Line #12 Film/HeartOfDarkness1958


1	->''"Ever since 1902, when ''Heart of Darkness'' was first published, readers have found in its tale of adventure many meanings and interpretations. Tonight's interpretation [...] represents one understanding of this fascinating story."''
2	-->-- from the introduction
3
4	A MadeForTVMovie which aired as an episode of ''Series/Playhouse90'' in November 1958. A loose, psychoanalytically inflected adaptation of the Creator/JosephConrad [[Literature/HeartOfDarkness novella]], it stars Creator/RoddyMcDowall as Marlow, Creator/BorisKarloff as Kurtz, Music/EarthaKitt as Kurtz's African mistress (here known as the Queen), Inga Swenson as CanonForeigner Maria Kurtz, and Creator/OskarHomolka in a OneSceneWonder turn as a doctor.
5
6	----
7	!!This adaptation provides examples of:
8	* AdaptationPersonalityChange: The Queen is vocal, mercurial, and sympathetic. She is based on a character in the book who has no lines and whose main function is to show up and look ominous.
9	* AgeLift: In the original, Kurtz is a relatively young man who appears [[YoungerThanTheyLook prematurely aged]] because of illness. In this adaptation, he is played by 70-year-old Creator/BorisKarloff and is written as having an adult daughter.
10	* AmbiguousSituation:
11	** What is the significance of the bus fare? Is it just a NumberOneDime that helps Marlow hold onto his sanity? Or does its continuing prominence suggest that [[AllJustADream he never went to Africa at all]]?
12	** Marlow calls Kurtz "father" with an air of realization. [[spoiler:Is Kurtz supposed to be Marlow's biological father? (If he is, the story ends with an unacknowledged case of SurpriseIncest.)]]
13	** The GainaxEnding raises its own questions: How literally should we take the rest of the story? It's not even clear ''whether'' TheEndingChangesEverything or not.
14	* BigNo: Marlow, after the Accountant reveals the content of Kurtz's report.
15	* BroadcastLive: This seems to have been the last ''Series/Playhouse90'' episode to consist of mostly live material (although Eartha Kitt's appearance was pre-taped because of a scheduling conflict).
16	* CanonForeigner: Maria is one, with slight CompositeCharacter tendencies. On the one hand, she is Marlow's love interest and Kurtz's daughter, neither of which matches a character in the original. On the other hand, she does take on the functions of two of Conrad's minor characters: like Marlow's aunt, she helps Marlow get a job with the trading company; like the Intended, she is the object of Kurtz's preoccupation.
17	* TheCavalry: The company makes its attack on the Kurtz compound just in time to save Marlow from [[spoiler:receiving Kurtz's brand]].
18	* CelibateHero: Marlow, as an aspect of his overall asceticism.
19	* ClothingDamage: Marlow's clothing deteriorates during the second half of the story. Of particular note, he is flogged with his shirt on, shredding it.
20	* CompressedAdaptation: All the riverboat scenes -- which make up a significant portion of the original novella -- are omitted.
21	* ConversationCut: Exaggerated in the final scene, to the point that it contributes to the GainaxEnding.
22	* DarkestAfrica: The setting for the second half of the story.
23	* DeathByAdaptation: [[spoiler:The Queen]] is killed in this version. The fate of the equivalent character in the original is never revealed.
24	* DiscretionShot: [[spoiler:The Queen]] climbs into a curtained palanquin before being executed by spear-thrust. This not only keeps it TV-friendly, but also gives the character a chance to FaceDeathWithDignity.
25	* DyingCurse: [[spoiler:The Queen]] has one for the absent Kurtz: "Die, you devil. Die, you cur. Die, before you drag that sweet boy down into the hell you made here."
26	* EerilyOutOfPlaceObject: There are ''sheer curtains'' in the middle of the jungle.
27	* EvilColonialist: The trading company and its various functionaries, including Kurtz. However, this element of the story is not emphasized ''nearly'' as much here as it is in the book.
28	* EvilFeelsGood: Marlow, after he joins Kurtz.
29	-->'''Kurtz:''' I celebrate my hatred.\
30	'''Marlow:''' I celebrate my hatred!\
31	'''Kurtz:''' I celebrate my cruelty.\
32	'''Marlow:''' I celebrate my cruelty!
