The Spiral Road

source: The Spiral Road

I have searched for a copy of "The Spiral Road" for a few years now. It is an excellent movie and never plays on television. I was doing some research today and finally came across this comment detailing the fact that it is not available on DVD. Though I have not seen this movie in years, I remember that it is one of the best I have seen. Hopefully someone can update me when and if this becomes available on DVD or VHS for that matter. The mixture of Rock Hudson and Burl Ives was a good choice. One would not think it would work, but there was chemistry between the actors. Would love to see the movie again. Hopefully someone can let me know if this becomes available on DVD.

Rock Hudson seemed to want to alternate his trademark comedy and action vehicles with more meaningful pieces; this was one of them, but it's possibly the most wrong-headed he ever embarked upon! Sprawling but heavy-going and overlong, it tells of an atheist doctor's experiences in Java; from the start, the script makes it known that his motivation wasn't really compassion for human suffering, but rather to make a name for himself by chronicling the 20-year long research on leprosy by eminent but tough-as-nails medical authority Burl Ives! As expected, the narrative takes an episodic nature – a visit to a leper colony, the unexpected arrival of the hero's fiancée (Gena Rowlands), a fellow doctor driven to madness and Hudson's own brush with the dangerous witch doctor (Reggie Nalder!) responsible, Ives' long-running friendly rivalry with a billiard-playing royal native – complemented by Russell Harlan's gleaming widescreen photography and Jerry Goldsmith's rather over-the-top exotic score and obviously culminating in Hudson's 'salvation'. While there's a lot of melodrama going on (threatening the couple's relationship and the hero's own professional integrity), the film also features some incongruous injections of comedy (particularly Ives' deliberate slapsticky disruption of a gala dinner) – but, frankly, it's at its most unintentionally hilarious when Hudson counters missionary (a completely white-haired Geoffrey Keen!)'s earnest counsel with cynical witticisms and his own unconvincing shaggy appearance when deranged (apparently, this scene even found its way into the opening of the legendary "Monty Python's Flying Circus" [1969-74] TV comedy series!).

Those who believe that Rock Hudson was a much better actor than he was given credit for being will be glad he had the opportunity to make this movie. The essence of de Hartog's novel is beautifully re-created; Burl Ives nearly steals the film, and the supporting cast is superb. It will be a long time before one can forget the Sultan, and the witch doctor could appear in one's nightmares. Yes, toward the end of the film, there are a couple of minor problems with chronology (how long does it take a man to grow a full-length beard?), but it is not difficult to disregard this and be carried along with the action. Each viewing gives new insights and new appreciation of Hudson's talents. Despite his reported real-life sexual preferences, his on screen masculinity is never in question -- he could've picked up where John Wayne left off.

We stumbled into this DVD late at night to see another "Rock Hudson" movie. Surprised to see so many big stars, above all Burl Ives, we hung on. The first signs of trouble were the disjointed wooden statements delivered by the characters, the colonial officials, the grumpy yet wise comments of the old jungle doctor Jansen, the searching questions of the bright young good looking doctor Drager. Psychological character development was limited to ping pong ball like arguments hit back and forth between protagonists. The movie narrative itself jumped over location and time like the characters were beamed into far out places by chief engineer Scotty on starship Enterprise. Sometimes the uniforms and outfits were sweat soaked, sometimes even after strenuous jungle hikes one could see not a drop of sweat and perfect ironed creases. What became more and more bothersome was the innocently displayed colonial mindset of the script, all smothered in sweet Christian concepts of "loving the savages" even against their will. All the natives, including the dwarf like sidekick Stegomyia, are portrayed like stoic or foolish subhumans. Of course the evil voodoo witch Burudi was played by a European actor in black face, or as in this case "brown face". Even the local beauty who simply walks into the Dr. Drager's tent, he who suddenly has become the newly-wed selfish God doubter, even she is nothing but a tool in the movie, to make a statement, without having any human qualities. She might as well have been gift wrapped with a card around her neck "here, take me, I am your jungle play thing". Dr. Drager 'notices' her, files her away mentally under "available female" and then takes her a week later or so, and tells his wife about it just as nonchalantly. When he's finally alone out in the old railroad car in the jungle, he suddenly has lost all his brain powers and acts in the midst of a hostile jungle and the mysterious appearances of the witch man and his followers as if he's in the safety of his living room back home in Holland. Lured into the jungle and then abandoned by the native voodoo leader, he grows a long full beard either in days while stumbling around in circles, or, if it took him "real time" to grow that beard he must have been out there in the jungle for at least 6 months. We don't know how he feeds himself, how and when he sleeps, because the natives are all around. At some point a sly native steals his rifle when Drager falls into exhausted sleep( 6 months old beard, how come the natives didn't steal the rifle sooner, or did he not sleep for 6 months?). And miraculously, the western self made man, who is brought to the verge of insanity, re-discovers God right about when the white colonial search party (no sweat stains on shirts)finds him, so he can collapse on his knees and exclaim as a testimony in everybody's presence "thank you, oh God". Equally miraculously his wife Els shows up in the rotting moldy rail road car (that is a 10 day journey away from the nearest settlement) to help him through his feverish nightmares on the way to recovery. The movie script is, if nothing else, manipulative, planting false clues (in the early "conversations" on world views) only to jerk you around to the real message of the movie. In a less gentle appraisal, the movie comes across as sleazy, arrogant, stilted, pompous and totally unbelievable. Yes it was fun to hear Burl Ives' burly character statements, but even they wear thin after a while. A thoroughly disappointing movie that leaves one with a bad taste in the mouth.

