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I finally obtained "Flesh and Fantasy" from someone who taped it off of television. What television, I don't know, since I have never seen it on TCM. And God forbid that Universal should release it on DVD. Given that there are only 11 reviews, it doesn't appear that it's seen too often.

Charles Boyer coproduced this film, and one assumes that Julien Duvivier and he were friends, and he got Duvivier to direct. Good choice as he does an excellent job. Also, Duvivier had directed the successful anthology film, Tales of Manhattan.

The film begins with a discussion (by Robert Benchley and another man) about the truth of dreams, fortunetelling, superstition and the like. Then three stories, ostensibly from a book, are told. The first is a story by Ellis St. Joseph, starring Robert Cummings and Betty Field, about a bitter, mean, ugly woman who dons a mask on Mardi Gras that makes her look beautiful.

The second story, Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, is by Oscar Wilde, about a fortuneteller (Thomas Mitchell) who tells a man (Edward G. Robinson) that he is going to commit a murder. The ending of this story was changed due to the Hays Code.

The third story, by Laszlo Vadnay, flows from the second one as The Great Gaspar (Charles Boyer) witnesses something at the end of the previous story. Gaspar is a high wire artist who dreams that he falls, and in his dream, he sees a screaming (Barbara Stanwyck) who is wearing unusual earrings. He then meets her when the circus troupe is sailing abroad.

Each story explores some question: can fantasy become reality, can a prediction become a self-fulfilling prophecy, are dreams real warnings? Very entertaining, with good performances and direction, with three good stories.

1943's "Flesh and Fantasy" is included in the Brunas-Brunas-Weaver book UNIVERSAL HORRORS, and as such gained a distinction it probably never wanted. Unusual for the studio, it's an anthology film comprised of three tales about personal responsibility and shaping one's fate, with slight supernatural overtones. Like 1945's "Dead of Night" and its Amicus offspring, we have a framing story, the delightful Robert Benchley playing off against David Hoffman (the face announcing the 'Inner Sanctum' series). Story one stars Betty Field as a plain-looking woman whose belief in her own unattractiveness has left her lonely and bitter; a chance encounter with a bearded stranger (Edgar Barrier) offers her a mask to disguise her ugliness from the man she's loved from afar, who now recognizes her beauty during an evening of Mardi Gras. This seems a bit overlong even at a mere 27 minutes, but the second story breezes by quickly, top billing Edward G. Robinson as wealthy attorney Marshall Tyler, whose belief in an eccentric palmist (Thomas Mitchell) nets him the woman of his dreams, but an ominous future in discord. Only when pressed further does the prognosticator confess that Tyler is going to kill someone; he becomes so obsessed with who his victim should be that he neglects his beautiful bride-to-be (Anna Lee) and comes to a bad end. Story three pairs Charles Boyer and Barbara Stanwyck, but its drawn out shipboard romance is a letdown coming after the best segment. What was intended to be the first tale in a four-part anthology was excised and reshaped into a 64 minute feature, 1944's "Destiny," which may have been the most dazzling of all; judge for yourself. Unbilled bits come from Peter Lawford, Marjorie Lord, Jacqueline Dalya, Doris Lloyd, Ian Wolfe, Clarence Muse, and Grace McDonald (who played a different character in "Destiny").

Flesh and Fantasy is a rare forties Hollywood attempt at an art film, and while I cannot say it's wholly successful, it's a good try. Directed by the highly esteemed French director Julian Duvivier and produced by the highly esteemed French actor Charles Boyer, it consists of three stories of the supernatural, told to Robert Benchley, in a framing device, in what appears to be a men's club.

The first tale concerns a homely girl who is turned beautiful by the power of a mask sold to her by a strange little shopkeeper. It's a slight, lovely fable, well-acted by Betty Field and Bob Cummings. In the second story we find Edward G. Robinson in London, where a fortune teller reveals to him a fate he tries vainly to escape. The third segment, despite the presence of Charles Boyer and Barbara Stanwyck, is rather mediocre, and concerns predictions in a circus setting. Of these three tales the middle one, an adaptation of an Oscar Wilde story, is by far the best; it is also visually the most appealing.

