She (1935)

Merian C. Cooper, the man behind King Kong, produced this campy adventure yarn about a female ruler in a Lost Kingdom for RKO Radio Pictures in 1935. Helen Gahagan Douglas portrays She/Ayesha, who "must be obeyed." The story is from a series of novels written by H. Rider Haggard that were popular in the very late 19th century.

Randolph Scott, Cary Grant's "roommate" and future western star, is the male lead and Helen Mack plays a young woman vying for his heart with She. Unfortunately, for She, she takes one too many flame baths and her eternal youthfulness doesn't last: she becomes a hag and dies. Spielberg must have watched this movie, along with other Cooper productions, because there are many similarities between She and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Also, She's quest for eternal youth reminded me of the outrageous Death Becomes Her. So someone involved with that movie watched this too because Meryl and Goldie look like She at the end of She.

Gahagan Douglas later became a Democratic Representative for California in 1940's. She was her only movie part. Before Douglas had been a Broadway actress and married Melvyn Douglas whom she met while performing in a play. In 1950, Richard M. Nixon took her seat in a tough campaign in which he accused her of being a Pinko/Communist. His smear campaign effectively put an end to her political career; this was during the witch hunt days. Because of his smear tactics Douglas was the first to call the future U.S. President "tricky Dick."

The behind the camera team is first rate. The art director/production design is by Van Nest Polglase who did all the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers musicals and other major RKO productions during this period. She's court does look like it was before or later used for a musical.

There were two versions of She before this version and a later one in 1965 with Ursula Andress.