Customer Reviews

The Devil's Widow (Tam Lin) [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This film got shot down when it opened, so much so, the late Roddy McDowell never directed another film.

It is dated, and some of the work it too artsy, but I really think this film deserver a closer look because it works on several levels. Based on the poems by Robbie Burn (Tamlin) and Sir Walter Scott (Ballad of Tam Lin) it was called Ballad of Tamlin, Tamlin and the ridiculous Devil's Window, and has roots in ancient Scottish Folklore. I think the dated hip 60's look even now works for the film, for it gives a slice of time, just as the poems reflect their periods.

Ian McShane is gorgeous as the young man caught in the web of the Faery Queen (the timeless Eva Gardner) who maintains her youth like a black widow, by surrounding herself with the young and refusing to admit her ageing, until she sacrifices the willing, king sacrifice. This goes back to the king sacrifice ritual and pre-christian times, for the sake of renewal. In distant history, a renewal was of crops meant to sustain the people, in this instance, a renewal is her eternal beauty. Things are moving along until the virgin (Stephanie Beacham)comes along and entrances Tamlin with her simply purity. When the Faery Queen sees she is losing power over her young lover, she decides it is time to sacrifice him and only the pure, true love of Beacham can save him.

This movie is pure pagan lore, the crone face of the goddess equated with winter's fight against the virgin face of the goddess ie spring, and the male caught between them. McDowell did a wonderful job putting this ancient lore in the very definitive period of the swinging 60s, pulling excellent performances out of Gardner, McShane and Beacham that are textured in emotions and nuances.

So I think it is time to take a fresh look at a film that was misunderstood from the start.

Won't be to everyone's tastes, but for the fans of McShane, McDowell or Gardner, for those interested in lore (for those that even like Austin Powers movies...lol) take a walk in the 60's wildside....or for those just wishing to see a Carnaby Street Time Capsule!!!

This was a 1971 movie that was directed by Roddy McDowell. It was filmed in 1968 (or '69), but shelved until late '71 (although new sources stated the film was released in the UK in December 1970, and in the U.S. in September 1972). After a limited airing in the theaters, it pretty much disappeared, until 1998, when Republic Pictures finally made it available on VHS. And this is an excellent example of why you should hold on to your VCRs when you upgrade to DVD: there are still titles out there not available on DVD and this is one of them.

I was aware of Tam Lin, not as a movie, but a traditional folk song from the British Isles, especially from a version Fairport Convention did on their highly acclaimed Liege & Lief (1969) album. Much more recently I discovered there was a movie directed by Roddy McDowell, starring American-born actress Ava Gardner, plus Stephanie Beacham (who appeared on Hammer Flicks like Dracula A.D. 1972, plus in the 1990s, Seaquest DSV) which was based on this traditional folk song. Also on this film was Joanna Lumley, who appeared on Hammer flicks too like Stephanie Beacham, and more recently, the Absolutely Fabulous TV series. Well, for a 1971 movie, it does seem a bit dated even by 1971 standards, with that groovy, "swingin' '60s" feel throughout, but that's only because it was filmed about three years earlier. At first I found this movie a bit drawn-out and lacking plot, but it really grew on me, especially those rustic scenes set in the Scottish countryside. Like the song, the movie was based on a lover's triangle, which included a young man named Tam Lin (played by Ian McShane, with a more modern Anglo name of Tom Lynn in this movie), the Fairy Queen Mickey Cazaret, and the vicar's daughter, Janet Ainsley, played by Beacham, and the consequences of betrayal. This isn't one of those high-paced big budget Hollywood type films, but one of those type of films you expect American International Pictures to release (in fact AIP did release it here in the States, but unfortunately this VHS, or the commentary from McDowell that begins the tape, makes no mention of this), I believe the reason this release don't bear the AIP logo is it's not released on MGM/UA (who has the rights to the AIP catalog).