Duvivier brings a Gallic gentility to the film, and his compositions are excellent and always fastidious. One gathers that the movie must have been a labor of love for producer Charles Boyer. All the actors are in top form, and the picture does not at all feel like a product of the Universal studio of this period.

Flesh and Fantasy is one of several wartime movies that dealt with the issues of death and fate, which were obviously hanging heavier than unusual on peoples' minds in those days. Off the top of my head I can think of Here Comes Mr. Jordan, I Married a Witch, A Guy Named Joe, Between Two Worlds, The Uninvited and The Picture Of Dorian Gray. Death, rather than dying, was a feature of most such films, which as a rule steered clear of anything grisly, which is to say reminiscent of battlefields. Flesh and Fantasy is quite good at this. With its soft chairs, cobbled streets and a convincing London bridge thrown in for good measure, it makes facing up to one's fate feel as comfortable and delicious a proposition as attending a masquerade ball.

Even when he is far away from his native France,Julien Duvivier is among the best.

He had already tackled the fantasy and horror genre which he broached in the thirties with such works as "le Golem" (1936) and his remake of Sjostrom's "la Charrette fantôme " (1939).But these two works do not compare favorably with his masterpieces such as "Un Carnet de Bal" "Pépé le Moko" (both from 1937)"la Belle Equipe" (1936) or "la Fin du Jour" (1939).

"Un Carnet de Bal" was a movie made up of sketches ,although it featured the same female character all along the way."Flesh and fantasy" connects the links of the chain:it is a fantasy and horror movie made up of sketches .Here ,Duvivier creates a dreamlike atmosphere far better than his two thirties attempts:he conjures up pictures like a true magician -who was admired by both Ingmar Bergman and Orson Welles,even if the self-conscious nouvelle vague used to despise him,Like all his old colleagues.

The three stories are adapted from Oscar Wilde:the first one recalls sometimes "the picture of Dorian Gray" ;the overture is mind-boggling :the drowned man by the river,the disturbing and almost frightening crowd whose masks create some kind of mardi gras nightmare. An ugly girl -with stunning use of lights- finds the beauty of the soul that is in everyone ,even in herself.

The real meat lies in the second segment which features a sensational EG Robinson whose part predates Fritz Lang's "woman in the window" by one year.A fortune teller predicted a man that he would kill someone:it becomes a maleficent obsession,and Duvivier astonishingly cuts loose all the visual tricks at his command (mirrors,shop windows,spectacles ) and literally mesmerizes both Robinson and the audience.Very very langesque!Duvivier,whose pessimism easily equals the great German director's ,seems to believe that crime is a part of the human nature.(I remember actress Danielle Delorme saying :"when I asked Duvivier why my role in "voici le temps des assassins " (1956) was so evil and what could explain her satanic behavior,he simply answered "evil people are evil,period.")

The second segment segues sharply into the third one which takes place in a circus.An acrobat star -Boyer- dreams that he falls from the wire while a woman in the audience (Stanwick) is watching,a woman he's never met before.On a boat he meets her afterwards and they fall in love.Another strange dream puzzles the hero who ,although disturbed and worried,wants to go for broke.

Back in France ,Duvivier took the film made up of sketches to its absolute limits while mixing all his subplots in a seamless whole in "sous le ciel de Paris"(1952) The nouvelle vague tried this kind of "movie in segments" but they never surpassed Julien Duvivier,one of the Masters of the FRench cinema whose work ,both French and American is crying to be discovered.