33	* GainaxEnding: The last scene takes enormous liberties with space and time. [[spoiler:Marlow walks away from Kurtz's body, declaring himself to be reborn. He calls out to Maria -- who is six thousand miles away in England. ''She answers him'' and tells him the current date. Marlow walks out of Kurtz's camp and directly into the hothouse where he and Maria played as children. She is waiting there for him, seeming a lot more mentally stable than she did when they last saw each other. Marlow declares his intention to kiss her. There is a cut as he goes in for the kiss, and in the cut his rags change to new clothes.]] Finally, [[ConversationCut without any apparent passage of time]], the background changes to a street scene and the episode ends with the couple walking together. So was the bulk of the story AllJustADream? Or [[spoiler:is the ending itself a Dying Dream]]? Or is this just a decorative time-compression of Marlow's perfectly mundane return home?
34	* GoMadFromTheIsolation: Teased and PlayedForLaughs when Marlow is wandering in the jungle: "Somebody! Anybody! I need human companionship here!"
35	* HeIsAllGrownUp: Maria observes this of Marlow: "You're not a cub anymore, are you? You're a panther now, grown black and shiny."
36	* HeelRealization: Kurtz's is fairly explicit: "Exterminate all the brutes. Exterminate ''me''!"
37	* HolierThanThou: Marlow, at the beginning of the story, is judgmental of everyone who fails to emulate his rigid (though brittle) self-control.
38	* HollywoodNatives: Kurtz's followers tick most of the boxes, being a jungle-dwelling tribe of half-naked, [[TribalFacePaint painted]], spear-wielding, [[JungleDrums drumming]], dancing, [[CannibalTribe cannibalistic]] Africans.
39	* HoneyTrap: The Queen is assigned to sweet-talk Marlow into giving up his bus fare and staying the in jungle.
40	* HystericalWoman: Maria starts out unstable, helpless, and drunken, though she is much better by the end of the story.
41	* IncestSubtext: From two different directions: Kurtz's ''heavily'' implied PervertDad tendencies, and Maria's open attraction to her (admittedly [[NotBloodSiblings adopted]]) brother Marlow. The two cases are linked if, as is likely, Marlow's generalized ParalyzingFearOfSexuality is a reflection of his father/idol Kurtz's specific fear of his own feelings toward Maria.
42	* IronicEcho:
43	** "Little cub, the hunter won't hurt you." When Maria says it to Marlow, she's being flirtatious. Later, Marlow says it to a native boy in a straightforward attempt to gain his trust.
44	** Meta-example: "It's strange how out of touch women are," says Marlow. In the book, a similar line was presented at face value; here, it's his reaction to a CassandraTruth.
45	* IronicNurseryTune: "[[http://www.zelo.com/family/nursery/shaftoe.asp Bobby Shaftoe]]" is heard several times during the first half of the story, in ironic counterpoint to both Marlow's sufferings as a sailor and Maria's stymied wish for love.
46	* JungleDrums: The "bush telegraph" version is PlayedForLaughs when the Accountant dictates his "interoffice memo" to a drummer, who relays the message with [[TranslationYes surprising terseness]].
47	* LadyDrunk: Maria at first seems to be turning into one: in her first scene she rushes out of her house, drunk and barefoot, and makes a crowd of ChristmasCarolers very uncomfortable.
48	* LonelyRichKid: Maria responds to Marlow's idolization of Kurtz by saying that ''she'' recalls her father as [[ParentalNeglect distant and neglectful]], devoted to mankind in general [[TheCobblersChildrenHaveNoShoes but indifferent to the happiness of his own children]].
49	* LowTechSpears: Kurtz's followers are comprised of half-naked and cannibalistic African tribesmen, who wield spears as part of that image.
50	* MaidAndMaiden: Though they only appear together briefly, it seems that the Abby the housekeeper is a sort of ineffectual mother hen towards Maria.
51	* TheMissionary: One turns up in the third act, resembling TheVicar. He comforts the escaped Marlow and expresses interest in administering last rites to Kurtz.
52	* MoodWhiplash: The reunion conversation between Maria and Marlow takes a dark turn.
53	-->'''Maria:''' Have you had adventures, too, Little Brother? \
54	'''Marlow:''' I was tortured.
