When Stevenson died in 1894 he left behind two unfinished novels and various stories. Although letters suggest he was bored with St. Ives: The Adventures of a French Prisoner in England and felt he had mired it in too many improbabilities, his widow, Fanny, asked critic and writer Arthur Quiller-Coach to complete the manuscript. The results, published in 1896, do not stand up to his mature works (in contrast to his other unfinished novel, Weir of Hermiston, which now stands among his best stories). It offers an exciting tale, nonetheless, about a French military man captured by the English and held in a Scottish prison, where he falls in love with a beautiful young woman. When he escapes in hopes of seeking help from his father, who thinks he is dead, a corrupt relation out to secure the family inheritance frames him for murder.
With the success of Stevenson adaptations in Hollywood, including two versions of Kidnapped (1938 and 1948) and the moody, low budget The Body Snatcher (1945), it was only natural that the studios would return to his work, particularly since it was all in the public domain. Columbia handed his unfinished novel to producer Rudolph C. Flothow, who had been a studio stalwart for over a decade, churning out low budget entries for their Crime Doctor, The Whistler and Boston Blackie series. For director, he turned to Philip Rosen, a Hollywood veteran who had started his career as a cameraman in the days of silent films. Rosen had quickly risen to become one of the most respected directors in town, even helping MGM salvage Exquisite Sinner (1926) when studio head Louis B. Mayer had fired Josef von Sternberg for working too slowly. Rosen had had trouble adjusting to the coming of sound, however. Like many silent greats from film's early years, he sunk rapidly to poverty row productions, contributing regularly to Monogram programmers like Bela Lugosi horror films, Charlie Chan mysteries and Bowery Boys comedies. He even directed Spooks Run Wild (1941), the first film to team Lugosi with the Bowery Boys. Rosen worked quickly and economically, perfect qualifications for Columbia's B unit. The Secret of St. Ives would be the last of his 142 directing credits.
Columbia's B pictures were a haven for actors on the way up, those who had seen better days and those who would rarely make it out of low-budget production. Ney fell between the first two categories. He had debuted impressively in 1942, playing Garson and Walter Pidgeon's son in the Oscar®-winning Mrs. Miniver. The momentum that hit created was halted by his absence from the screen to serve in World War II and the scandal surrounding his marriage to Garson. Although younger than her character in Mrs. Miniver, Garson was still 12 years older than Ney. Studio head Mayer was so concerned about the age difference he asked them to keep their marriage secret until after the film became a hit. When Ney returned from the war, however, he and Garson had a hard time starting over. Their 1947 divorce, which brought out revelations of his goading his wife over their age difference, sank what little was left of his career. Filmgoers refused to forgive him for mistreating the popular star, and he moved into supporting roles in less-prestigious films such as The Secret of St. Ives. Eventually he had to leave acting, building a more successful career as a financier.
Ney's co-stars had much more propitious futures. Leading lady Vanessa Brown, though consigned for most of her film career to B pictures, would eventually leave Hollywood for New York, where she starred in the new television medium and scored a Broadway triumph as the seductive upstairs neighbor in The Seven Year Itch (Marilyn Monroe would star in the film version). Villain Henry Daniell had been a character actor since his film debut in 1929, most notably as Greta Garbo's sadistic mentor in Camille (1936). He even had a background with Stevenson film adaptations, having starred effectively in a rare sympathetic role as the tortured doctor in The Body Snatcher (1945). Typecasting as a character actor would keep him working until his death while filming My Fair Lady (1964).
The Secret of St. Ives quickly faded from the screen, though the story would return in 1998 in another fanciful adaptation simply titled St. Ives. This British version would star French actor Jean-Marc Barr as the nobleman, Richard E. Grant as a more sympathetic prison warden than Daniell and Anna Friel, most recently the co-star of Pushing Daisies, as his lady love.
Director: Philip Rosen
Producer: Rudolph C. Flothow
Screenplay: Eric Taylor
Based on the unfinished novel St. Ives: Being the Adventures of a French Prisoner in England by Robert Louis Stevenson
Cinematography: Henry Freulich
Art Direction: Cary Odell
Music: Mischa Bakaleinikoff
Principal Cast: Richard Ney (Anatole de Keroual), Vanessa Brown (Flora Gilchrist), Henry Daniell (Maj. Edward Chevenish), Edgar Barrier (Sgt. Carnac), Aubrey Mather (Daniel Romaine), John Dehner (Couguelat), Jean Del Val (Comte St. Ives), Phyllis Morris (Annie Gilchrist).
BW-75m.
by Frank Miller