And director Julien Duvivier. In the framing story, a nervous man (Robert Benchley) at a private club is told or reads through a series of tales meant to ease his discomfort. In the first tale, a homely woman (Betty Field) wears a magical mask during Mardi Gras to attract her long-sought lover (Robert Cummings). In the second tale, a man (Edward G. Robinson) has his fortune told by a palm reader (Thomas Mitchell), but he doesn't like what he hears. And in the third tale, a high-wire circus acrobat (Charles Boyer) has reoccurring dreams about a mysterious woman (Barbara Stanwyck) and his own demise. Also featuring Dame May Whitty, C. Aubrey Smith, Charles Winninger, Anna Lee, Edgar Barrier, David Hoffman, Eddie Acuff, Marjorie Lord, Peter Lawford, Ian Wolfe, Hank Worden, and Clarence Muse.

French director Duvivier worked in the U. S. during much of the war years. He had a hit in '42 with another anthology film, Tales of Manhattan over at Fox, so this follow-up seemed like a sure bet. He co-produced it with Boyer, which is ironic since the weakest segment to my mind was the last one which featured Boyer. The first segment had loads of atmosphere, and one can see how the blank mask worn by Field inspired the later Euro-horror classic Eyes Without a Face. The second segment, featuring Robinson and Mitchell, is the most like an episode of The Twilight Zone, and it also has excellent camerawork. The last segment isn't bad, but it seems to be the least inspired, and suffers a bit from dated effects work during the many high-wire scenes.

An interesting story concerns the original version of the film, which did not have the humorous framing story featuring Robert Benchley. Rather it began with another tale, this one focusing on a fugitive murderer (Alan Curtis) who runs into a farmer (Frank Craven) and his blind daughter (Gloria Jean). This segment ended with the killer dead and floating down a river. Preview audiences loved it, but for some reason it was removed from the film and the new framing device added. However, each story bleeds into the next, so even in the released version, the story with Field and Cummings begins with Mardi Gras celebrants finding the dead body of the killer from the deleted story in the river. Universal later used the removed footage, padding out the running time and changing the ending, ultimately releasing it as Destiny in 1944.

Although not as good as Tales Of Manhattan where some of the anthology episodes leaned toward comedy, Flesh And Fantasy is like three Twilight Zone episodes strung together. Three fair to middle episodes of that show.

By far the best is Edward G. Robinson, a rather self assured gentleman who doesn't believe in any of this supernatural bunk. At a party he gets his palm read by spiritualist Thomas Mitchell who says that his future shows he will commit an act of murder. As the prediction takes over and he gives way to it, his decision than is who to murder that might do him and the world the most good.

The other two are all right and both lean toward romance. Plain girl Betty Field gets a mask of beauty to bolster her self esteem as she meets up with Bob Cummings on Mardi Gras night. A mysterious stranger played by Edgar Barrier in a beard makes it happen for them, but in a most unusual way.

Charles Boyer and Barbara Stanwyck star in the third episode where Boyer is bothered by a persistent dream of falling from the high wire where he does his circus act. He's got an unusual twist in his routine, he plays a man pretending to be drunk on the high wire and his planned stumbling moves make it all the more dangerous. In the dream he meets Barbara Stanwyck who is in the audience. Later on they meet and fall in love. But it ends for them in another unusual way and in fact it might not be the end.

Club members Robert Benchley and David Hoffman read these stories and discuss the supernatural in between stories. Their parts truly could have been dispensed with.

Not the best anthology movie, but all right and the players acquit themselves well, stars and supporters.

The inevitability of Fate and the mysterious movements of Destiny control our FLESH AND FANTASY.

Director Julien Duvivier, in a follow-up to his previous TALES OF MANHATTAN (1942), crafted this new & intriguing sequential film. The emphasis, this time, is on the supernatural and precognition. In spite of the film's homilies about the ultimate power of personal responsibility, the movie is in reality about nothing more than providing some suspenseful entertainment for its audience.

The three sequences are tied together by Robert Benchley, in his famous character of Doakes, who is shown the stories in a book at his men's club in an attempt to help him get over a case of the jitters.