One of Rock Hudson's best dramatic performances is to be found in The Spiral Road. Coming in the midst of all those screen comedies he made with Doris Day and others it's often overlooked. But don't you overlook it. The Spiral Road casts Rock Hudson back in the day when Indonesia was a colonial possession of the Dutch and called the Dutch East Indies. Rock is a newly minted doctor his education paid for by the Netherlands and he owes them five years of colonial service. But he intends to make it pay for him. His intention upon arriving in Batavia which is what Jakarta was called way back when is to wangle service with Burl Ives who is a doctor who has a great reputation of treating leprosy. But he also hasn't published in 20 years and his knowledge with a little editing from Rock would land him a top research job. Ives is a crusty old soul, but a real humanitarian, a kind of Albert Schweitzer wrapped in burlap. They take to each other even after Ives finds out what Hudson's doing and even after Hudson's sweetheart Gena Rowlands comes in from the Netherlands to be with him. They even marry though she stays in Batavia weeks at a time. Hudson's going through a spiritual crisis and is convinced of the fact that he needs nothing in the way of any kind of faith to help him in life. His father was a bible thumping hypocrite, a modern day Pharisee as he describes him. It's turned him into quite the atheist. He's going to need something to refuel his psyche when he's caught out in the jungle matching wits with a witch doctor on his own turf. Those last 20 minutes or so when Rock the matinée idol turns into something like Cro-Magnon man are something to see. The Spiral Road is not a pretty picture of colonialism, in this case the Dutch variety. The scenes of the drunken revelry among the rich planters with Ives even joining in the fun are revealing. One of the best performances in the film is that of Phillip Abbott as another doctor who has totally assumed an air of white supremacy to mask a whole lot of insecurities. The opposite of him is Geoffrey Keen who is a member of the Salvation Army and who runs the leper colony. One of the most moving scenes in the film is Keen, Ives, and Hudson at the bedside of Keen's wife who has become a leper. She's never shown because of the curtains around her bed, but it's clear she's in the final stages. Keen is concerned for her, but not much more so than he is for all the people in his charge. Another key scene is when Hudson and Ives discuss his recommendations based on Ives's case study notes. It sounds like a plea for privatization which you hear often these days from folks on the right. Get rid of the ones who are able to fend for themselves and a non-religious run colony is the best way to do it. The problem says Ives is that due to the misconceptions about leprosy these people have no place else to go. Some viewers might also object to The Spiral Road's overtly Christian message. One of the other characters is a native Moslem doctor who also falls prey to that witch doctor and Hudson's character remarks that his prayer rug wasn't enough to keep him from any harm. Of course atheist, Christian, and Moslem are all not playing in their own ballpark. Despite the great acting and the wonderful location color cinematography which will remind you a lot of The Mission. It should because The Spiral Road was also shot in Surinam when it was still Dutch Guiana. The Spiral Road's message is not all that clear. It wants to be Christian, but can't quite come to grips with the concept. I think that Hamlet said it best when he remarked to Horatio that "there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of in your philosophy." That's the message the film gives out.

