REFLECTIONS IN A GOLDEN EYE: Blu-ray (Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, 1967) Warner Archive

John Huston’s Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967) was, I suspect, a valiant attempt made by one of America’s premiere directors to further bend the rules in screen censorship with its grueling indictment on the foibles and flaws built into all human sexuality. Its palpably disturbing revelations, regarding heterosexual trysts and infidelities, and, homoerotic longing, destructively to lead us all into a labyrinth of frazzled deceit and murder, were - for their time - fairly startling, as more luridly depicted in Carson McCullers’ perverse page-turner, on which the Gladys Hill/Chapman Mortimer screenplay is based. After both Richard Burton and Lee Marvin turned down the lead, Marlon Brando was cast as Major Weldon Penderton, whose affinity for butch enlisted men will not be suppressed, especially as his wife, Leonora (Elizabeth Taylor) considers him ‘prissy’, to be publicly humiliated (horse-whipped, actually), while she carries on an adulterous affair with his superior, Lieutenant Colonel Morris Langdon (Brian Keith); himself, trapped in a loveless marriage to neurotic, Alison (Julie Harris).  Initially, Huston had sought to cast Montgomery Clift as Penderton. In hindsight, that would have been too ‘on the nose’ – Clift, a closeted gay man in real life, emotionally tortured into an early grave in 1966 after a harrowing car wreck in 1957 utterly deprived him of his matinee idol good looks and self-confidence – so described as the ‘longest suicide’ in Hollywood history.

The slowest, arguably, gets depicted in Reflections in a Golden Eye; Weldon’s distilled and disturbing obsession with the strong and silent type, Private Ellgee Williams (Robert Forster), uninhibited as he races, nude on horseback through the adjacent woods, inciting Weldon’s dishonorable intentions. The wrinkle here is Williams - remote, rugged and decidedly very rough around the edges – is queerly obsessed with Leonora, nightly sneaking into her bedroom to caress her lingerie as he vigilantly observes her while she sleeps without any knowledge he is in the room. Daring to be different, Huston shot the entire picture in a sort of rancid sepia-tint to create a jaundice/golden wash over everything. While it was possible to recommend Huston’s creative decision as ‘unusual’, the powers that be at Warner Bros. yanked the picture from distribution and imposed a natural spectrum of colors on all subsequent prints, arguably, depriving the visuals of their singular disturbing aspect. Much of Reflections in a Golden Eye was shot in New York City and Long Island, where Huston was granted permission to work his magic at the former Mitchel Field; then, under ownership of Nassau Community College. Nevertheless, most of the interiors and, in fact, a few exteriors were actually shot in Italy. It is also interesting to note Warner Bros. – Seven Arts unceremoniously dumped Reflections in a Golden Eye on the market with little to zero fanfare; a very odd way to release any movie, much less one on which so much time and money had already been spent, headlined by two of the industry’s heaviest hitters, and, directed by a beloved of Hollywood’s whose cache in screen classics, apart from this movie, remains irrefutable.

Huston’s original intent was to create a unique golden tint, isolating one object in every scene, depicted in its natural color, as in houseboy, Anacleto’s (Zorro David) crudely rendered drawing of a peacock. I am not entirely certain Huston’s gimmick is sound, or even worthy of discussion. Most certainly, it confounded audiences who attended the premiere, in which Huston’s original vision was allowed to proliferate across movie screens. The ‘fading’ effect was achieved in post-production; hence, the studio’s decision to return the image to a palette of more natural hues resulted in a bolder visual presentation than was desired by Huston. In reflecting on Reflections in a Golden Eye, Huston’s concerted effort to severely alter the color scheme neither improves nor detracts from the melodramatic intensity. This, alas, remains rather tragically affected. Brando gives one of his more problematic performances as ‘the great mumbler’ – more invested in his Southern drawl. But this obfuscates a good deal of his dialogue, except when his pusillanimous priss is prone to extreme outbursts of fitful sexual frustration.  

