DE
SADE (1969)Director: Cy Endfield
MGM
DE
SADE (1969)Shot mostly in West Germany and budgeted higher than most of their productions, American International Picture's DE SADE was one of the studio's biggest flops. According to AIP honcho Sam Arkoff's autobiography, director Cy Endfield feigned illness before any of the sex scenes were shot, so he brought in his old pal Roger Corman to finish the job without credit. Despite popular belief, Gordon Hessler did not direct any of the film, and he told me himself that he left the project before shooting commenced (he was then given the assignment of THE OBLONG BOX in England).
Fresh from 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, Keir Dullea stars as Louis Alphonse Donatien, the "Marquis De Sade," a 17th century bad boy that abuses women for his own sadistic pleasures. Taking a linear approach to storytelling, the film is made up of flashbacks after De Sade escapes from an asylum. Arriving at an abandoned chateau, De Sade recalls events in his life with his uncle (John Huston as the Abbe De Sade), who may or may not be a ghost. As a child, De Sade saw Uncle Abbe sexually defiling and whipping a young servant girl in a barn. When the boy is discovered watching, the uncle forces the servant girl to whip him as punishment. Obviously taking it's toll on his psyche, the occurrence affects his behavior throughout the rest of his life.
De Sade is tricked into marrying ugly duckling Renee de Montreuil (PEEPING TOM's Anna Massey) by her domineering mother (Lilli Palmer from THE HOUSE THAT SCREAMED), thinking he was to be wed to her much more delectable sister Anne (German beauty Senta Berger). Anne represents the true love that he can never have for good, so he spends most of his time wrapped up in sex and sadism scandals, causing his wealthy in-laws to imprison him from time to time. His ultimate ruin comes when he is accused of murdering his wife when in actuality, she died of the black plague.
Rated X upon its release (it would only warrant an "R" now), the flagellation and orgy sequences look tame and rather silly today, and this is presumably what Corman shot. These mostly red-tinted sequences have Dullea rolling around in the sack with a bunch of naked lasses, spanking their fannies, pouring wine over their bodies, licking jam of their nipples, and carrying out a few dozen lashes. During these sequences, Billy Strange's score is modified to 60s psychedelia, making it suddenly resemble one of AIP's typical drug films of the period.
Dullea is too likable and his De Sade emerges as a misunderstood cad more than an all out bastard, and despite the lavish sets and costumes, and great supporting performances by an A+ cast (especially Huston who fancied himself quite the character actor at the time), it's easy to see why DE SADE was such a failure. The film's pretentious attitude and confusing structure take their toll for the worst. Still, fans of AIP's rich history will no doubt want to add this to their collections, especially those fascinated by any of the studio's attempts at costumed gothic endeavors.
Often viewed in various truncated versions, the film was barely ever on TV (although it popped up on USA Network in the 80s and more recently on Showtime), and never released on VHS. MGM has rescued DE SADE from obscurity with this excellent-looking DVD. This version runs a full 104 minutes and is probably the longest cut of the film in existence. The transfer is culled from the original negative, so the picture is utterly flawless, with the garish 60s colors looking more dazzling than ever. The film is 16x9 enhanced, but the 1.85.1 framing looks a bit tight. The Dolby Digital mono audio is rendered nicely, and there's an additional French language mono track. There are English, French and Spanish language subtitles present.
Featured on the disc is Episode 1 of "Richard Matheson Storyteller," an on-camera interview with the legendary screenwriter. It's ironic that "Storyteller" commences with one of his more offbeat works, but it's nice to see him talk about his craft and how he fictionalized the De Sade character for the big screen. This is only the first part of the series, so it will be great to see what other future MGM DVDs will include further installments of the interview. Also included is the absorbing theatrical trailer, and like most trailers, makes the feature look far better than it actually is. (George R. Reis)