55	* NobleSavage: Referenced: Kurtz wants to go to the Congo because it is "the one place left on Earth that still [has] innocence."
56	* NoisyNature: Stock jungle noises can be heard in the distance during the African scenes.
57	* NotBloodSiblings: Maria and Marlow each have a speech recollecting the day Marlow came to the Kurtz home from the orphanage, and they both emphasize that he is not ''really'' her little brother. Maria thinks that would make a relationship okay, while Marlow initially considers it out of the question for [[CelibateHero completely]] [[SexIsEvil separate]] [[ParalyzingFearOfSexuality reasons]].
58	* NubileSavage: The Queen is a downplayed case of this. She isn't really used for visual {{Fanservice}}, but she is intended to be attractive to both Marlow and the audience even though the rest of her tribe are portrayed as grotesque HollywoodNatives.
59	* PervertDad: {{Implied\|Trope}} with Kurtz and Maria. (For one thing, [[spoiler:he renames all his concubines after her]].) Some of the doctor's comments suggest that Kurtz's running off to the Congo after Marlow left was an attempt to avoid a slide into full-blown ParentalIncest.
60	* PlanetOfSteves: The Queen reveals that she is one of many women named after [[spoiler:Kurtz's daughter Maria]].
61	* PrincessForADay: A rather cruel version with the Eartha Kitt character, who is credited as "The Queen" and referred to in-universe as "Kurtz's queen," suggesting that she is hereditary royalty or a favored consort or both. Eventually she admits the truth: [[spoiler:she's just one of a small army of interchangeable concubines, and her royal guise was manufactured by Kurtz to manipulate Marlow]].
62	* RelatedInTheAdaptation: Marlow, a stranger to Kurtz in the original, becomes his adopted son.
63	* SelfInjury: A minor case when Maria goes out in the snow without shoes on. "I wanted to feel something," she says, "even if it was just my feet being cold."
64	* SexIsEvil: Marlow speaks deprecatingly of "desire" at least twice. Part of his redemption involves overcoming this attitude.
65	* SlaveBrand: All of Kurtz's slaves are branded with the letter K.
66	* SlaveCollar: Marlow claps a collar onto ''himself'' after his HeroicBSOD.
67	* SlidingScaleOfAdaptationModification: This rates about a 2 (Recognizable Adaptation). The changes are many: [[CompressedAdaptation scenes are cut out]], the critique of colonialism is pushed to the background, relationships are altered, the ending is changed to a happy one, and it's implied that part of the story was a VisionQuest. On the other hand, the basic movement of the story remains intact (Marlow goes to DarkestAfrica in search of Kurtz, finds him, and is appalled) and several minor elements, such as secondary characters and lines of dialogue, are retained in recognizable form.
68	* SlutShaming: Marlow towards the Queen -- interestingly, ''not'' after she first attempts to seduce him, but shortly later, when she begins pressuring him for the coins.
69	-->''"Slut! Hypocrite! '''Harlot!'''"''
70	* SurvivalMantra: "I know who I am! There's a bus at the end of this journey that will take me home!" Spoken three times by Marlow when he sees Kurtz wearing a miniature portrait of Maria.
71	* ATasteOfTheLash: Used repeatedly. Of particular note: the Accountant claims that he whips some of the natives every day just because he finds it cathartic.
72	* TastesLikeFriendship: Subverted. Marlow offers a biscuit to a native child, but the boy spits it out: [[ImAHumanitarian he'd prefer to eat]] ''[[ImAHumanitarian Marlow]]''.
73	* ThatRemindsMeOfASong: Though music is not involved, Marlow does something very similar to this. While raving alone in the jungle, he muses that he should think of a description for the surroundings in case he wants to write about his experience someday. This provides a setup for his speaking aloud a couple of the more florid bits of prose from the book.
74	* VisionQuest: A [[AmbiguousSituation likely interpretation]] of the African scenes: Marlow symbolically "kills" his false images of [[spoiler:Maria and Kurtz]], thereby conquering his own self-righteousness.
75	* WhileRomeBurns: Marlow calls the Accountant out on this: "You, sitting there in your spotless white suit in the midst of all this depravity, this hog-wallow!"
76	* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe: Marlow's prayer: "Bring happiness to all thy creatures no matter what form thou hath [sic] cast them in."

Context Film / HeartOfDarkness1958