Elizabeth Taylor’s venomous and emasculating harlot is as overwrought in heavy mannerisms; Taylor’s big moment, rising from a hunched position on the carpet in tight slacks, stripping naked before her husband, casually tossing undergarments about the room, before ascending the stairs, threatening to drag and publicly flog Weldon in the streets. It is meant, I suppose to illustrate Leonora’s haughty contempt for their ‘fooling the world’. Leonora knows her hubby is gay and wants him to know she knows it too and is, at best, stringing him along until something better enters the picture, at which time, she alone will decide whether or not to expose his secret to their friends. And yet, Taylor’s delivery herein illustrates a thoroughly grotesque disregard for her own sex appeal, already gone to seed; Taylor, hippy, hefty and minus that bright flicker of ‘come hither’ she possessed in her youth. Aside, I am also not entirely certain the long shot from behind of a nude Taylor is, in fact, her, but a body double, as the rest of Taylor’s big moment - sans clothing - is played in artfully obscured murky shadows. Of this triumvirate, only Brian Keith’s turn as Langdon manages to escape scrutiny; Keith, exorcising a careworn rationale to justify the character’s cheating on his invalided wife. This transpires into a sort of willful arrogance. Oddly enough, we can draw a modicum of empathy from it.

Our story begins at the break of dawn; Private Williams, returning to the stables near the army barracks. Williams is the strong and silent type, seconded by educating officer, Major Penderton to clear some unruly undergrowth from the outskirts of his backyard. As this unusual request has intruded on his duties, maintaining the horses and stables, Williams is not into his latest assignment. Indeed, he badly bungles it by aggressively pruning more than was asked of him. Meanwhile, Penderton’s wife, Leonora has only just returned from another horseback riding excursion with Lt. Col. Langdon. We discover, after the death of her newborn infant, Langdon’s wife, Alison mutilated herself while driven half-mad into deep depression. Unbeknownst to Penderton, Alison, the Penderton’s housekeeper and cook, Suzie (Fay Sparks) or even the Langdon’s houseboy, Anacleto, Langdon and Leonora are carrying on a notorious extra-marital affair. Leonora’s white charger, Firebird, is her most prized possession. At the outset, we find her confronting Williams regarding some marks she has observed on the horse’s legs, sure signs someone has been abusing him. Williams denies any wrong-doing.

Meanwhile, Penderton has returned home from his most recent lecture given to cadets. His mind is decidedly not on his work. That evening, Leonora berates her husband just before the Langdons are to arrive for a game of bridge. Suspecting Penderton of Firebird’s injuries Leonora strips naked before her husband, simultaneously threatening and teasing to have him publicly flogged.  Enraged, Penderton promises to someday make good on his threat to murder her. Later, Penderton, seemingly cooled down, removes himself from the card game, oblivious to Leonora’s flirting with Langdon, although Alison, quietly observing Leonora’s bare foot riding the contours of his calf, is quick to retire for the evening. As the couple only live next door, Langdon chooses to remain behind to finish ‘the game’.  Meanwhile, Williams, who has taken an unhealthy interest in Leonora, quietly stumbles upon a scene in the couple’s study; Penderton, hunched over his desk, perusing a box of souvenirs, including a photograph of a rather effete man, dressed in a toga and laurels. After the couple has retired to their separate bedrooms, Williams unlatches the back door, sneaks upstairs, and, keeps a vigil over Leonora while she sleeps.

At the house next door, Alison’s effete Filipino houseboy, Anacleto, performs a bizarre and very theatrical pantomime for her benefit. Aside: the guy is just plain creepy. Langdon is fairly disgusted by Anacleto’s behavior. However, he reasons Alison’s fragile psyche is calmed by Anacleto’s antics and allows them to continue. The scene ends when Anacleto feigns a ballerina’s exit from the room, stumbles and falls down a flight of stairs, to which Langdon declares, “I wish you had broken your neck!” The next morning, Langdon, Leonora and Penderton set out on one of their routine horse-riding expeditions through the nearby forest. Without much effort, Penderton is embarrassingly thrown from his mount and scolded by his wife for being a poor rider. Now, the trio encounters Pvt. Williams, riding a black stallion with wild abandonment in the nude and bareback. Although Penderton is outwardly incensed by this display, Langdon is more than impressed by Williams’ command of the fiery steed, especially since Williams is riding him with no thought of protection from injury. And Penderton, despite his faux incredulity, is nevertheless stirred in hidden desire for Williams. That evening, after everyone has retired for the night, a restless Alison observes Williams waiting in the shadows of the Pendertons’ back yard. Believing she must be suffering from hallucinations, Alison reconsiders what she has seen when, upon reopening her eyes, Williams has vanished into thin air. Actually, he has already stealthily broken into the Pendertons’ home, crept upstairs and into Leonora’s bedroom, rifling through her lingerie and experimenting with her perfumes.

