Cinema Revisited: The Story of Temple Drake (1933)
“The Story of Temple Drake”
Directed by Stephen Roberts. Starring Miriam Hopkins, William Gargan, Jack LaRue, Florence Eldridge, Sir Guy Standing, Irving Picehl, Jobyna Howland, Elizabeth Patterson, Louise Beavers. Released December 9, 1933. 70 minutes.
One of the edgier precode movies that aroused the ire of the culture warriors when first released in the early 1930s, “The Story of Temple Drake” deals with a sexually active young woman who leads men on but never connects. She becomes friendly with a lawyer, but ends up in the throes of a controlling gangster.
The film is very brutal and frightening, with Temple and a wealthy, drunken boyfriend getting into a car accident in the woods and being held hostage in a rustic cabin filled with backwoods bootleggers under the control of a gangster. The scenes are darkly lit, with the rumblings of a thunderstorm backing up the soundtrack. Rape, sexual slavery, and murder are all elements of the story.
Miriam Hopkins has the title role in this Paramount movie during a period when she was doing some of her best work, and is surrounded by a strong cast, including William Gargan as the lawyer and Jack LaRue as the gangster. The part LaRue played was originally assigned to George Raft, but he turned the role down as too despicable a character. LaRue specialized in such roles and offers a chilling presence in all of his scenes.
Based on a story by William Faulkner, “The Story of Temple Drake” was considered so daring in its depiction of sexuality, it was banned in many areas, while other distributors edited out so many scenes, it made the narrative incomprehensible. Once the production code was put into effect in 1934, “The Story of Temple Drake” was banned from being re-released and was not seen again until more than 20 years later, and then in only bootleg 16mm prints. “The Story of Temple Drake” is one of the films directly responsible for the formation of the production code.
Along with the edgy content, and the strong performances, “The Story of Temple Drake” is also significant as being one of the few feature-length examples of Stephen Roberts’ direction. Roberts spent the early part of his career helming short subjects before moving on to features. As a filmmaker, he had a keen eye for atmosphere, and was adept at tracking shots. The film’s visual sense owes a great deal to the German Expressionism of Murnau or Lang, with dark imagery and the occasional tilted frame. Roberts always effectively used darks and grays, and framed his shots for maximum effect. His closeups of an approaching Jack LaRue from the vantage point of the Temple Drake character remain chilling nearly 90 years after the film’s production. Roberts’ death in 1936 at only 40 years old deprived cinema of a director who showed real potential.
“The Story of Temple Drake” was restored by the Museum of Modern Art in 1972 and given a special screening with Miriam Hopkins in attendance only months before she died. It was featured at the TCM Classic Film Festival in 2011. For those interested in pre-code American cinema, "The Story of Temple Drake" is very much worth seeking out.