SEQUENCE ONE A bitter, unattractive seamstress (Betty Field) hopes a Mardi Gras mask will help her attract the affections of a young student (Robert Cummings). Edgar Barrier appears as the mysterious mask maker. Movie mavens will spot Marjorie Lord as a desperate client and Peter Lawford as an inquisitive Pierrot, both unbilled.

The most intriguing moments in this sequence happens in the first few seconds, when demons are shown pulling a corpse out of the water, and in the last few, when the viewer sees what is in the mask shop window. Mr. Barrier's voice, honed by years of stage and radio experience, is put to good effect.

SEQUENCE TWO A London lawyer (Edward G. Robinson) is told by a celebrated palmist (Thomas Mitchell) that he will commit a murder. Anna Lee appears as Robinson's fiancée; Dame May Whitty as her gossipy godmother. Wonderful Sir C. Aubrey Smith makes the most of his short role as a saintly cleric. Doris Lloyd plays a grieved widow, and Ian Wolfe a librarian, both uncredited.

Based on a short story by Oscar Wilde, this is the film's most compelling episode. The acting is especially good, with Robinson topnotch and Mitchell turning in a canny performance. The special effects, in which Robinson discourses with his own reflection, are executed very nicely. Notice the mistake in the credits when they refer to Sir C. Aubrey Smith's character as the Dean of Chichester rather than the Dean of Norwalk.

SEQUENCE THREE A circus aerialist (Charles Boyer) has a frightening dream in which he sees a beautiful woman (Barbara Stanwyck)-- and then he meets her. Charles Winninger plays the concerned owner of the circus. Clarence Muse appears unbilled as Boyer's attendant.

The story is slightly silly, but the stars make a fine effort and the high wire scenes, using a double, are indeed suspenseful.

Director Julien Duvivier's 1943 anthology film tells three other worldly type tales. The first story is set at the Mardi Gras in New Orleans and finds the plain and embittered Henrietta (Betty Field) choosing a mask that alters her life considerably. The second involves a psychic palm reader (Thomas Mitchell) who predicts that Marshall Tyler (Edward G. Robinson) will commit murder. The third segment is about a circus performer (Charles Boyer) who literally meets the girl (Barbara Stanwyck) of his troubled dreams.

Though the title is a bit more grandiose than what is actually within the pic, this holds up as a very solid entry in the anthology splinter of classic era films. As is often the case, the stories differ in quality. Pic was originally to be a four pronged affair, but the original opening story was pulled and reworked into the feature film "Destiny", which was released the following year. This goes someway to explaining why the running order of Flesh and Fantasy feels unbalanced, a running order that sadly leaves us with the weakest segment as the closure.

A constant throughout the tales is the look, the twin photographic talents of Stanley Cortez (The Night of the Hunter) and Paul Ivano (The Suspect) firmly capturing the ethereal nature of the fantastical premise of the stories. The Mardi Gras play is delightfully off kilter in vibe, very noirish in visuals and hauntingly tender in characterisation terms. The second palmistry influenced section exudes a shadowy menace, as the great Robinson is put through mirrored torment, the resolution more darker than the other two offerings. Finally the damp squib that is the closure fails to ignite, the high wire sequences the only excitement as an ill fated love story smoothers the tantalising dream based core.

Good craft is mostly on show to make this well worth time invested for those who like such genre fare. 7/10

Anthology film from Universal with three stories of the bizarre, as told through a framing story with David Hoffman and Robert Benchley. The first story is about a plain-looking woman (Betty Field) who wears a mask on Mardi Gras that is supposed to make her appear attractive to the man she loves (Robert Cummings). A beautifully photographed story with a somewhat flimsy premise. Good acting by Field and Cummings. The second story is about a fortune teller (Thomas Mitchell) who tells Marshal Tyler (Edward G. Robinson) that he will murder someone. Tyler becomes obsessed with the prediction which leads to a fairly predictable ending. Robinson is excellent as always. The third story is about a circus high-wire artist (Charles Boyer) who has premonitions about falling that involve a woman (Barbara Stanwyck). This is the weakest of the three stories. A fourth story was originally part of the film but Universal removed it. The following year they had a new screenwriter and director do additional material to add to the story, including a new happier ending. They released this as the movie "Destiny." Overall, not a bad movie but not a great one. Certainly it looks good. Director Julien Duvivier creates an ethereal atmosphere throughout.

