I Walked with a Zombie

I Walked with a Zombie
Theatrical release poster byWilliam Rose
Directed by	Jacques Tourneur
Written by	Curt Siodmak Ardel Wray
Based on	I Walked with a Zombie byInez Wallace Jane Eyre byCharlotte Brontë
Produced by	Val Lewton
Starring	James Ellison Frances Dee Tom Conway
Narrated by	Frances Dee
Cinematography	J. Roy Hunt
Edited by	Mark Robson
Music by	Roy Webb
Distributed by	RKO Radio Pictures
Release dates	April 21, 1943(1943-04-21)(New York City) April 30, 1943(1943-04-30)(U.S.)
Running time	69 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

I Walked with a Zombieis a 1943 Americanhorror filmdirected byJacques Tourneurand produced byVal LewtonforRKO Pictures.It starsJames Ellison,Frances Dee,andTom Conway,and follows a Canadian nurse who travels to care for the ailing wife of a sugarplantationowner in theCaribbean,where she witnessesVodourituals and possibly encountersthe walking dead.The screenplay, written byCurt SiodmakandArdel Wray,is based on an article of the same title byInez Wallace,and also partly reinterprets the narrative of the 1847 novelJane EyrebyCharlotte Brontë.

The film premiered in New York City on April 21, 1943, before receiving a wider theatrical release later that month. It has been analyzed for its themes of slavery and racism, and for its depiction of beliefs associated withAfrican diaspora religions,particularlyHaitian Vodou.Though it received mixed reviews upon its release, retrospective assessments of the film have been more positive.

Plot

Darby Jonesas thezombie-like Carrefour

On a snowy day inOttawa,Betsy Connell, a young nurse, is being interviewed to care for the wife of Paul Holland, the owner of asugar plantationon theCaribbeanisland of Saint Sebastian. Although she is not told much about the patient, Betsy looks forward to living in a warmer climate and accepts the job, laughing it off when asked if she believes in witchcraft.

The coachman who takes Betsy to Paul's house, Fort Holland, tells her theAfro-Caribbeanpopulation of Saint Sebastian is descended from slaves brought there by Paul's ancestors. At her first dinner, Betsy meets Paul's younger half-brother and employee, Wesley Rand, who, though good-humored, clearly resents Paul. She encounters Jessica, her patient, wandering the grounds of Fort Holland that night, and is initially frightened by the nonverbal, affectless woman, who, as Dr. Maxwell later informs Betsy, was left without the willpower to speak or act by herself after atropical feverirreparably damaged herspinal cord.

Betsy learns from acalypsomusician's song that Paul kept Jessica from running away with Wesley right before she became sick. The issues surrounding Jessica have driven Wesley to drink, and the simmering tension between him and Paul frequently threatens to boil over. Paul apologizes to Betsy for bringing her to Saint Sebastian and admits he feels responsible for Jessica's condition. Betsy, who has fallen in love with Paul, becomes determined to make him happy by curing Jessica and gets him to agree to a riskyinsulin shock treatment.When that fails, Alma, Paul's maid, convinces Betsy that she should take Jessica to be healed by thehoungan(Vodoupriest) at thehoumfort(Vodou temple).

After a man dressed in black performs a ritual dance using a small sword, Betsy gets in line at thehoumfortto ask thespiritDamballato heal Jessica. Instead, she is pulled inside a hut and is shocked to see Mrs. Rand, Paul and Wesley's mother, who works with Maxwell. Mrs. Rand reveals that, with thehoungan's knowledge, she has been telling the islanders that Vodou spirits speak through her so they will comply with her medical and sanitary recommendations. Meanwhile, Jessica attracts the attention of the man in black, who stabs her in the arm. She does not bleed, causing murmurs of "zombie" among the onlookers, and Mrs. Rand tells Betsy to take Jessica back to Fort Holland. An upset Paul greets them, but he softens when he learns Betsy was trying to help him and lets her know he no longer loves his wife.