The next morning, Leonora arrives at the Langdons to remind Alison of the grand party she is giving later that same evening, spouting off the particulars of an obscene menu while an unimpressed Anacleto looks on. Leonora asks to use Anacleto as her bartender, and Alison agrees. However, Alison will not be attending the party given for all enlisted officers and their wives. Meanwhile, immensely frustrated by his physical attraction to Williams, and determined to prove he can ride just as competently, Penderton saddles the willful Firebird for a spirited jaunt. Alas, the horse is too much for him and takes off on a harrowing trek through the tall trees, severely scratching Penderton’s face with low-lying branches as he helplessly clings to the horse’s mane for dear life. Somewhere along the way, Penderton catches a glimpse of Williams, again naked and astride the black stallion. By now, Firebird has driven Penderton deep into the woods, a race that ends only when Penderton is once more thrown to the ground. Hysterical and seething, Penderton seizes a heavy wooden branch from the ground and wildly beats Firebird until the horse is severely bloodied. Collapsing in a tearful heap on the ground, Penderton is passed by Williams, still unabashedly nude and comforting Firebird, leading the bludgeoned horse back to the stables. We cut to Leonora’s party in full swing. Cast as the belle of this ball, Leonora proves a gracious hostess, learning the introspective Capt. Murray Weincheck (Irving Dugan), who is poorly regarded by his men, precisely for being sensitive, is to leave the military or face dismissal.

Without any great concern for what has become of her own husband, Leonora is alerted to Penderton’s return. She finds him tending his bruises in an upstairs bedroom. Leonora questions whether Firebird was hurt as a result. Lied to by Penderton, Leonora departs her party to inspect the horse for herself. She finds Firebird badly ailing in his stall; Williams, fully-clothed, and gently tending to the horse’s considerable wounds. Returning to the house with a riding crop in hand, Leonora proceeds to publicly flog her husband in front of their guests. Penderton does nothing, enduring his humiliation as Leonora’s anger gets out of control. The incident is later reported to Alison by Anacleto. In the wake of this embarrassment, Penderton becomes obsessed with Williams. Attending a boxing tournament with Leonora and Langdon, Penderton leaves his wife in her lover’s care, more interested to follow Williams back to base camp. Returning to his barracks, Williams is confronted by a fellow cadet whom he pummels into submission before retreating to the Pendertons to spy on Leonora once again in her sleep. Meanwhile, quite aware of her husband's adultery, Alison has decided to divorce Langdon. Traumatized by the sight of Williams skulking about in the dark – believing him to be a figment of her imagination, Alison suffers what Langdon suspects is a nervous breakdown. Electing to get Alison the help she needs, Langdon travels with his wife and Anacleto to a nearby sanitarium where Alison reasons she has reached the very end of her descend into madness. Indeed, Langdon has only just left for the trip home when Alison suffers a fatal heart attack.

