''She'' is a 1965 British fantasy

adventure film The adventure film is a broad genre of film. Some early genre studies found it no different than the Western film or argued that adventure could encompass all Hollywood genres. Commonality was found among historians Brian Taves and Ian Cameron in ...

made by

Hammer Film Productions Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of these involve classi ...

CinemaScope CinemaScope is an anamorphic format, anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its cr ...

, based on the 1887 novel by

H. Rider Haggard Sir Henry Rider Haggard (; 22 June 1856 – 14 May 1925) was an English writer of adventure fiction romances set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a pioneer of the lost world literary genre. He was also involved in land reform t ...

. It was directed by Robert Day and stars Ursula Andress,

Peter Cushing Peter Wilton Cushing (26 May 1913 – 11 August 1994) was an English actor. His acting career spanned over six decades and included appearances in more than 100 films, as well as many television, stage and radio roles. He achieved recognition f ...

Bernard Cribbins Bernard Joseph Cribbins (29 December 1928 – 27 July 2022) was an English actor and singer whose career spanned over eight decades. During the 1960s, Cribbins became known in the UK for his successful novelty records " The Hole in the Ground" ...

, John Richardson, Rosenda Monteros, and

Christopher Lee Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a career spanning more than sixty years, Lee became known as an actor with a deep and commanding voice who often portrayed villains in horr ...

. The film was an international success and led to a 1968 sequel, '' The Vengeance of She'', with Olinka Berova in the title role.

Plot

After receiving honourable discharges from the British Army in

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

in 1918, Professor Holly, young Leo Vincey and their orderly Job embark on an expedition into a previously unexplored region of central-east Africa. They discover the lost city of Kuma after Leo receives a mysterious map revealing the city's whereabouts. This lost realm is ruled by Ayesha, who is also known as "She-Who-Waits" and "She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed." Ayesha is a beautiful, immortal queen, who believes Leo is the reincarnation of her former lover, the priest Kallikrates, whom she had killed two thousand years before when she found him in the intimate embrace of another woman. It was she who met with Leo in Palestine, giving him the map to Kuma, and urging him to travel there. Leo is filled with a dogged determination to do so, as he sees visions of Ayesha beckoning to him with outstretched arms. After Leo has recovered from the journey to Kuma, Ayesha persuades him to bathe in the ceremonial fire that she had bathed in 2,000 years before by which she gained her immortality. One can bathe in the flame only when it has turned blue, which it does rarely for short periods of time when astronomical events coincide. Leo would then himself become immortal. Meanwhile, Ayesha's army is attacked by her enslaved tribesmen, the Amahagger, who live outside Kuma. Ready to rebel against the queen's cruel tyranny they are incited to revolt by their leader, Haumeid, a citizen of Kuma, whose daughter Ustane dared to fall in love with Leo while nursing him back to health after his perilous journey to the city. The queen in jealousy has her cremated alive in the open molten lava pit before her throne. Her ashes are poured out in front of her outraged father, who cries out to the Amahagger for revenge. Although poorly equipped the Amahagger overcome Ayesha's army. Leo himself is about to enter the blue ceremonial fire when Billali, Ayesha's high priest, demands to be allowed to enter it to gain immortality as well since he has served the queen unselfishly for many years. He is refused, so he pushes Leo aside in a scuffle that leaves Leo knocked out, opening his way to enter the blue flames. Ayesha kills him with a javelin to prevent this. To overcome Leo's reluctance Ayesha takes him by the hand and leads him into the blue fire. Upon entering, Leo becomes immortal, but Ayesha's immortality is taken away, and she ages 2,000 years in minutes, dies, and crumbles into dust. Holly and Job have managed to get to Leo through the uprising, and Holly urges him to go once again into the fire to remove his immortality since a second time into the flames would do this as it had done to Ayesha. Unfortunately, the flame turns yellow again barring entry. The film ends with a despondent Leo vowing to wait for the fire to turn blue again that he might end the prospect of spending an eternity alone.

Cast

* Ursula Andress as Ayesha (voiced by Nikki van der Zyl) *

as Holly *

as Job * John Richardson as Leo Vincey * Rosenda Monteros as Ustane *

as Billali *

André Morell Cecil André Mesritz (20 August 1909 – 28 November 1978), known professionally as André Morell, was an English actor. He appeared frequently in theatre, film and on television from the 1930s to the 1970s. His best known screen roles were as ...

as Haumeid (voiced by George Pastell) * Princess Soraya as Soraya As of 2024, Ursula Andress is the last surviving leading cast member.

