Charles Laughton was an incredible actor...one of the best of his generation. That being said, it's amazing to watch "White Woman" because, for once, he's not on the top of his game...in fact, he's pretty terrible. Much of it is because his character and motivations were just difficult to understand...and perhaps he just had trouble understanding the man.
The summary on IMDB makes it sound like the movie is a romance or has strong romantic elements. Well, this is not the case...it's not about romance at all but about a sadistic jerk who eventually overplays his hand.
The story is set in some land whose location is confusing. You see guys with blowguns (which is very South American) and chimps (which is very African) and I cannot recall the movie saying where it's supposed to be located. All I can say is that it's in the jungle in some godforesaken land...a jungle surrounded by hostile natives who are under the control of a sadist. It seems that Horace (Laughton) uses the tribes to kill anyone who tries to escape the plantation he's built. But then he makes the mistake of mistreating these natives...a HUGE mistake in hindsight.
As for Carole Lombard, she plays Horace's new wife...and she's horrified at Horace and his brutal ways. And she's essentially told to accept him and the situation or else!
So is this film good? No...not really. But in a bizarre pre-code way it does keep your attention! Some poor performances, a strange script and an amazingly sluggish pacing keep this from being a good film...but it IS memorable!
The summary on IMDB makes it sound like the movie is a romance or has strong romantic elements. Well, this is not the case...it's not about romance at all but about a sadistic jerk who eventually overplays his hand.
The story is set in some land whose location is confusing. You see guys with blowguns (which is very South American) and chimps (which is very African) and I cannot recall the movie saying where it's supposed to be located. All I can say is that it's in the jungle in some godforesaken land...a jungle surrounded by hostile natives who are under the control of a sadist. It seems that Horace (Laughton) uses the tribes to kill anyone who tries to escape the plantation he's built. But then he makes the mistake of mistreating these natives...a HUGE mistake in hindsight.
As for Carole Lombard, she plays Horace's new wife...and she's horrified at Horace and his brutal ways. And she's essentially told to accept him and the situation or else!
So is this film good? No...not really. But in a bizarre pre-code way it does keep your attention! Some poor performances, a strange script and an amazingly sluggish pacing keep this from being a good film...but it IS memorable!