Doakes (Robert Benchley) is read 3 stories to help in his decision as to whether or not to believe in fate or dreams.

In the first story, its "Mardi Gras" and everyone is wearing masks and costumes. Henrietta (Betty Field), is depressed as she is ugly and is about to drown herself when a stranger (Edgar Barrier) appears. He leads her to a mask shop and tells her to pick a mask and join the festivities on condition that she return at midnight. She goes out and meets with Michael (Robert Cummings) who she has loved from afar for a considerable time. Wearing her mask, she enjoys a few hours with him before returning to the mask shop at midnight. However, Michael has followed her......

In the second story, a palmist (Thomas Mitchell) is predicting events with astonishing accuracy at a soirée at the house of Lady Pamela (May Witty). Marshall (Edward G Robinson) sees that the palmist is not being honest with him and goes to his house to insist that he tells him the truth about what he can see. He warns Marshall that he will kill someone. The rest of the tale is played out with Marshall struggling with his conscience as he picks victims to kill.....

In the third story, a tightrope-walker (Charles Boyer) has a dream that during his act he falls from the wire while staring at a woman (Barbara Stanwyck) that he has never met. The dream prompts him to cancel the dangerous part of his act. On his way over to America he meets the woman on the boat and they fall in love. He asks her to attend his next show which she does. What happens....?...........

It is well-acted and I liked the first 2 stories in particular. The only dodgy part to the 1st tale is in believing that Henrietta is ugly - she just isn't! In the 2nd tale, Edward G Robinson is very good as he reconciles himself to his fate and delivers some funny lines along the way. There is also good support from the Dean (C Aubrey Smith). The 3rd story develops at a slower pace than the previous two and has an ambiguous ending.....

Its a film that you remember once it has finished.

This is a rather plodding series of three films dealing with dreams and pre-destination. The best is the central one, based on a Noel Coward story, in which Edward G. Robinson, Thomas Mitchell, Dame May Whitty and C. Aubrey Smith are all excellent. The first and last episodes are quite weak - and the linking sequences with Robert Benchley are just awful. But the film looks great, with interesting montages and great lighting. Overall though pretty disappointing.

A trio of mystical stories told in that entertainingly glossy, old Hollywood type of way, boasting showmanship over any sort of logic. The plots involve a woman who learns about inner-beauty, a man's dramatic experience with a fortune teller, and a circus performer who is hounded by an admirer. Superficial nonsense has few surprises, but cast players Barbara Stanwyck, Charles Boyer, Robert Benchley and Edward G. Robinson are always worth a look. Oscar Wilde is credited as one of the screenwriters! A fourth chapter was filmed but then dropped, eventually expanded into its own movie (1944's "Destiny").

** from ****

"Flesh and Fantasy" is an astonishing anthology film centered around the themes of destiny and free will. Given its high quality and status as a 1940s Universal production dealing in the supernatural, it beggars belief that it has gone largely unsung over the years.

The closest comparison I can think of is "Dead of Night", another great anthology that would come a few years later. The tone here is more literary and sophisticated, with each chapter bookended by comic segments featuring Robert Benchley of the Algonquin Round Table.

I was moved and utterly gripped by all three chapters. The cast is among the best assembled for a 1940s film, with Betty Field, Edward G. Robinson and Charles Boyer standing out for their compelling performances. No less than Dame Mae Whitty and C. Aubrey Smith are along to provide strong support.

