RAW WIND IN EDEN: Blu-ray (Universal-International, 1958) Kino Lorber

A real curio of oddities (and likely a loose precursor and/or inspiration for TV’s Lost), director, Richard Wilson’s Raw Wind in Eden (1958) is the sort of pedestrian clunker Universal-International was pretty adept and pumping out in the mid-to-late decade. It’s billed as a ‘neo noir’ long after the noir cycle in movies had run its course, brightly tricked out in Cinemascope and Enzo Serafin’s handsome Eastmancolor cinematography, pumped up on the sex appeal of its two stars, Esther Williams (sadly misrepresented in her post-MGM career) and Brooklyn-born/blonde-tipped he-hunk du jour, Jeff Chandler who, according to Williams’ biography, enjoyed wearing women’s clothes and her high-heeled shoes behind closed doors. Exactly where Chandler’s career might have gone had the press and public known about this predilection, we will never know. Chandler died at age 42 in 1961, suffering blood poisoning from surgery to correct a slipped disc in his back. As per his performance in this flick…it’s pretty par for the course of his chest-thumping antics as the male animal run amuck on testosterone overload. Who can really blame his alter-ego, Scott Moorehouse (a.k.a. Mark Moore). Williams, although not in her prime, is nevertheless as blisteringly exotic and tempting as ever. A pity the screenplay by Elizabeth Wilson (cribbing from a story she created alongside Wilson and Dan Lundberg) never affords Williams anything remotely intelligent to say.

In the mid-50’s MGM was dropping its top-heavy star talent like bad habits. For Esther Williams, the death knell was Jupiter’s Darling (1955), the last in a 28-picture series of spectacular aquacades that catapulted Williams to superstardom as America’s mermaid. But to leave MGM for Universal, then in its own death throes, thanks primarily to corporate takeovers that left its executive brain trust thoroughly emasculated of any A-list talent, must have been a real come-down for Williams. Whatever her reasons, Williams briefly made the switch to keep her legacy going for the latter half of the decade, officially bowing out of the picture-making biz in 1961 with The Big Show – another movie that proved to be anything ‘but’!  

Raw Wind in Eden opens with a pretty silly prologue. Scott chases away a gun-toting Gavino (Rik Battaglia) from a remote isle somewhere in the Aegean as his sultry paramour, Costanza Varno (Rossana Podestà) seductively taunts and gropes herself in a low-cut tangerine frock while her pop, Urbano (Eduardo De Filippo) looks on. From this inauspicious debut we regress to the credits, under which thoroughly bored supermodel, Laura (Williams) does her own bit of preening as a sort of sexy herder, set against a backdrop of desolate, ancient ruins and sheep. Discontented with the stalemate in her tryst with a married millionaire, Laura agrees to allow playboy, Wally Drucker (Argentinian Carlos Thompson – far too sophisticated to have been born a ‘Wally’) to whisk her away for the weekend aboard his plane to a yacht party near the isle of Majorca. Alas, the plane loses altitude one dark and stormy night, crash-landing on that same remote isle, rescued by Moore, Urbano, and Costanza. While Laura exits the wreck virtually unscathed, Wally’s injuries require immediate attention. Thank heaven, Moore used to be a medic during the war. After some reluctant back and forth, Moore treats Wally’s wounds, ensuring his survival. In the meantime, things begin to heat up between the tempestuous Laura and Moore. She is fascinated by his reluctance to explain why he should choose a life so remote and apart from what she laughingly refers to as ‘civilization’ and he, in turn begins to have his head turned by her charms, much to Costanza’s chagrin.

As Wally’s condition improves, he elects to explore the island along with Laura. They come across a battered but still sea-worthy yacht, the Perdido that Moore has camouflaged but agrees to sell to Wally so he and Laura can return home. We learn Costanza is being courted by an elder suitor from a nearby island. But it’s all pretty tepid ‘window dressing’ to delay the ‘big reveal of this picture. Moore is actually Scott Moorehouse, a man accused of murdering his wife. He escaped prosecution via the Perdido. But before this, Moore – a one-time millionaire himself – donated his entire fortune to charity, further to promote the idea he had vanished into thin air. Turns out, Moorehouse didn’t actually murder his wife. She was drunk and fell off the Perdido of her own accord to drown when no one was around to save her. As no one would likely believe such a story (aside, it hasn’t worked out so well for Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood), Moore has remained a recluse – if, a largely discontented one. Laura inflames his desire. Drucker becomes insanely jealous and he and Moore battle for her affections. In the end, Moore prevails and is prevailed upon by Laura to return to the U.S. where they can begin their lives together anew.

Raw Wind in Eden promises raw animal magnetism unleashed. But what it actually illustrates is a lot of hot air and hot-headed lust turned asunder by Hollywood’s then self-governing production code of ethic. So, we get a lot of posturing, meant to suggest sex is just around the corner…and then…well, a whole lot of nothing as the plot just goes around and around, delaying the inevitable departure of Laura and Moore, destined for their own bittersweet, if ill-conceived ‘happily ever after’. Usually a proponent of classic movies, I must admit not everything to emerge from the ‘dream factories’ of yore was up to standards. Raw Wind in Eden is pretty pedestrian fare and, at times, not even worthy of this moniker. The screenplay is a total train wreck with so many missed opportunities for suspense that the ennui creeping in from the peripheries seems almost welcomed by comparison to the nothingness that chronically persists from the main titles to final fade to black. If some movies are sleepers, Raw Wind in Eden is decidedly a snore. And it’s definitely nap time around here.

Another Kino Lorber dump from Universal with substandard image quality throughout. Colors are anemic at best. Overall image clarity is marred by a thick base of film grain that never looks indigenous to its source. While close-ups generally reveal a pleasing amount of detail, virtually all of the long and medium shots are an undistinguished and flat mess. This is being advertised as a ‘new’ 2K scan from an interpositive. If so, the elements used were in pretty rough shape. Uni hasn’t done the heavy lifting here. Age-related artifacts are present and color density and saturation could have been much improved with just a little light massaging of these careworn elements. The original Westrex sound mix has been dumped to 2.0 DTS mono and sounds about what you would expect – flat, flat, flat – but generally clean and free of age-related hiss and pop. Kino has shelled out for an audio commentary from historians, David Del Valle and Daniel Kremer. Actually, it’s far more competent than the picture they are discussing. We also get a badly worn theatrical trailer. Bottom line: Raw Wind in Eden is a totally forgettable 93-mins. of life I can never get back. The Blu-ray is yet another example of why Universal has no business asset-managing anything these days.  They care as much about film restoration/preservation as China does about child labor and Biden does about the border crisis. Not recommended!

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

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VIDEO/AUDIO

2.5

EXTRAS

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