SHE (1911)
Article #408 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 4-27-2002
Posting date: 9-20-2002

This is a short adaptation of H. Rider Haggard’s novel about She-who-must-be-obeyed, an apparently immortal woman who rules a hidden kingdom and her love for a man she killed many years ago.

James Cruze also appeared in a short version of DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE, which was somewhat more successful than this one is. Fully half the running time of my print of this movie (which runs about twenty minutes) is backstory, leaving only about ten minutes to cover the main story, and there’s really not much of the story left. What is there seems arbitrary, and

SPOILER

I have to admit at this point that I have never quite understood why the fire makes the woman old the last time she uses it; I suspected it might have been better explained in the novel, but apparently it’s just as vague about the reason for this phenomenon as any of the movies. Oh, well.