The Robinson segment employs some striking visual effects that supplement Robinson's superb acting, resulting in an almost hysterical intensity at times. The Boyer circus chapter will particularly appeal to those who loved "Nightmare Alley": it shares the common question of man's ability to change his fate with that great movie.

I absolutely loved this picture and plan to revisit it again and again over the years.

Great fun for fans of those slightly off-kilter, dark 40's films which center around a strange and mysterious theme. In this case it's a man's obsession with dreams that are destined to come true. Features a trio of stories, and the best comes last. (plus an all-star cast!) A sister film to Three Strangers (1946).

A charming "anthology" motion picture, of the kind that was briefly popular in the 1940s. This one contains three stories, each of a supernatural bent. None really brilliant, but diverting.

The second piece was the best. This was based on a story by Oscar Wilde (not Noel Coward, as incorrectly stated in another review). Edward G. Robinson plays a lawyer haunted by a prediction that he will murder someone, and the always-watchable Thomas Mitchell is the palm-reader.

The first, with Robert Cummings and Betty Field in a story set in the Mardi Gras, is appealing in a naive way. The third segment, set in a circus, is the weakest. Charles Boyer an acrobat? No way.

This movie suffers somewhat from some of the most unconvincing studio-bound "locations" I have ever seen. I know, this was the 1940s and all that, made in the middle of the war, but puh-lease!

"Flesh and Fantasy" is an anthology film with three stories about the supernatural and all are directed by Julien Duvivier and they are all enjoyable...especially the first tale.

Story #1 is about a bitter and plain young woman (Betty Field) who lives in New Orleans. She lives a sad life of desperation and would love if her neighbor (Bob Cummings) would notice her. She meets a shop owner who insists she should go to Mardi Gras and wear a mask of a beautiful woman. She does and soon meets this man she's attracted to and they end up spending the evening together. What's next? See the film.

Story #2 is about a psychic who reads palms. At first, Marshall (Edward G. Robinson) thinks the guy is a fake. Later, however, he isn't so sure. Then, when the man tries to read his palm, the psychic refuses to tell him what he saw and after begging, the man agrees to meet Marshall later to explain. Later, he tells Marshall that he saw murder in his hand!! This story is based on the Oscar Wilde story "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime", though the ending is quite different.

Story #3 is about a high wire artist. Paul Gaspar (Charles Boyer) does an odd act where he pretends to be drunk! But after having a dream about falling, he loses his nerve. Later, he sees the woman he saw in the same dream (Barbara Stanwyck) and they hit it off. What's next? See the film.

While none of these stories are brilliant, they are all good and feature nice direction and some terrific actors. A very well polished and enjoyable old film...well worth seeing.

I saw "Flesh and Fantasy" at the Music Box Theater in Chicago as part of its annual Noir City festival. TCM's Eddie Muller was there to introduce it, and he lauded praise on Julien Duvivier's anthology film and got me excited to watch it as only TCM hosts can. It's always a bummer to be at a festival, watching a rare film that the crowd is pumped for, introduced by someone who loves it, only to find that the film is a disappointment. That's how I felt.

I didn't know it was an anthology film going in, so that's one strike against it off the bat. I just don't like this storytelling format. But also, I was seeing it as part of a noir festival, and this movie doesn't feel at all like a film noir. It's got the noir look here and there, but none of the noir themes, character types, or conventions. It's just a mildly creepy series of stories about fate and fortune, and how much man is prey to the whims of the universe vs. His own volition. It's got a dynamite cast -- Edward G. Robinson, Barbara Stanwyck, Charles Boyer, May Whitty, Thomas Mitchell. But because everyone's only in one of the stories, you get very little of any one actor.

The film screened as a double feature with "Destiny," which was supposed to be the fourth story in this anthology but was cut from the film for being too weird. The studio hired a different creative team to take the 30 minute excerpt and fluff it out to a 60 minute feature, and I have to admit that I liked that stitched together Frankenstein's monster of a movie more than the main event.