News eventually reaches the military compound and a remorseful Langdon is unable to make love to Leonora when she arrives at the house, presumably to comfort him in his grief. Speculation runs wild. Perhaps Alison committed suicide, ably assisted by Anacleto who has since vanished without a trace. That evening, a restless Penderton glances out his window, observing a shadowy figure in the backyard. Now, quite aware Alison never imagined it, as he had previously thought when confronted by her, Penderton is amazed to discover the figure is Williams.  Believing somehow, that his own homosexual fascination has been duly noted and is on the cusp of being reciprocated in kind, Penderton retreats to his bedroom to await Williams. Instead, through the crack of the door, Penderton witnesses Williams ascend the stairs and enter Leonora’s bedroom. Believing Williams and Leonora have been having an affair, Penderton seizes his pistol and enters the room. He finds Williams at the foot of Leonora’s bed, caressing her silk stockings while Leonora, asleep, remains blissfully unaware of either’s presence. Switching on the lights, Penderton neither startles Williams, who observes him with cruel animosity, nor stirs Leonora from her slumber; that is, until Penderton shamefully executes Williams with his pistol, jealously riddling the cadet’s body in bullets. Leonora awakens, frightened and screaming as the camera wildly pans back and forth from Penderton to Williams’ lifeless remains, and, Leonora - caught in devastated shock between them.  The introductory line in the novel that also opened the movie is restated: “There is a fort in the South where a few years ago a murder was committed.”

Reflections in a Golden Eye is a pathetically undernourished melodrama. It favors a slant toward the Tennessee Williams’ ilk in Southern Gothic human tragedies, but lacks Williams’ innate gift for dialogue to present all this human suffrage as anything more visceral or disturbing than just another series of marginally troubled events. For whole stretches, exposition is expunged in favor of Huston’s ‘show’ – rather than ‘tell’. Huston, a master storyteller, is more than capable of connecting the dots, so to speak. Carefully, he hinges the elemental plot points to allow the audience to draw their own conclusions. Yet, it is Huston’s glacial pacing that presents the most difficulty here; the seemingly pointless intervention to repeatedly derail from the central narrative with lightly comedic distractions, artfully photographed by Aldo Tonti and an uncredited Oswald Morris. Viewed, either in its original golden-sepia wash, or straight-forward rainbow hues of Technicolor, Reflections in a Golden Eye founders on its multi-layered ambiguity, left to percolate, though never boil over with its tawdry little secrets until the third act, when everything only begins to crystalize for the audience. Even upon repeat viewing, the assassination of Pvt. Williams seems to come out of nowhere. There is no build-up to Penderton’s rabid confusion or blind rage - not entirely Brando’s fault - as Huston never affords this fatalist moment any lead-in beyond the thirty-second shock value. In the end, Reflections in a Golden Eye unravels into a sordid, sad tale, never fulfilling a fundamental edict – to elevate its sobering message to a level of pure satisfaction.

The Warner Archive has produced two-versions of Reflections in a Golden Eye for our consideration on Blu-ray. WAC has spent money wisely here. We get two separate Blu-rays; the first, showcasing Huston’s golden-tinted original, the other, illustrative of the more widely seen theatrical release. WAC has done its homework and the results are astounding. On the sepia-tinted edition: the golden hue is fully saturated, bathing the entire image in a coppery yellow. Noted is a strange de-saturated lean on the extreme right of the image where some original color bleed is detected. Contrast is excellent on both versions and age-related artifacts have been eradicated for a smooth and satisfying visual presentation, with a light smattering of indigenous film grain, superbly reproduced. On the full-color theatrical edition, colors are beautifully saturated. Flesh tones are accurately observed. The image favors gorgeous greens, vibrant reds, beautiful blues and rustic browns. It really is an entirely different viewing experience. Both have been mastered to the utmost in digital preservation and restoration techniques. The 2.0 DTS audio is identical, Toshirô Mayuzumi’s sparse underscore and sound effects perfectly integrated. Occasionally, dialogue is strained. This, however, is owed more Brando’s character immersion, and, I suspect, Huston’s desire to deliberately obfuscate some of the details. For Huston and the movie, atmosphere is more important than what is being said. Extras are limited to a vintage featurette and theatrical trailer, both contained on Huston’s sepia version. Bottom line: while I continue to find Reflections in a Golden Eye a slog, WAC’s double-disc new-to-Blu is astounding and will surely impress. Very highly recommended…from a remastering standpoint!

FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the best)

1.5

VIDEO/AUDIO

Either version – 5+

EXTRAS

1