The Story of Temple Drake (1933)

Thanks for the memories!

Don't listen to the negative reviews

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Gritty Pre-Coder, adapted from a much grittier William Faulkner novel, about a trampy Southern girl named Temple Drake (Miriam Hopkins) who makes all the wrong choices, one of which leads to her being kidnapped and raped by a violent thug named Trigger (Jack La Rue). Tough stuff but fascinating to watch, as the best Pre-Code films are. Great performances from La Rue and Hopkins, as well as William Gargan as the idealistic lawyer who loves Temple. Nice direction from Stephen Roberts and beautiful cinematography from Karl Struss. Worth a look for any fans of Pre-Code films. Yes, it's watered down from the novel but it still pushes the envelope on what was allowed in movies at the time.

"The Story of Temple Drake" is an infamous Pre-Code film that was withdrawn from circulation for two decades because the content of the movie was considered inappropriate after the new Production Code was put into effect in mid-1934. The tale about rape and murder was simply impossible to show based on the dictates of the new system. However, the film was later rediscovered and is considered by some one of the most daring films of the era.When the film begins, Stephen Benbow (William Gargan) is in love with Temple Drake (Miriam Hopkins) and has asked her to marry him. But while she cares about him, she's also a flirtatious lady and doesn't want to yet settle down. Unfortunately her lifestyle gets her into trouble one night when she and one of her many boyfriends have an accident and they are stranded in the middle of no where. They come upon a house run by a bunch of very stereotypical white trash and eventually one of them, a thug named Trigger (Jack La Rue) rapes her and then hold her hostage as a love slave for some time thereafter. Eventually, Temple is able to break free of this monster...and walks into the middle of a court case being defended by Benbow...and if she talks about her trials, she could help get Benbow's client acquitted. But this also means talking about her ordeal in front of folks....during an era where no one would dare talk about this.Fortunately, while the content is rather racy, the rape was NEVER shown and was handled tastefully. And, surprisingly, the topic of rape was treated rather fairly considering this was an era when women were often blamed for the assault. An important and groundbreaking film that actually stands up pretty well today...and features some powerful acting by Hopkins and Gargan.

Story of Temple Drake, The (1933) *** (out of 4) Notorious pre-code tells the story of Temple Drake (Miriam Hopkins), a Southern Belle who uses her beauty to turn men on only to quickly throw water on them. To Temple turning men on is just a joke but when a date takes her to a dangerous bar, she's quickly held hostage by a bootlegger named Trigger (Jack LaRue) who will stop at nothing to feed his lust. THE STORY OF TEMPLE DRAKE was highly controversial when it was first released and in large part it was one of the main reasons that the Hayes Office would have to finally stand up and keep on eye out for the "products" being released by Hollywood. Seen today the film is certainly less shocking but there's no doubt that the subject matter is still rather touchy and especially the "wannabe" bad girl who finally gets broken down when sexually, physically and mentally abused by an evil man. I think the best thing going for the film is the performance by Hopkins who was clearly born to play this role. Even though the film runs a very short 70-minutes and a lot of the material from the William Faulkner novel has been left out, the character of Temple Drake still goes through quite a bit of developments. Hopkins nails all of them and I really loved the early scenes where she was just playing the men to get them worked up so that she could just dump them and then move onto the next. These scenes with the actress are perfectly done but she also handles the later moments when she's terrified of what's going to happen to her and then of course at the end when she's broken down. I was also impressed with LaRue who gets to shine even if the screenplay doesn't do too much justice to him. William Gargan plays the lawyer who also just happens to be in love with Drake and he too is pretty good. Flrence Eldridge really stands out in her role and those with a quick eye can spot John Carradine in the courtroom. The pre-code elements are somewhat strong with a rape and several sexual moments with Hopkins either stripping down or showing off her legs. The most notorious scene happens when she strips down to her bra and panties only to have one of the thugs rip off a coat that she's wearing and the viewer gets even more of a glimpse of her. At 70-minutes the film moves extremely fast and there's no question that film buffs will want to search this one out.

In the steamy South during Prohibition, sexy blonde Miriam Hopkins (as Temple Drake) likes to party but won't put out. The granddaughter of respected judge Guy Standing (as Sir Guy Standing), Ms. Hopkins declines marrying lawyer William Gargan (as Stephen "Steve" Benbow) because she wants to continue living the wild life. Admittedly, she has a wicked streak. Out with a drunken William Collier Jr. (as Toddy Gowan) one night, Hopkins is stranded with gangsters at an old plantation mansion being used as a speakeasy, after their car crashes. Mother of the house Florence Eldridge (as Ruby Lemarr) realizes one of the men will soon find his way into Hopkins and doesn't want it to be her man Irving Pichel (as Lee Goodwin). She arranges for Hopkins to be taken to the barn for safekeeping, guarded by slow-witted James Eagles (as Tommy)...After her "lingerie scene" for theater viewers, Hopkins is raped by head bootlegger Jack La Rue (as "Trigger"). Mr. La Rue memorably plays almost his entire villainous part with a just-lighted cigarette in his mouth. This film's lighting and photography by Karl Struss is excellent, by the way. The story is based on the novel "Sanctuary" by William Faulkner. Therein, "Temple Drake" is known as an easy lay; but here, her bathroom wall advertisement is altered to "Temple Drake is just a fake. She wants to eat and have her cake." That she enjoyed her sexual encounters with her abductor is downplayed; in the book, those where accomplished with a corncob and other men, since the novel's character was physically unable to perform. Many viewers familiar with the book imagined those events simply took place off screen, and this film welcomed the thoughts.******* The Story of Temple Drake (5/6/33) Stephen Roberts ~ Miriam Hopkins, William Gargan, Jack La Rue, William Collier Jr.