Grade: C.

The second of the three tales in this movie is, indeed, the strongest, and the most memorable.

Another reviewer wrote that Noel Coward wrote the second of the three mini-movies within this one movie. Not so!!! It was based on an 1891 Oscar Wilde tale called "The Crime of Lord Arthur Saville." Although both gentlemen were British, both writers, both gay, Coward was born at about the time Wilde was sentenced to jail and later died, so the times in which they lived were very different! Plus, obviously, their styles of writing are very different.

Just a little film history about the second tale:

made into a U.S. theatrical movie in 2006 ("First Snow"); made into a Russian TV movie ("Prestuplenie lorda Artura") in 1991; made into a French TV movie in 1968 ("Le Crime de Lord Arthur Saville"); made into a British TV movie in 1960; made into a U.S. TV episode of "Suspicion" in 1958; enfolded into a theatrical movie in the U.S. in 1943 ("Flesh and Fantasy") made into a theatrical movie in France in 1921 or 1922.

Enjoy!

This was a movie that I discovered when searching for horror from 1943 for my Traverse through the Threes. I ended up buying the Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray of it since I couldn't find this streaming. What made it easier was seeing that Edward G. Robinson and Barbara Stanwyck starred in this, as they're actors I've seen other of their works. Plus, knowing about the history of cinema, they were up there as tops in their craft during this era. Other than that, I came into this one blind.

Synopsis: an anthology of three loosely connect occult tales with ironic and romantic twists.

We start at what would be considered a gentlemen's club from back in the day. Davis (David Hoffman) is there reading and Doakes (Robert Benchley) comes in. The latter is uneasy due to seeing a fortune teller the previous night that predicted he'd do something. Davis calls him out on being superstitious to which Doakes says he's not. What threw him off was that night he had a dream that contradicted what the fortune teller said. This has him confused. Davis tells him that this reminds him of a story he read. Doakes doesn't want to hear it but gets pulled in to listening.

This is where we start the first of our three stories. We are in New Orleans on the last night of Mardi Gras. A man is fished out of the water. This brings Henrietta (Betty Field) to Michael (Robert Cummings) in the crowd. Ahead of this, Henrietta had a tiff with a customer. She made her a costume but didn't have the money to pay. She refused to give it to her and this caused the customer to say harsh words. Henrietta doesn't see herself as pretty and it has made her bitter with the world. She's fallen for Michael, even though they've never spoken.

Things change for her when she meets a stranger in a mask shop, played by Edgar Barrier. He allows her a mask to wear. She just must return it by midnight. Henrietta draws the attention from everyone she passes. She ends up at a café where she finds Michael. The two spend the night together and to her dismay, she learns he's given up his studies to be a sailor. She takes the rest of their time together to change his mind. This may cause him to fall in love with her, but her confidence still isn't there and could make it a problem.

We then go back to Doakes and Davis. The former decides to read the next two stories by himself and they flow into each other. The first follows Marshall Tyler (Robinson) as he attends a séance put on by Lady Pamela Hardwick (May Whitty). The psychic is Septimus Podgers (Thomas Mitchell). He makes bold statements until he gets to Marshall. There is something troubling that he sees and this drives Marshall mad. He visits Mr. Podgers at his place and learns that his hands tell him he will kill someone. This becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy as he tries to control this, but it isn't as easy as he thinks.

Then our last story is at a circus. Paul Gaspar (Charles Boyer) is the star and his act is that he pretends to be drunk while doing a tightrope act. He is retiring and this is last performance. He dozes off and has a nightmare that his last go ends disastrously. He also sees a beautiful woman in the crowd. Paul backs out of going through with it, being unable to concentrate. It is after this that he meets Joan Stanley (Stanwyck) on the ship to America as he sticks with the circus for a bit longer. It is on the ship that he has another dream of Joan being arrested. He must decide to face these fears or descend into madness to prevent them.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I'll start is by breaking down each of these shorts through the story and acting with a section at the end for filmmaking since we have the same director for all three. I did like that we have a wraparound story. It isn't one that is new. I can think of ones that use this same concept after it. It might even be used in the Turn of the Screw. I cannot confirm that though. I like as well that Davis suckers in Doakes with that first tale and then the next two deal with the parts of what is making him uneasy. I'm not sure that will get resolved though.

