Korvin, Paul Lukas) Classic Movie Review 9918

Director Irving Pichel’s 1946 black and white film noir thriller Temptation stars Merle Oberon as bored housewife Ruby, an 1890s London shady lady who moves to Egypt and swaps her dull archaeologist husband Nigel Armine (George Brent) for sinister Egyptian playboy, Mahoud Baroudi (Charles Korvin).

Mahoud (Korvin) is broke and threatens to leave Ruby (Oberon) unless she kills Nigel (Brent) for his money.

Temptation is a Victorian melodrama with cardboard characters and a clichéd plot, and the actors are struggling to bring it to life. However, creaky and campy though it is, it is easy and fairly amusing to watch. It looks good in Lucien Ballard’s black and white cinematography, and Merle Oberon suffers beautifully in Vera West’s frocks.

It is a remake of a Pola Negri silent movie Bella Donna (1923) (her first American film), directed by George Fitzmaurice, and the sound remake Bella Donna (1934), a 1934 British drama film directed by Robert Milton and starring Conrad Veidt, Mary Ellis and Cedric Hardwicke. This film is also a remake of the 1915 Paramount film Bella Donna starring Pauline Frederick. The 1915 version is now considered to be a lost film. A print of the 1923 film is reportedly held at the Gosfilmofond Archive in Moscow. The 1934 film survives unlike a number of Twickenham studio’s productions from that decade.

Robert Thoeren’s screenplay is based on Robert Smythe Hichens’s 1909 novel Bella Donna and the 1912 Broadway play by James Bernard Fagan (which starred Alla Nazimova). Edward Small bought the rights to the novel in 1941 to star Ilona Massey again after being in his 1941 International Lady. But over the next five years there were several near-starts and postponements.

It was the International Pictures studio’s last film before its merger with Universal to become Universal-International.

Also in the cast are Paul Lukas, Lenore Ulric, Arnold Moss, Ludwig Stossel, Gavin Muir, Robert Capa, Aubrey Mather, André Charlot, Suzanne Cloutier, Gloria Lloyd, Egon Brecher, John Eldredge, Ilka Gruning, Mary Young, Bobby Hale, Fred Essler, George Humbert, George M Carleton, Reginald Sheffield, Jean Ransome, Nick Thompson, Tom Stevenson and Eddie Abido.

Temptation is directed by Irving Pichel, runs 98 minutes, is made by International Pictures, is released by Universal Pictures (1946) (US) and General Film Distributors (1946) (UK), is written by Robert Thoeren, is shot in black and white by Lucien Ballard, is produced by Edward Small, is scored by Daniele Amfitheatrof and is designed by Bernard Herzbrun.

In 2018 it was in US TV syndication by NBC Universal Television Distribution.

The cast are Merle Oberon as Ruby, George Brent as Nigel Armine, Charles Korvin as Mahoud Baroudi, Paul Lukas as Sir Meyer Isaacson, Lenore Ulric as Marie, Arnold Moss as Ahmed Effendi, Robert Capa as Hamza, Aubrey Mather as Dr Harding, Ludwig Stössel as Dr Mueller, André Charlot as Professor Dupont, Suzanne Cloutier as Yvonne Dupont, Gloria Lloyd as Jean McCormick, Egon Brecher, John Eldredge, Ilka Gruning, Gavin Muir, Robert Capa, Aubrey Mather, Mary Young, Bobby Hale, Fred Essler, George Humbert, George M Carleton, Reginald Sheffield, Jean Ransome, Nick Thompson, Tom Stevenson and Eddie Abido.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9918

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