Flesh and Fantasy (1943) DVD + Destiny (1944) DVD-R

Get the original film, Flesh and Fantasy (1943) and Destiny (1944) for 20% off their individual prices!

Flesh and Fantasy (1943)

 Starring Edward G. Robinson, Charles Boyer, Barbara Stanwyck, Betty Field, Robert Cummings
Directed by Julien Duvivier

Print: black/white
Runtime: 94 min.
Genre: Drama

Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Cummings, Edward G. Robinson and Charles Boyer star in the haunting tale of the supernatural, Flesh and Fantasy. When a jittery businessman (Robert Benchley) complains of a disturbing dream, a friend relates three stories to help calm his nerves. In the first, a homely dressmaker (Betty Field) wears a mask of beauty to attract a man (Cummings) on Mardi Gras night. Then, a fortuneteller (Thomas Mitchell) predicts an eminent lawyer (Robinson) will commit a murder, in an adaptation of Oscar Wilde's Lord Arthur Savile's Crime. Lastly, a high wire artist (Boyer), haunted by a nightmare in which he suffers a fall, romances a woman (Stanwyck) who resembles the one he had seen in his dream. From acclaimed French director Julien Duvivier, this rarely seen classic, featuring outstanding performances, explores themes of fantasy and reality that remain timeless.



Destiny (1944)

Starring Gloria Jean, Alan Curtis, Frank Craven, Grace McDonald, Vivian Austin
Directed by Reginald Le Borg, Julien Duvivier

Print: black/white
Runtime: 65 min.
Genre: drama
Print Quality: B

When director Julien Duvivier's episodic, all-star drama Flesh and Fantasy (1943) proved a bit too 
long in previews, Universal decided to remove the film's opening segment, which dealt with 
the foredoomed romance between an escaped criminal and a blind girl. Because this 
segment was too good to waste, the studio hired screenwriter Roy Chanslor to come up 
with additional material and Reginald LeBorg to direct a few new scenes, so that the 
episode could be released as a separate feature film. The result was the 65-minute Destiny, 
a curious melange of the sublime and the banal. The Duvivier-directed footage stars Alan 
Curtis as fugitive-from-justice Cliff Banks, who hides from the authorities in the farmhouse 
owned by kindly Clem Broderick (Frank Craven). Clem's daughter Jane (Gloria Jean), blind 
from birth, 'sees' only the good in the outwardly unsavory Cliff, so it isn't surprising that the 
two fall in love. This tender little episode was supposed to have ended tragically, but 
Universal insisted upon a few 'framing' scenes, directed by LeBorg, wherein Cliff is shown 
to be innocent of the crimes for which he has been imprisoned, and which allowed Cliff and 
Jane a happy denouement The stylistic schism between the 'old' and 'new' scenes is 
glaringly obvious; still, what's left of the original Duvivier footage is terrific, with Alan Curtis 
and Gloria Jean offering the finest performances of their screen careers.