Now with that out of the way, let's start with the first story. This feels like it is borrowing from Cinderella. We have this lowly woman with Henrietta. She doesn't believe that she is beautiful and these negative thoughts have soured her. It takes Michael to meet her with a mask on and fall in love with someone that truly cares about what is best for him. Where it ends up is a bit of a fairy tale as it is the Hollywood ending. We don't get much horror here, but I liked it overall. Field is good as our lead and I like how she plays off Cummings. Barrier is also solid as the 'fairy godfather' as well. There is a supernatural angle there.

Our second story is based off the story: Lord Arthur Saville's Crime by Oscar Wilde. This one is dealing with self-fulfilling prophecy. Marshall is told he will commit a crime. In knowing this, he's trying to control it. This causes him to descend into madness. I like that he is suckered in through a talk with a fortune teller. Marshall is a lawyer, so you'd expect him to be more grounded. Robinson does an excellent job here as our lead. I like that he's trying to control his future instead of just living his life. He has stakes to lose as well when Rowena (Anna Lee) finally gives in to wanting to marry him. This also isn't necessarily horror outside of the idea of him going crazy and where it ends up as well.

Then our last story is an interesting follow up to the last one. I like how 2 and 3 are looking at the fortune teller and dreams that have Doakes bothered. What is interesting here is that he doesn't know if he should trust this dream or not. This makes him shaky. This gets reinforced when he meets Joan. She was in it. He falls for her, but she has a dark past so she keeps him at arm's length. When he does something that he thinks changes an outcome, he gets his confidence back. I thought that Boyer was good as Paul and Stanwyck was solid as Joan here. Charles Winninger was also solid King Lamarr who runs the circus. Another one that I wouldn't necessarily call horror, but it's another story of our lead being driven to madness to prevent things from happening. It is just done differently.

All that is left then is filmmaking. I thought that this was well-made. The cinematography is good. What I didn't realize was that the director here was prolific in France. He didn't seem to have the same success in America. There is a featurette that I saw where Christophe Gans, another director, is giving history and background for Julien Duvivier. It gives me a different perspective about our director. I think this is done well in setting the scenarios and establishing them. We don't get much in the way of effects outside of the third story. There is superimposing Paul to make it look like he's on a tightrope. I did appreciate that though. I'd also say that the soundtrack was solid in fitting what was needed. They use voice-over to give a bit more insight. I like it as a conscious in the first story and the other two use it to convey that something is driving our characters mad.

I also wanted to include this section here after watching this with the commentary. It is done by historian/author Barry Forshaw and film critic/author Kim Newman. The amount of information they give is astounding. There are things that I didn't know about the cast and crew, which helps me appreciate this commentary more. There is also interesting insight to things that were changed due to the Hayes Code. They bring up the missing short and how the order would be changed. It explains why the circus story ends this portmanteau and it would make more sense to the body that is fished out in the beginning as well. I'll be honest, I could listen to this duo talk all day. So much knowledge and insight.

In conclusion, I'm not entirely sure that this is a horror film, but I can see elements. Since it is listed on Letterboxd that way, I'm keeping it in. This is a solid anthology film that is grounded while using supernatural elements. We have good acting, especially from our leads of Robinson, Boyer and Field. This is a well-made movie. The cinematography is crisp and that brings to life where things are. The soundtrack and design also help here. Not one I can necessarily recommend to horror fans. I would recommend it to fans of cinema, especially for this era of filmmaking.

My Rating: 7.5 out of 10.