When allowed to ACT, Rock Hudson was capable of great things. The Spiral Road is one of those times when he gives a tour-De-force performance. He was always under-rated and yet always managed to deliver - and then some! My memory of this movie is vivid. I saw it in its original theatrical release, but never saw it on TV. And yet, the film remains in my memory ... I believe the DVD is missing a pertinent scene - between Anton and Els. It marks an important turning point in the audience's understanding of Anton. Those who saw the original will know which scene I am referring to. Thank you, Universal for finally putting out a Rock Hudson - Screen Legends package. You included The Spiral Road and I am grateful, as every one of his fans is.

I saw The Spiral Road as a teen-aged boy in 1963. It was the most impactful movie of that period in my life, creating an emotional impression in me that lingers to this day. Indeed, I cannot hear Beethoven's Fifth Symphony without vividly recalling the scratchy recording playing in that remote colonial outpost as the two linked protagonists each struggled with their personal demons. The plot of The Spiral Road takes the viewer on a journey not unlike that described in Heart of Darkness; thematic elements contained in the plot become metaphors for larger lessons to be learned regarding colonialism, missionary fervor, the hegemony of Western medicine, and the absolutism of good versus evil as understood by Calvinist colonists. The superb cast easily sustains the epic scope and grandeur of the film while the intelligent and artful script relates a story that is at once compelling and horrifying. Hollywood moguls; please get a clue. The Spiral Road belongs in the DVD libraries of discerning film viewers the world over!

This is a big picture, which deserves more exposure. In the early 60s Universal was more known for fluffball (but high quality) Doris Day product, but here they show their diversity by presenting what was obviously a prestige picture. Bob Mulligan, who scored a hit with 'To Kill a Mockingbird' in the same year, got to try his hand at an epic. The main titles are perfect to set the mood: youthful Jerry Goldsmith's talents as a composer are spectacular and atmospheric. He of course used gamelans in his score, but he uses them with concise effect, and without cliché. The graphics of the titles are very fine: colourful maps guide us in to a strange 'exotic' place. Such a relief from the sterile titles of today. This film really made a big impression on me as a kid when I saw it on TV in the late 60s. 'Pan and scan' TV viewing had a definite mystique to it, as the process of squeezing anamorphic images into The Box automatically made the picture in question important. 'The Spiral Road' was no exception. But it IS important. I can imagine the grandeur of seeing it in a full-blown picture palace. Everything in the film is competently executed. I even remember the props, such as Rock's intriguing spherical fan on his bedside table. The performances are excellent, reliable, and everyone really delivers. Burl Ives practically steals the show (as usual), and gets some good 'honeylamb' lines in. The aged Sultan is memorable. The fabulous Larry Gates, one of the greats, never disappoints. This role was a warm up for his deeper part as the missionary in 'The Sand Pebbles', a more profound companion to this picture. 'Lord Jim' of 1965 explores the same 'dark side of the jungle', only a century earlier. All three are outstanding examinations of the many dimensions of tropical and Asian colonialism, albeit from a Western viewpoint. I agree that it's time this picture, and many more like it, was allowed into wider exposure via video/DVD. Vendors, take note! PS: I just saw the DVD edition, and I was not disappointed. The picture holds up very well, though I would have wished for more Burl Ives in the last sequences. Russell Harlan's camera-work is outstanding, only matched by his work on 'Hawaii' a few years later.

If you never thought Rock Hudson was more than a pretty face, you're not alone. A friend of mine chalked him up to "light entertainment," a description I thought was accurate until I saw The Spiral Road. He puts his heart into this movie, and it shows. Rock stars as an ambitious doctor who specifically requests to be sent to leprosy-ridden Indonesia to study under the legendary Burl Ives. There's more to it than just admiration, and Rock's character is quite complex. His wife, Gena Rowlands, begs him to open up and when he finally does, he delivers an emotional monologue about the difficult relationship he had growing up with his father. He pulls from previously hidden talents several times throughout the film, and he's also called upon for physicality he doesn't normally perform. Within the Indonesian villages, there are strong superstitious beliefs, like what will happen if you find a dead lizard outside your door. Rock winds up being a target, and as he's chased into an endless swamp, he nearly loses his sanity. It's very impressive, and if 1962 weren't such a contentious year full of male talent, he might have received a Rag nomination for his performance. My only criticism of the film is quite small, so if it doesn't bother you, take it with a grain of salt. Filmed in the 1960s but set in the 1930s, the fashions and hairstyles don't reflect the proper time period. Gena wears a flare cut coat and a skirt suit with a hemline above the knees, for example. If you don't care, you'll be far more interested in seeing Rock in his clean, well-fitting white tank top that he shows off several times.