The Voudou congregation demands Jessica be delivered to them for further ritualistic tests, so Maxwell and the local authorities want her sent to anasylumon a different island. Paul resists because Wesley wants Jessica to stay, and he tells Betsy to return to Canada before he makes her as unhappy as he made Jessica before her illness. At night, Carrefour, a zombie who guards a crossroads, is sent to retrieve Jessica, approaching Betsy instead after she puts on Jessica's robe, but Mrs. Rand orders him to leave.

Dr. Maxwell visits Fort Holland to report there will be an official investigation to determine Jessica's fate. Faced with scandal, and with her sons at each other's throats, Mrs. Rand says Jessica is not sick or insane, but dead, as she went to thehoumfortthe night Jessica tried to run away with Wesley and,possessed,asked thehounganto make Jessica a zombie. Only Wesley believes the story, and he later asks Betsy toeuthanizeJessica, though Betsy refuses.

Using asmall effigyof Jessica, the man in black and thehounganattempt to draw her to thehoumfort.Paul and Betsy stop her the first time, but Wesley helps her the second, following with an arrow removed from a garden statue depictingSaint Sebastianthat was once thefigureheadof a Holland-familyslave ship.When the man in black stabs the doll with a pin, Wesley stabs Jessica with the arrow and, pursued slowly by Carrefour, carries her body into the sea. Jessica and Wesley are discovered floating in the surf, and their bodies are brought back to Fort Holland. Betsy and Paul console each other.

Cast

• Frances Deeas Betsy Connell
• Tom Conwayas Paul Holland
• James Ellisonas Wesley Rand
• Edith Barrettas Mrs. Rand
• James Bellas Dr. Maxwell
• Christine Gordon as Jessica Holland
• Theresa Harrisas Alma
• Sir Lancelotas Calypso Singer
• Darby Jonesas Carrefour
• Jeni Le Gonas Dancer
• Rita Christianias a friend of Melise (uncredited)
• Jieno Moxzer as the sabreur (uncredited)

Production

Development

RKOexecutives, rather than producerVal Lewton,chose the film's title,which was taken from an article of the same name written byInez WallaceforAmerican Weekly Magazine.Whereas the article detailed Wallace's experience meeting "zombies", by which she meant, not the literal living dead, but rather people she encountered working on aplantationinHaitiwhose vocal cords and cognitive abilities had been impaired by drug use, rendering them obedient servants who understood and followed simple orders,Lewton asked screenwritersCurt SiodmakandArdel Wrayto research the practices ofHaitian Vodouand useCharlotte Brontë'sJane Eyreas a model for the narrative structure,purportedly proclaiming that he wanted to make a "West Indian version ofJane Eyre."Siodmak's initial draft, which was revised significantly by Wray and Lewton, revolved around the wife of a plantation owner who is made into a zombie to prevent her from leaving him and moving toParis.

Casting

Anna Leewas originally slated for the role ultimately played byFrances Dee,but had to bow out due to another commitment.Dee received $6,000 for her performance in the film,andDarby Joneswas paid, based on his weekly contract salary of $450, $75 a day, totaling $225 for his three days of work.

Filming

Principal photography for the film, which Wray described it as being shot on a "shoestring budget",began October 26, 1942,and wrapped less than a month later, on November 19.

Release

Theatrical distribution

A theater inMontrealthat showedIWalked with a Zombiein 1943

I Walked with a Zombiehad its theatrical premiere on April 8, 1943, inCleveland, Ohio,which was the hometown of Inez Wallace, the author of the film's source material.It opened in New York City on April 21, before expandingwideon April 30,and continued to screen in North American theaters until as late as December 19, when it was at the Rialto inCasper, Wyoming.

The film was re-released in the United States by RKO in 1956, opening in Los Angeles in Julyand screening nationwide throughout the fall and into late December.

