Prestigio

Is very good as Verlaine, military man assigned to field outpost in Saigon circa 1900's. His wife, Therese Verlaine is portrayed by Ann Harding, whose father is in charge of her husband's assignments.

When she first embarks to join her husband, her father issues the speech as quoted on title page. ..."It is their job to uphold higher standards to restore order....to rise up to the upbringing and status of the white man"... . This he says is "prestige" (which today is rather out of context, the word prestige in America has been decimated to a materialistic meaning and has nothing to do with honor or pride in today's America. Sadly, I might add.

However, it is an interesting antiquated viewpoint. Verlaine is in charge of a rather ramshackle bamboo prison in the third world country then known as, Annam (later North and South Vietnam). Captain Verlaine tries to rule with an iron fist at first as we see a prisoner is executed for a petty crime in the most brutal fashion. There is some sort of gallows device made of bamboo. The scene is very effective and believable.

Then Captain Remy Baudoin arrives as he is friends with Therese and wants to see if she is surviving the jungle and heat. He somewhat cheers her up, to which Verlaine becomes drunk, jealous of his wife's friendship and angry at his overall job requirements. Douglas is believable here, while very young and unless most of us check the credits we would not be sure this was him.

The natives eventually revolt, as Therese first visits the prison and is shocked at the conditions. She is disturbed that her husband maintains such a facility, for native peoples whose primary crime is poverty. They eventually revolt but succumb in the end, Captain Verlaine has restored order.

While the story is a bit unreal at times, the photography (mostly filmed in Venice, FL) is intriguing and realistic, we can feel the heat and what it must be like to live in a bamboo hut in 104 degree, humid temperatures.

Well worth seeing for the era, the dialog and Douglas in an early dramatic role. 9/10.