TWILIGHT FOR THE GODS

US, 1958, 120 minutes, Colour.
Rock Hudson, Cyd Charisse, Arthur Kennedy, Leif Erickson, Charles McGraw?, Ernest Truex, Richard Haydn, Wallace Ford.
Directed by Joseph Pevney.

Twilight for the Gods is based on a popular novel by Ernest K. Gann, author of The High and the Mighty which was made into a very popular film with John Wayne. While High and the Mighty was in the air, Twilight for the Gods is on an old boat. The boat serves as a microcosm for the world with an array of characters. Rock Hudson is the captain, Cyd Charisse is the attractive woman who, according to the advertisement which said: Loved … hated … feared … envied … but only this woman wanted him enough to break the laws of gods and men!

Rock Hudson had emerged a couple of years earlier as a strong leading man in such films as Magnificent Obsession and Giant. For the next ten years he was to have star status. Cyd Charisse was one of MGM’s best dancers – but, as she grew older, she took more roles in dramas and melodramas like this. The rest of the cast are veteran supporting actors.

Direction is by Joseph Pevney who directed a number of small-budget features at Universal Studios and moved to a number of colourful action thrillers. This kind of thing was done better in such films as Ship of Fools.

1. The title, meaning and tone? Indication of themes? Pretentious or not?

2. How contrived was the plot? In situation, characters? An Ernest Gann soap opera? Audience enjoyment of and response to this kind of film?

3. The atmosphere of the fifties, colour locations? The comparison of this disaster film with those of the seventies?

4. How did the film create interest? Its pace, quality?

5. The device of the ship as a microcosm? People put together, a voyage, hostile or friendly elements,
Interactions, authority, relationships?

6. The character of the captain? The type of hero, Rock Hudson? His memory of failure, his vindicating himself? His diary and his speaking aloud? His capacity to command, to save? His being a victim of the past, a victim of his crew? The exercise of strength despite uncertainty? His falling in love? The vindication of his belief in his abilities? Was he a hero who could be identified with?

7. How attractive was the heroine? Meeting her in her initial anxiety, her role on the ship with the passengers, her love for the captain? The flashback explaining her past? The prospect of prison? her loyalty to the captain? Her reaction to Ramsay? Her facing the risk of the future? The realism of her going to prison?

8. How interesting was the portrayal of the crew? Ramsey and his inability to get a job the captain's understanding of him? his influence on the men and being behind the mutiny? His strengths and weaknesses? His attack on the heroine? His attitude not being vindicated?

9. How typical were the passengers? The old couple, the missionary, the cynic, the drinking actress and her manager? How well did the film detail these characters? Their strengths and weaknesses? Their interactions? As regards reputation, love and relationships (especially the actress, as advised by the heroine?), the speculations about religion and true Christianity?

10. The filming of the crises? The portrayal of the ship as it sailed pumping the water, the storm, the danger of capsizing?

11. The ship and the voyage as symbols of life? The ship hanging on? Saving its passengers? The reality of the captain burning the ship at the end? How appropriate?

12. How romantic the ending with the prospect of the captain waiting for two years? Why do audiences enjoy this kind of film?