There's also the music worth mentioning. There's a rather groovy song that you hear near the beginning of the movie. I saw one source state it was The Pentangle, but that's highly doubtful (I suspect Salena Jones, not certain, I believe she was a Northern soul singer, so maybe not), as that band tended to be quite acoustic, and this was a heavily electric number with horns (and besides Danny Thompson wouldn't play anything other than the stand-up bass he named "Victoria" which he bought when he was young, and this song has plenty of electric bass, and only John Renbourn would touch an electric guitar, in the Pentangle's early '70s stuff like Cruel Sister, in a rather low-key fashion). The film does credit both The Pentangle and Salena Jones for providing music. But what can't be denied is The Pentangle did do a version of "Tam Lin" just for this film. It sounds completely different from the version Fairport Convention did, it was a slower ballad, heavily acoustic, and with sitar (which the band used on their highly acclaimed 1969 album Basket of Light). In fact this piece could've fit easily on Basket of Light, with plenty of the great trademarks you come to expect from The Pentangle, not to mention Jacqui McShee's wonderful voice. Unfortunately their version of "Tam Lin" can only be found on this movie, it never appeared on any of their original albums. But there is a CD set called Time Has Come 1967-1973 that does feature this song. Since I don't own that set, I believe it's a collection of alternate takes, never-before-released material, BBC sessions, and film scores that never became available as a soundtrack album (as in the case of Tam Lin). Another thing not denied is Salena Jones did do "Sun In My Eyes" which tended to be a rather lounge-y number, but no surprise as you hear her (and see her) sing that song as Tom Lynn and Mickey Cazaret (Ava Gardener) talk in a lounge.

Anyway, because Tam Lin (the movie) failed miserably, Roddy McDowell decided never to direct again and stick to what he knew best: acting. But remember that this is a movie you won't get the first few times you see it. It tends to be artsy, with some psychedelic overtones at time. It might drag on at times, but it is a rather nice movie.

This is a fascinating modern adaptation of the Tam Lin folk tale, about a courageous young maiden's bid to rescue young Tam Lin, an Elven consort to the Faerie Queen, who had originally been an Earthly knight.

The actual Tam Lin ballad appears throughout the movie, sung by the superb Jacqui McShee of the band Pentangle, who also created the title music, Name Of The Game.

Apart from the excellent main cast, there are also very early appearances by actresses who went on to fame in their own right, such as Joanna Lumley - The New Avengers, Absolutely Fabulous etc.

If you are familiar with the tale of Tam Lin, you will see all manner of parallels in the movie, which, like The Wicker Man, never received the initial promotion it deserved.

A classic late sixties Art movie.

I really wish a DVD existed of this movie! In 1972, I was channel-surfing in the middle of the night and came upon an airing of Tam Lin, halfway through the movie. I was 19 then, and the movie seemed mystical and surreal to me; for quite a while I could not figure out what was going on except it involved Janet and Ian and Ava and ominous overtones, and I was blown away. As the movie neared the end I recognized the Tam Lin theme, but the movie was shown under the Devil's Widow title and "modernized", although the music seemed to have appropriate medieval overtones...but I never made a firm link to Tam Lin until years later ...and I never saw the movie again. But I'd like to, because it seemed to me that it suceeded in conveying the atmosphere of Faerie and the glamor (in its old sense) that confuses and enthralls mortals who happen to collide with "the Good Folk".

<strong>The Ballad of Tam Lin</strong> (Roddy McDowall, 1970)

The great Roddy McDowall acted in, literally, hundreds of movies and TV episodes over the course of a sixty-year-plus career in front of the camera, doing everything from a turn in Welles' version of <em>Macbeth</em> to low-budget, if fun, schlock like <em>Class of 1984</em>, though he's now all but forgotten in anything save the Planet of the Apes movies. Like so many other actors it's become a cliché, though, McDowall wanted to direct. Like so many other actors, he actually did get a chance once. The operative word there is "once". Charles Laughton directing only once is a travesty, the proportions of which we'll never fully grasp. Roddy McDowall directing once... not so much. Still, it's not a bad little film, for what it is, and it's very much a product of its time.

