Flesh and Fantasy (1943 film)

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Flesh and Fantasy

Directed by	Julien Duvivier
Written by	Ellis St. Joseph (Story segment 1) Oscar Wilde (Story segment 2) László Vadnay (Story segment 3) Ernest Pascal Samuel Hoffenstein
Starring	Edward G. Robinson Charles Boyer Barbara Stanwyck Betty Field
Music by	Alexandre Tansman
Cinematography	Stanley Cortez Paul Ivano
Editing by	Arthur Hilton
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	October 29, 1943
Running time	94 min.
Country	US
Language	English
IMDb profile

Flesh and Fantasy is a 1943 anthology film, directed by Julien Duvivier, starring Edward G. Robinson, Charles Boyer and Barbara Stanwyck. Also titled: "Dreams and Fortune Tellers."

The film tells three stories, unrelated but with a supernatural theme, by Oscar Wilde ("Lord Arthur Saville's Crime"), Ellis St. Joseph and László Vadnay. Tying together the three segments is a conversation about the occult between two clubmen, one played by humorist Robert Benchley.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

First segment

Plain and embittered Henrietta secretly loves law student Michael. On Mardi Gras night, a mysterious stranger gives her a white mask of beauty that she must return at midnight. At a party, Michael falls in love with Henrietta but has yet to see her face under the mask. Henrietta encourages Michael to follow a better life although it may mean losing him forever. Henrietta removes the mask at midnight discovering she is now beautiful and that her old, selfish attitude was really the cause of her ugliness.

Second segment

A palmist named Podgers (Thomas Mitchell) is making uncannily accurate predictions at a party for the rich and bored. He tells skeptic Marshall Tyler (Edward G. Robinson) to avoid a certain street intersection on the way home. The palmist also acts as if he sees more in his hand but doesn’t admit it. Tyler eschews the advice and almost gets shot during a police chase at the intersection. Tyler goes to the palmist’s home and demands to know what else he saw in his hand. Under pressure, the palmist admits that he saw that he is going to kill someone. The notion obsesses Tyler, who decides that he must kill someone, anyone, just to get it over with. He comes close to killing two people but is unable to do so. He finally meets Podgers by accident on a bridge one night, and blaming Podgers for his problem, strangles him to death in a rage.

Third segment

High wire artist the Great Gaspar (Charles Boyer) is haunted by dreams of falling, and in each dream of doom a certain woman (Barbara Stanwyck), he has never met, is there also. These dreams of death affect his performance as he backs down form the most dangerous stunt, jumping from one wire to another. Eventually he meets his dream girl, as if of déjà vu, who has serious troubles to face up to. Gaspar latter decides that he will not let his bad dreams negatively affect him and that his life is his own, spitting destiny in the eye.