My heading is not intended to be derogatory: kitsch has its place,or I should say, had its place in Hollywood output of the 1930s. I first saw SHE at a revival house during my undergraduate years in college, and kept a strong memory of individual scenes for over fifty years. It was interesting to have another opportunity for viewing recently. I do remember that my friends and I thought of it in those early years much in the way today's audience regards the so-called "cult classics": a lot of fun if you didn't take it too seriously as either drama or film artistry. Now,the elements I noticed first are the pseudo-primitive music and "choreography"; the large-scale pseudo-Art Deco set design; and the mediocre quality of the performances, with the exception of von Seyffertitz (who for some reason not explained spoke the English the people of SHE's kingdom had learned from a British explorer) and Nigel Bruce before he became the Dr. Watson steretotype. For me, it is pure kitsch, and still enjoyable at that level. I note that another review compares it with King Kong. The only comparison I can see is that they used the same gate to enter SHE's kingdom that they used to keep out Kong. In his earlier work, still a classic today, whether by intention or not, Cooper found in Kong's story of a king turned into a circus attraction a statement about the tension between the primitive state of nature and urbanized society: not to the advantage of the latter. Despite all comments above, I still value SHE for what it is, and recommend it to anyone who has the opportunity to take it in.
Review of She