Home media

The film was released onDVDbyWarner Home Videoin 2005 as part of "The Val Lewton Horror Collection", a 9-film box set, on the same disc asThe Body Snatcher(1945).

Reception

Contemporaneous reviews

Initial reception for the film was mixed. WhileThe New York Timeswas critical, calling it "a dull, disgusting exaggeration of an unhealthy, abnormal concept of life",Wanda Hale of theNew York Daily Newsawarded it two-and-a-half out of three stars and praised it as a "spine-chilling horror film".WhereasThe Boston Globefelt the film "gets nowhere in the telling and finishes its overdone melodramatics with a most unconvincing climax",a reviewer inAlbany, New York,said it "rigs up a great atmosphere for the haunt and holler audience and, compared withCat People,the movie with which it is mentioned most often in publicity, it is a success. "

Retrospective assessments

Onreview aggregatorwebsiteRotten Tomatoes,the film has an approval rating of 85% based on 41 reviews, with an average score of 8.1/10; the site's "critics consensus" reads: "Evocative direction byJacques Tourneurcollides with the low-rent production values of exploitateerVal LewtoninI Walked with a Zombie,a sultry sleeper that's simultaneously smarmy, eloquent and fascinating. "

Author and film criticLeonard Maltingave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars, praising its atmosphere and story and calling it an "Exceptional Val Lewton chiller".Dennis Schwartz awarded the film an "A" grade, praising the atmosphere, the story, and Tourneur's direction.TV Guideawarded the film their highest rating of five out of five stars, calling it "an unqualified horror masterpiece".Alan Jones ofRadio Timesgave the film four out of five stars, writing: "Jacques Tourneur's direction creates palpable fear and tension in a typically low-key nightmare from the Lewton fright factory. The lighting, shadows, exotic setting and music all contribute to the immensely disturbing atmosphere, making this stunning piece of poetic horror a classic of the genre."

In 2007,Stylus MagazinenamedI Walked with a Zombiethe fifth bestzombie filmof all time.

In 2021,Apichatpong Weerasethakulgave the name of Jessica Holland to the main heroine ofMemoria,in tribute toI Walked with a Zombie.

Themes and interpretations

Slavery and racism

"Carre-Four must have confronted audiences that summer as an especially charged figure, even if his exact significance requires after-the-fact interpretation. An iconography of racial violence haunts his scenes even amid the erasure of rope-and-gun specifics. Alone, dead, beautifully and self-consciously staged, facing the audience directly and meant for its inspection alone in a story explicitly about a people's long memories of slavery, he is disquietingly insisted upon."

–Alexander Nemerovon the character of Carrefour

Historian and authorAlexander Nemerovasserted thatI Walked with a Zombieuses stillness as a metaphor for slavery "in ways that center on Carre-Four",who, like Ti-Misery, "the slave ship's figurehead, is a static and insentient figure". He wrote that the character personifies a link between slavery and the concept of zombies, citinganthropologistWade Davis,who said: "Zombis do not speak, cannot fend for themselves, do not even know their names. Their fate is enslavement."Numerov added that Carrefour "suggests the violent subjugationandthe emergent power of blacks "duringWorld War II,calling the character "a simultaneous portrayal of strength and victimization",and characterizedDarby Jones' portrayal as a "monumental [...] dominant screen presence"that, in the context of the war and the AmericanDouble V campaign,"equaled the performances of far more famous black actors in the depiction of a charged conceit: the black man standing alone."

