Stylish but barely mediocre overall

Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Melvyn Douglas and Ann Harding star in this odd little outing. I say odd because it's supposed to take place mostly in Vietnam at Lao Bảo Prison. But, it makes you wonder why some of the 'natives' are black---such as Clarence Muse! I wonder if folks back in the 1930s had no conception of what Southeast Asians looked like or if the studio was just being extremely sloppy. The film is also odd because it was filmed about 20 minutes from my house--in Venice, Florida. Considering all the palm trees, it probably was a pretty good substitute for going overseas for the filming.The film begins in France. A commandant of an overseas French penal colony is being court martialed and Douglas is one of the judges. Ironically, after finding this man derelict in his duties, Douglas himself is sent on a similar assignment to run a prison along the Mekong River. This means his fiancée will have to eventually join him--and Harding's character arrives more than a year later. By then, her sweetie has degenerated significantly--showing serious signs of mental illness and alcoholism. Apparently he is NOT adjusting well to this life. What's next? See the film."Prestige" suffers mostly because the acting is a bit too florid--with Douglas showing a lot of googly eyes and looking pretty goofy. In addition, you are expected to like the French but can't help but see them as interlopers--and the characters aren't all that likable either. And, oddly, despite the crazed performance, the film is often a bit dull. Not a terrible movie---but also not a particularly good one, either.

Is very good as Verlaine, military man assigned to field outpost in Saigon circa 1900's. His wife, Therese Verlaine is portrayed by Ann Harding, whose father is in charge of her husband's assignments.When she first embarks to join her husband, her father issues the speech as quoted on title page. ..."It is their job to uphold higher standards to restore order....to rise up to the upbringing and status of the white man"... . This he says is "prestige" (which today is rather out of context, the word prestige in America has been decimated to a materialistic meaning and has nothing to do with honor or pride in today's America. Sadly, I might add.However, it is an interesting antiquated viewpoint. Verlaine is in charge of a rather ramshackle bamboo prison in the third world country then known as, Annam (later North and South Vietnam). Captain Verlaine tries to rule with an iron fist at first as we see a prisoner is executed for a petty crime in the most brutal fashion. There is some sort of gallows device made of bamboo. The scene is very effective and believable.Then Captain Remy Baudoin arrives as he is friends with Therese and wants to see if she is surviving the jungle and heat. He somewhat cheers her up, to which Verlaine becomes drunk, jealous of his wife's friendship and angry at his overall job requirements. Douglas is believable here, while very young and unless most of us check the credits we would not be sure this was him.The natives eventually revolt, as Therese first visits the prison and is shocked at the conditions. She is disturbed that her husband maintains such a facility, for native peoples whose primary crime is poverty. They eventually revolt but succumb in the end, Captain Verlaine has restored order.While the story is a bit unreal at times, the photography (mostly filmed in Venice, FL) is intriguing and realistic, we can feel the heat and what it must be like to live in a bamboo hut in 104 degree, humid temperatures.Well worth seeing for the era, the dialog and Douglas in an early dramatic role. 9/10.

Therese Des Flos, a beautiful young woman, is in love with Andre Verlaine, a captain in the army. She is also pursued by another officer, Remy Baudain. When Andre is assigned to a post in Indochina, Therese's world goes to pieces. Andre has not married her because of his impending stint, but Therese convinces her father, who is in charge of this division, to let her follow Andre.Things aren't exactly easy for Andre, who falls into a despair by the heat and perhaps his boredom at this forsaken place. He doesn't endear himself to the native troops he commands to guard the prisoners at the lock up. When Therese arrives, she is horrified to see the change in Andre, but they go ahead with the plans to marry. Remy, who has come to the compound, is also completely surprised by what's going on and asks Therese to go back to Saigon with him. As she is about to leave, she discovers that Remy has been killed. Everything points to Nham. Ultimately, Andre gets some of his all self back when he is wounded and he and Therese come to the realization they belong to one another."Prestige" is a curiosity film directed by Tay Garnett, a man who always delivered. This RKO-Pathe picture belongs to an era when stories such as this one had no interest in being politically correct, as shown by Andre's attitude toward the natives, who he seems to hate. Even his loyalty toward his servant is put to a test where he shows no compassion either. The film portrays the native men in silly costumes, and even Nahm is black, something that might have been quite a shock for the Indochina of those years. The costume department decided to dress the women in Jantzen swimwear instead of the traditional robes.Ann Harding is appealing as Therese. Adolph Menjou also has some good moments. We didn't care much for the Andre of Melvyn Douglas, but this is only our opinion. Rollo Boyd, Ian McLaren and the great Clarence Muse are seen in key roles."Prestige" is a film to watch by fans of Tay Garnett.

This is RKO's entry in the "White Man's Grave" genre. Being an Ann Harding (queen of the women's picture) vehicle, it lacks the ineffable luridness of most early Hollywood jungle melodramas (White Woman, Red Dust, Panama Flo, etc.). Instead, it generally takes the high road in delineating a French colonial officer's descent into despondency and alcoholism in a sweaty Southeast Asian outpost. Enough politically-incorrect dialog and flouting of accepted morals does creep into the picture to place it in the pre-code realm, but much less than one might expect.Although long-forgotten, the film definitely has many points to recommend it. The ever-reliable Hollywood helmsman Tay Garnett here evinces a startling obsession with keeping the camera moving -- it's just one complex tracking shot after another, with several long pans thrown in. When the camera does remain static, it's often to emphasize a dramatic moment, and quite effectively so. Also, long before the infusion of liberal ideals into Hollywood's view of third-world relations, this picture's take is surprisingly modern. The protagonists learn their lesson in dignity from a remarkably loyal and noble native servant (played by the great thespian Clarence Muse). At the same time, the clearly delineated incompatibility between the French and the natives shows the futility of the "white man's burden" philosophy.