Twilight for the Gods (1958)

Truly Dreadful Film

Purely Joyful Movie!

Just perfect...

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

In an effort to expand his casting range Universal Studios was giving Rock Hudson some unusual parts during a period when he was at the top of the box office heap in the late Fifties. In Twilight For The Gods, Rock tries but doesn't really succeed in the role of existential hero sailing on a leaky schooner with crew and passengers across the Pacific islands to Mexico. It's a part that Kirk Douglas or Robert Mitchum probably would have done better with.But not much better because Twilight For The Gods is ambiguous to the point of confusion. Some people who want to leave the South Seas like Reverend Ernest Truex, irreverent beachcomber Richard Haydn, singer Judith Evelyn and her conman manager Leif Erickson, and hooker Cyd Charisse. The only two normal ones who give Rock no problems are elderly refugees Celia Lovsky and Vladimir Sokoloff. As for the crew his first mate Arthur Kennedy is a treacherous piece of work and Charles McGraw is a mutinous dog. Only Wallace Ford is any kind of loyal and he's drunk most of the time. This tub should have sunk within sight of Tahiti.Cyd Charisse has the best reason for leaving, she's wanted by the Honolulu PD for questioning in a murder. She's got Rock's mojo going and she's the main reason he won't stop in Hawaii for repairs. This mutinous crew's case is not without merit.The film was adapted by Ernest K. Gann from his book. Gann wrote a couple of really good air story novels The High And The Mighty and Island In The Sky that served John Wayne well. There are some superficial resemblances between Twilight For The Gods and The High And The Mighty, but whereas Wayne was a real hero bringing in that damaged plane, Hudson comes off like a petulant fool as the captain.Best scene in the film is Cyd Charisse who repels Arthur Kennedy's blackmail attempts with some real put down zingers. Twilight For The Gods did nothing for Rock Hudson's career. Fortunately for him the following year would see him team with Doris Day for the first time. Hudson would have some good dramatic parts in his future as well. But Twilight For The Gods was probably a film he'd like to forget.

Had I ever wondered why this vintage Rock Hudson adventure film was not included in Universal's 3-Disc/5-film Franchise Collection dedicated to its star, the answer is now clear to me: it just is not very good. Despite a respectable pedigree – Ernest K. (ISLAND IN THE SKY, THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY) Gann adapted his own novel for the screen – and its seafaring STAGECOACH-like plot, the film never amounts to much – not even during a climax in which the decrepit vessel (commandeered by Captain Hudson who is burdened with a Lord Jim-complex) is almost lost during a storm. The characters of the crew and passengers are, likewise, all from stock: a mysterious, statuesque redhead (Cyd Charisse) with a past that falls for – and cures – our lock-jawed hero; a sleazy second-in-command (Arthur Kennedy) who, at first, undermines but eventually grows to respect his superior; initially mutinous sailors (headed by Charles McGraw) who, again, are on Hudson's side by the end of the film; a trouble-making charlatan (Leif Erickson) is redeemed by long-suppressed love for his aging prima donna; a womanizing drunkard (Richard Haydn) sparring verbally with an old priest; an aged couple (including Vladimir Sokoloff), etc. For what it is worth, Hudson also has a hairy mutt for a pet (which goes on to perish from a shark attack) and the dramas haunting the two protagonists are depicted for us via short flashback sequences.

I generally concur with the assessments of this movie. I had read "Twilight for the Gods" (It is a great title.) many years ago and enjoyed it immensely. As he had in "The High and the Mighty" and "Island in the Sky," its author, Ernst K. Gann, once again threw together a group of disparate individuals into a life-threatening situation (this time on a leaky old barquentine called the "Cannibal") to see how they would handle themselves. It made for compelling and often suspenseful reading.Alas, even with a surprisingly faithful screen adaptation (Gann himself wrote the screenplay), the final product is generally flat and offers very little in the way of excitement. This may owe to the fact that much of the suspense in the book arises from conflicts and motivations that are internalized. While this works well on the printed page, it is difficult to convey on the screen. Close-ups of contorted faces cannot say enough, while the alternative technique, a steady stream of voice-overs can only confuse, if not annoy, the viewer. What we are left with, then, is a group of people, most of whom have been drawn too sketchily to evoke any sympathy, surviving a crisis through no apparent effort of their own. I tend to agree with the writer who has suggested that Arthur Kennedy would have been a better choice to play Captain Bell. He just seems older and more worldly-wise (and closer in age and appearance to the main character in the book) than Rock Hudson who, though not a bad actor, was just too pretty for a man who had been described as fortyish, balding, scarred down the left cheek, and one who is supposed to have spent most of his life at sea.That said, I can't help but like this movie. The color is gorgeous, particularly noticeable in the island scenes which make you want to retire and move out to an equally beautiful south sea paradise. The long shots, showing the barquentine's majestic profile, silhouetted against a blazing sunset and skimming along the waves as graceful as a swan, beckon you to sign up as first mate. Even the studio shots of the "Cannibal" during the storm are effective enough, showing the ship's rolling and yawing without having the characters standing fully erect on a perfectly horizontal deck during the close-ups, as is sometimes the case in movies of this sort.Best of all, there are the two stars. Rock Hudson, although not the best choice for his the role of the captain, does offer up another generous helping of his on-screen charisma. Then there is Cyd Charisse, one of the loveliest ladies ever to grace the silver screen, as the mysterious Mrs. King. Outside of her "Broadway Melody" number with Gene Kelly in "Singin' in the Rain" and the "Girl Hunt" ballet with Fred Astaire in "The Band Wagon," she has never been sexier. Her movements are like those of a panther, slow, calculated, and deliberate, while her voice is a veritable purr. What red-blooded male could possibly resist a few days on an old rustbucket like the "Cannibal" when you have such beautiful eye candy for company (and in your corner, to boot)?"Twilight for the Gods" is not for all tastes and will let down many viewers. But it's not a bad movie, even if it isn't a very good one either. If your expectations are not too high and you just want to veg out and relax, you could do a lot worse than invest the 120 minutes required to watch it.

I guess Universal was trying to give their own Rock Hudson (a recent Oscar nominee for GIANT) a bit of a stretch. I've read the Ernest K. Gann book, and the potential was here for a good film. But in fact Arthur Kennedy would have done better as the irascible captain, while Hudson would have been better cast as the first mate. This disastrous swap squanders the promise of a well-written (Gann himself) film with a decent veteran director (Pevney).