Production

The re-filming of the

novel – which had been filmed previously in 1908,

1911 Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory are added to the Commonwealth of Australia. * January 3 ** 1911 Kebin earthquake: An earthquake of 7.7 m ...

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Empire, British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that has been stored ...

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...

1925 Events January * January 1 – The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini m ...

and

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

– was the idea of Kenneth Hyman of

Seven Arts Productions Seven Arts Productions was a production company which made films for release by other studios. It was founded in 1957 by Eliot Hyman, Ray Stark, and Norman Katz. Formation The company was formed in 1957. It came out of the company, Associa ...

, who had a long-running relationship with

Anthony Hinds Anthony Frank Hinds (19 September 1922 – 30 September 2013

commissioned a script from John Temple-Smith, and the lead role was assigned to Ursula Andress, known at that time for her role in the
James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
film '' Dr. No''. ''She'' would thus become the first Hammer film to be built around a female star. Hammer pitched the project to Disney, who turned it down. Hinds then arranged for Berkely Mather to write a script, but the project was turned down again by Universal, and then by
Joseph E. Levine Joseph Edward Levine (September 9, 1905 – July 31, 1987) was an American film distributor, financier and producer. At the time of his death, it was said he was involved in one or another capacity with 497 films. Levine was responsible for the ...
and
American International Pictures American International Pictures, LLC (AIP or American International Productions) is an American film production company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution c ...
. Hinds passed it over to
Michael Carreras Michael Henry Carreras (21 December 1927 – 19 April 1994) was a British film producer and director. He was known for his association with Hammer Films, being the son of founder James Carreras, and taking an executive role in the compan ...
who got David T. Chantler to rewrite the script. Carreras succeeded in getting the film financed through
MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
, with triple the usual budget for a Hammer film.Doll, Susan
"She (1965)"
on
TCM.com Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcas ...
The film was announced in May 1964. Although Seven Arts had helped finance several Hammer films, this was the first one they had produced together. John Richardson was cast after being spotted by
Ray Stark Raymond Otto Stark (October 3, 1915 – January 17, 2004) was an American film producer and talent agent. Stark's background as a literary and theatrical agent prepared him to produce some of the most profitable films of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, ...
of Seven Arts. Principal photography commenced in southern
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
's
Negev Desert The Negev ( ; ) or Naqab (), is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southern end is the Gulf of Aqaba and the resort town, resort city ...
on 24 August 1964, with scenes also shot at MGM's Elstree Studios near London when Hammer's Bray Studios proved to be too small for the project. It was the most expensive film Hammer had made up until that time, but on release, it was a hit both in North America and in Europe. Although the studio was pleased with the look of Ursula Andress in the film – as lit by Harry Waxman and costumed by Carl Toms and Roy Ashton – they found her Swiss-German accent to be offputting, and had her entire part re-dubbed by actress Nikki van der Zyl, who had dubbed her in ''Dr. No.''

Critical reception
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' critic
Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though some ...
wrote of the film: "It lacks style, sophistication, humour, sense, and above all, a reason for being, since it isn't even as good (excepting that it is in colour) as the last remake of ''She'' done with Helen Gahagan in 1935". The British listings magazine, the ''
Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...
'', gave the film three out of a possible five stars, observing that Ursula Andress "acquits herself better than you might expect", and concluding that "The African backdrops are easily matched by Swiss-born Andress's own brand of exotic beauty and, while there's plenty to criticise, there's also much to enjoy."

See also
* ''She'' (1984 film) * '' The Vengeance of She''

References

External links
* * *
''She''
at AllMovie {{Authority control 1965 films 1960s fantasy adventure films British fantasy adventure films Films directed by Robert Day Films based on She Films based on fantasy novels Films scored by James Bernard Films set in Africa Films shot in Israel Hammer Film Productions films Films set in 1918 Films set in deserts Films produced by Aida Young Films shot at MGM-British Studios Films shot at Associated British Studios 1960s English-language films 1960s British films English-language fantasy adventure films