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A Wonderful Movie But It Misses The Novel., 14 August 2004
Author:
theowinthrop from United States
In 1891 Rudyard Kipling was best known for his short stories about the
British army in India and his excellent poetry (THE BARRACK ROOM BALLARDS).
He decided to write a novel, set in the Sudan in the Mahdi revolt (slightly
older than contemporary time - about 1884 - 1889). His hero, Dick Heldar, is
a war correspondent artist who is wounded in the head by a Sudanese soldier
(who is killed by Heldar's friend Torpenhow a moment later). Heldar is
invalided to England, where he expands his reputation as a war artist into a
military genre painter. He meets a girl (Maisie) who he romances. But then
he learns his eyesight (which has been giving him problems since he was
wounded) is fading. Heldar determines to paint his masterpiece - the
painting to give him immortality. Rather than a military subject it is a
painting of a woman as personifying "Melancholy". The painting's model is
Betty Broke, a young Cockney girl who Torpenhow has been living with. But
Betty is attracted to Heldar, and hopes to become his girl. Then she learns
of Maisie, and she destroys the painting. Heldar has gone blind just
before this, and reveals the painting to Torpenhow and Maisie thinking that
it is the brilliant work he completed. When a vengeful Betty tells him she
destroyed it, Heldar...seeing his life is over, returns to the Sudan and his
friends, and dies leading a charge against the enemy.
This is the basic story of THE LIGHT THAT FAILED. The William Wellman film
from 1939 is basically following this story, and tells it well, having a
cast headed by Ronald Colman as Helgar, Walter Huston as Torpenhow, Ida
Lupino as Betty, and Murial Angelus as Maisie. Dudley Digges, Ernest
Cosart, Halliwell Hobbes, and a host of other Hollywood character performers
give excellent support to the leads. It is an ultimately tragic story, well
done, well told.
But the film, ironically, fails to have the impact of the novel. That is
because Kipling made the story a study of one element that the movie just
examines one trend of - it is a novel about failure. Every person, every
institution, every impulse in the story fails to be achieved. It's not just
Heldar...it's everyone!
First, although at the time the novel was written the events in the Sudan
(although a still continuing war) seemed destined to bring about the
eventual result - the collapse of the Mahdist Revolt. It did eventually
fail at the battle at Omdurman in 1898 (which is shown in the movie versions
of FOUR FEATHERS), but it was slowly being squeezed to death in the
campaigns in Egypt and the Northern Sudan from 1884 onward. The death of
Gordon (the subject of the film KHARTOUM) showed that the Mahdists were
capable of beating the British, but the Mahdi died of plague within six
months, and the Khalifa was not his equal as a charasmatic leader. So the
fact that the Sudanese soldier gives such a crippling injury to Dick is
worthless - a fact brought home by his death immediately afterwards at the
hands of Torpenhow. However, it is a long and arduous road to the defeat of
the Mahdists. The great British Empire (reeling from the early defeats of
Hicks and Gordon) also can suffer failure.
Torpenhow's action only avenges Dick (and only in that he is protecting Dick
from injury). He thinks he saved Dick's life. He hasn't succeeded - Dick's
injury is a damaged optic nerve which leads to his blindness. Torp's action
just delays the inevitable. Torpenhow is also unable to save Dick's
masterpiece from Betty, and has to watch as Dick dies in battle in the end.
Dick returns to England and starts making his artistic name as a genre
painter. And a successful one. But Torpenhow and the Nilghai (Dudley
Digges, in the movie) point out that Dick was original at first, when he
showed the grit and dirt of real military life - now he is prettifying it.
Dick has been selling out. His artistic abilities are beginning to fail.
Also the public, fully "supportive" of their men in the armed forces, don't
want the real dirt and blood to appear - it's unpleasant. Their sense of
realism is sacrificed by their hypocrisy. It too fails.
Dick's artistic independence (in the novel) is gained at the expense of the
news agency that used his talents for their news reports from the front.
When they try to browbeat him into returning to the front he rejects their
attempts - so much for the power of capitalism.
The relationship with Maisie is due to her ability as a painter - she is
trying to be one. But she is a mere dabler. In fact, she becomes very
self-concious of her inferiority and it affects her romance with Dick. Also
(Kipling is ironical here) Maisie has a really talented female roomate who
draws and paints as well as Dick, but Dick only has eyes on Maisie - her
roomate is too timid to tell him how much she likes him! She fails as does
Maisie.
Civilization in England is in for a knockout too. As his sight starts
troubling him, Dick goes to a great Harley Street physician for help. The
doctor (representing science and knowledge) can't prevent his losing his
eyesight.
Betty does have a moment of evil triumph over Dick, destoying his painting,
but it costs her. In the novel Betty actually reveals the truth to Dick at
a moment that he is seriously considering living with her for the rest of
his life. She suddenly realizes that in telling him of what she did to his
work his offer is dead...and since she is little better than a whore, the
last chance for her to have a decent life has just collapsed. Her life is
set for a downward trend of poverty - it too is a failure.
Dick's final act is his only constructive action to achieve some posthumous
fame - by dying in battle. But it is fame based on death, not on
achievement. A final acceptance of his failure as well.
The theme of failure is a real downer, and the film may have wisely
jettisoned most of this by concentrating only on Heldar. But it even
soft-pedalled it with Heldar's tragedy. In the novel the painting of
"Melancholy" was his one chance at artistic immortality. Instead, in the
process of developing his reputation as a genre artist, Dick paints a
picture of a riderless horse of a dead soldier. This picture is widely
exhibited, and well received (and, ironically, it mirrors his own horse, as
he lies dead in the Sudan - at the feet of Torpenhow in the movie's
conclusion). But it reminds the audience that even if the "Melancholy" was
maliciously ruined by Betty, Dick lived long enough to paint another
masterpiece that will live. The painting forshadowing his own end is a
brilliant idea, but it cheapens the actual effect of Kipling's novel's
tragedy.
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