Plot: the film is (obviously given its title) based on the old folk song "Tam Lin", and if you know the song, you know the plot, though it's been updated for a late-sixties British vibe that will remind you of half the other horror films that came out around that time. Ava Gardner (nominated for an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and three BAFTAs over the course of her career, never winning), of all people, plays Michaela Cazaret, an older woman (or, possibly, a witch, a vampire, a faerie, take your pick) who is constantly surrounded by a number of young jet-set types whose very presence keeps her energized. Enter Tam Lin--erm, Tom Lynn (Ian McShane, lately of <em>The Pillars of the Earth</em>), the unwitting monkeywrench in the works. He, like all the rest of Michaela's playtoys, is completely in thrall to her. Until, that is, the appearance of Janet Ainsley (Stephanie Beacham, who would go on to a successful US TV career, including such megahits as <em>Dynasty</em> and <em>Beverly Hills 90210</em>), the local vicar's daughter, who's dropping off a dog from the pound for one of the house's inhabitants. Tom and Janet fall in love, much to Michaela's consternation, and the two of them find out in no uncertain terms how far Michaela will go to keep hold of what she considers her possessions.

Let me say that if you're a lover of the late-sixties-early-seventies-updated-Hammer vibe, you can ignore the rest of this review; go see this movie right now, because it is of a piece with that lot, and is totally up your alley. As for me, I've always had a bit of a problem with the genre, and I do here as well. (It's not just in horror films; the same traits drive me bats about, for example, Antonioni's <em>Blow-Up</em>.) When I say, as I did above, that it is a product of its time, I mean more than "you can look at this and instantly tell it was made in the time period"; I mean, it goes out of its way to be timely. Long stretches of the film seem to exist for no reason other than to appeal to the bored, disaffected party set that, I assume, the studio figured were its target audience, and were you to cut those scenes out altogether, the film would not suffer in the least for their exclusion. (In this it reminded me of nothing so much as <em>The Haunted House of Horror</em>, a Frankie Avalon vehicle that had come out the year previous, though I'm sure if you know the genre you can come up with a half-dozen comparisons on your own.) That sort of thing drives me bonkers, either in this guise (as pandering to the audience--think of it as product placement, on a socioeconomic dartboard) or as simply sticking in five minutes of filler here and there to pad your movie. There's far too much of it here, which digs into the space we have for what could have been an interesting story. I know this because what story we get is quite interesting, and what characterization we get is done well. But there's not nearly enough of it to make this more than watchable. ** ½

One should be a fan of British cinema, retro pop culture, fantasy/folklore, and personal auteurship for maximum enjoyment of this likeable but format-challenged film from the late 1960's/early 70's. I sure am, and as such quite savored this cinematic retelling of the Tam Lin ballad.

It's sufficiently enjoyable that I immediately tranferred it to dvd for future viewings. One suspects it had been slated for same, what with its 17 minute director's introduction, but remained lost in the ether of Republic Pictures' post-demise assorted distribution deals. One further suspects that its release under of aegis of an Ava Gardner tribute series was the ticket for its seeing light of day at all post theatrical debut. It's been written that Roddy McDowell lost control of this, his only directed film, with it subsequently languishing in drive-ins of the 1970's under such noms-du-exploitation as "The Devil's Widow!"

As McDowell's sole direction job, this is a movie one ever so wants to be as good as Charles Laughton's similar solo effort "Night of the Hunter," which it isn't and cannot be, as few films can match "Hunter's" expert, mannerist weirdness. McDowell's is a B+ to Laughton's A+. What is it does share is the quirkiness of a singular vision, seeming unlike anything else of its respective era while still conforming to mainstream requisits, and the retelling of a dreamy but occasionally frightening fairy tale in modern clothes, with assorted decidedly odd touches. A true loss to cinema that both actors never directed another film.

Simply put, it's the ballad of Tam Lin (its original title in fact) retold with late '60's characters, and peopled with a cast of still working, familiar British names like Ian McShane (representing the titular captured knight Tam Lin,) Joanna Lumley and Stephanie Beacham (the Hammer horror ingenue, here as the ballad's Janet) with both Cyril and Sinead Cusack in tow. Gardner as the controlling "Faerie Queen" seems an apt focus of the swirling debaucheries and cruelties rationalized as group activity fun. This, strangely, isn't so much part of the fantasy as modern viewers might conclude: some of us who were adolescents in the '60's remember the genuine, wealthy older types lending their mansions to us young'uns in order to share in the decadent fun, whether vicariously or actively.

In "Tam Lin" you'll find a little seen but quite good updated fairy story, plus amusing music from jazz to the Pentangle, great costuming, retro period fun, gorgeous Scottish border scenery and an always great to watch cast. Time for whoever owns Republic this week to fund that dvd release.