Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 1957
She Devil (1957 film)
Buy She Devil (1957 film) now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
'She Devil' is a 1957 American black-and-white widescreen science fiction horror film, shot in RegalScope, from Regal Films, that was produced, written, and directed by Kurt Neumann. The film stars Mari Blanchard, Jack Kelly, and Albert Dekker and was theatrically released by 20th Century Fox on a double bill with Regal's 'Kronos'.
'She Devil' is based on the science fiction short story "The Adaptive Ultimate" by Stanley G. Weinbaum.
Plot
Dr. Dan Scott has developed a serum that cures the ills of animals, although it did alter the color of a leopard used in one experiment. Eager to try it on a human being, despite his mentor Dr. Richard Bach's many concerns, Scott finds a consenting patient in Kyra Zelas, a woman with a meek personality who is dying of tuberculosis.
The serum seems to cure her instantly. It also dramatically affects her personality. Kyra shows a flash of temper, then jumps out of a car and runs into a shop, where she steals a dress then disguises her identity by willing her hair color to change from brunette to blonde.
Scott falls in love with her. At a party, however, Kyra seduces a guest, Barton Kendall. When his wife Evelyn objects, Kyra disguises herself again and murders her. Then she marries Kendall, but behaves monstrously toward him. The doctors use a ploy that leaves Kyra in an unconscious state, then perform surgery to reverse the serum's effect, which also restores Kyra's terminal disease.
Cast
* Mari Blanchard as Kyra Zelas
* Jack Kelly as Dr. Dan Scott
* Albert Dekker as Dr. Richard Bach
* John Archer as Barton Kendall
* Fay Baker as Evelyn Kendall
* Blossom Rock as Hannah, the Housekeeper (as Blossom Rock)
* Paul Cavanagh as Sugar Daddy
* George Baxter as Store Manager
* Helen Jay as Blond Nurse
* Joan Bradshaw as Redhead
* X Brands as Police Officer
* Tod Griffin as Interne
Reception
Critical response
Film critic Glenn Erickson discussed the production in his review of the film, "The B&W 'Regalscope' format gives this modest production a handsome look, along with Kurt Neumann's competent if not stylish direction. Cameraman Karl Struss (of Murnau's 'Sunrise') slightly over-lights Kyra in the party scene to make her hair seem to glow, a subtle effect for sure. The hair-color changing is a filter trick, an invention Struss first used back in the silent era. A spectacular car crash murder scene is an RKO stock shot lifted from the 1952 Otto Preminger noir 'Angel Face' and cropped for the 'scope format. It still looks frightening. Suggesting an undeveloped noir angle, a 'haunting' portrait of Kyra becomes the focus of Dan's obsession. It's supposed to be the work of an Italian master, but looks more like a Paint By Numbers atrocity."[https://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s4107she.html Erickson, Glenn]. 'DVD Savant', film/DVD review, March 1, 2013. Accessed: July 22, 2013.See also
* List of American films of 1957
References
Bibliography
* Warren, Bill. 'Keep Watching the Skies: American Science Fiction Films of the Fifties', 21st Century Edition. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2009, (First edition 1982). .Buy She Devil (1957 film) now from Amazon
<-- Return to movies from 1957