Numerov stated that both Carrefour and Ti-Misery "conjure thelynchingof a black man ",pointing to the film's final shot, which is of Ti-Misery, as particularly establishing the figurehead as an image reminiscent of lynching.Of the narration in the final scene, which is the only narration in the film not spoken by Betsy, he wrote that the line "pity those who are dead, and wish peace and happiness to the living" is "meant to encompass the white characters [...] But the decision to end with the sculpture of Ti Misery and the voice of the black man directs these sentiments back to 'the misery and pain of slavery.'"As the film was released duringWorld War II,Nemerov said "the film's final words and image implied aWillkie-style acknowledgement of injustice at home. "

Writer Lee Mandelo characterized Ti-Misery as a symbolic representation of "brutality and intense suffering".He lamented that the film's initial thematic arc, which he wrote made "a few grasps for a more sensitive commentary", was "flipped around to discuss the 'enslavement' of the beautiful white woman, Jessica, who has been either made a zombie or is an up-and-moving catatonic", saying it was "flinch-inducing, as it takes the suffering of the black population of the island and gives it over to a white woman".

Both Nemerov and Mandelo discussed the references in the film to the residents of Saint Sebastian, due to the island's history of slavery, still crying at the births of children and laughing at funerals. Mandelo called this "a cultural tradition that comes from a life without freedom".

Writer Jim Vorel asserted that "Although the setting of the film is a post-slavery island of Saint Sebastian, the film's constant visual motifs of bondage and servitude never allow the viewer to forget the horrors of their not-so-distant past."Regarding Carrefour, writer Vikram Murthi asserted that "It's not his visage that unsettles, but rather the history beneath his face. It's no wonder that neither the Hollands nor Betsy can hardly bear to stare at him; he reflects the corrosion of their collective soul."

Voodoo

A scene taking place in ahoumfort,orHaitian Vodoutemple

Vorel argued that the film approaches the beliefs associated withAfrican diaspora religions,particularlyHaitian Vodou,in a more thoughtful manner than earlier films likeWhite Zombie(1932).He wrote thatI Walked with a Zombie"not only depict[s] them with surprising accuracy and dignity, but consider[s] how those beliefs could be co-opted by the white man as one more element of control over the lives of the island inhabitants."

Nemerov compared the setting of thehoumfort,with its black attendees and musical performances, to aHarlemnightcluband noted the film's depiction of a performance of the Haitian Vodou song "O Legba", provided to the film byfolkloristLeroy Antoine, as evidence of the research conducted by the filmmakers.Additionally, he wrote that when Alma instructs Betsy on how to reach thehoumfort,"her description of Carre-Four as a 'god' sounds almost like 'guard,' and the two words combine not only to define his voodoo role, guardian of the crossroads, but also to assert the importance of his triviality: like the doorman at an actual club, he is a guard who holds godlike power."

Haitian Vodou researcherLaënnec Hurbonfelt the "director displayed Haitian voodoo as a series of bizarre practices, chief among them the sorcerers' ability to kill people and then reanimate them in a state of living death. The idea flourished."

References

Bibliography

• Bansak, Edmund G. (2003).Fearing the Dark: The Val Lewton Career.Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland.ISBN978-0-7864-1709-4.
• Fujiwara, Chris (2015) [2001].Jacques Tourneur: The Cinema of Nightfall.Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press.ISBN978-0-8018-6561-9.
• Hanson, Patricia K.; Dunkleberger, Amy (1999).AFI: American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States: Feature Films 1941-1950 Indexes.Vol. 2. Los Angeles, California: University of California Press.ISBN0520215214.
• Hurbon, Laënnec(1995).Voodoo: Truth and Fantasy.'New Horizons' series. Translated by Frankel, Lory. London: Thames & Hudson.ISBN978-0-500-30049-7.
• Nemerov, Alexander(2005).Icons of Grief: Val Lewton's Home Front Pictures.University of California Press.ISBN978-0520241008.
• Wallace, Inez (1986). "I Walked with a Zombie". In Haining, Peter (ed.).Zombie! Stories of the Walking Dead.London: W.H. Allen.ISBN978-0-426-20161-8.

External links

• I Walked with a Zombieat theAFI Catalog of Feature Films
• I Walked with a ZombieatAllMovie
• I Walked with a ZombieatIMDb
• I Walked with a ZombieatRotten Tomatoes
• I Walked with a Zombieat theTCM Movie Database