passions, delusions, and prayer
by
Douglas Messerli
Janet
Green and John McCormick (screenplay, based on the short story by Nora Lofts),
John Ford (director) Seven Women / 1966
John
Ford’s last film is a true potpourri of unspeakable passions tossed together in
a hothouse of a colonial film, that might have been cooked up by Tennessee
Williams, had he decided to write truly Hollywood commercial films (although
Williams found a great many of his plays adopted as Hollywood movies, they were
always exceptions too any standard fare), mixed with a far darker retelling of
the beloved Ingrid Bergman film about a Chinese missionary, The Inn of the
Sixth Happiness.
Yet, Ford’s last film is clearly still
marked with his own brand of coldly skeptical faith, this work as commentator
Neil Bahadur observes suggesting that “All life is hell beyond apocalypse— but
by some incredulous miracle, there is still compassion.”
Looking at it from the outside, the US mission,
headed and created by Agatha Andrews (Margaret Leighton), a clearly morally
upstanding, seemingly clear-headed, determined and quite forceful woman, is
perfectly well run. But almost immediately we also perceive that she is deluded
in her belief that the despite the attacks near by of the Mongolian bandits
headed by brutal Tunga Khan (Mike Muzurki), that as American they will be
protected by the local Chinese military unit.
More important, we gradually come to perceive that her entire work as a
missionary and her total dedication to it is based on a sublimation of her
lesbian desires, which she still cannot resist whenever her young teacher, Emma
Clark (Sue Lyon) is around. She can barely control her hands and she lays puts
her hand, in the pretense of elderly advice, on Emma’s arm or busily finds
reason to fix up the back of her hair. Off her small staff, which also includes
of loyal personal assistant, Jane Argent (Mildred Dunnock), and the only male
of this mission world other that Chinese servants, Charles Pether (Eddie
Albert), whose 42-year old wife Florrie (Betty Field) is pregnant.
Florrie is a selfish, whining, and
dominating woman, desperate for the mission to find a doctor so that he might
tend to her already painful pregnancy. Charlie is himself a kind of closeted
figure, a man who has long wanted to be a preacher, but was held back by his
obviously controlling mother, who
Only Emma seems to
bring sweetness and youth into the cold environs of this mission. But even she,
the actor having previously performed as teasing sexual teenagers in both Lolita
and The Night of the Iguana previously, made it difficult for me
imaginer her as the true innocent she is supposed to be in this film. And once
the doctor does show up, even she begins to show signs that perhaps she is not
fit for mission work.
The doctor they have been waiting for is not at all who they expected, presumably a kindly, bumbling older man who can dispense pills and good doctorial advice, but instead is a tough, heavy smoking, short-haired, pants-wearing, non-believer who occasionally goes on a drinking spree. Even worse, in their minds, the doctor D. R. Cartwright, is a handsome-looking female (the wonderful Anne Bancroft) who in enjoyment of life and rough-hewn ways immediately challenges every notion that Ms. Andrews has of what a woman is and how she should behave in such a mission as the one she has founded. There may be a drop of lesbian desire in her vision of the doctor as well, despite the fact that the doctor makes it quite clear that she is an active heterosexual who has just met and married the wrong man. Bancroft gives a completely wonderful performance, although Ford was not at all happy with her, describing the timbre of her voice as being too monotone. He had considered rather obvious choices such as Katherine Hepburn, Jennifer Jones, and even Rosalind Russell before hiring Patricia Neal, who might have also been quite excellent in the role but who had a stroke three days into the shooting of the film and was replaced by Bancroft
One of the first things that Dr. Cartwright
does is to try to convince the confused, hen-pecked Charles to get his wife out
of the territory and move her into a modern hospital that might help her
survive such a later-life pregnancy. But again, confused and selfish, he
refuses, with Cartwright declaring to one and all that she cannot be responsible
with how things turn out.
Even worse, word comes that in the nearby
province a British mission has been attacked by the bandits, and still Miss
Andrews cannot imagine that she and her people are in danger. Finally, those
few who have escaped the British mission pillages and killings, arrive, seeking
lodging in the American mission. These include the head of that mission, Miss
Binns (Flora Robson), Mrs. Russell (Anna Lee), a bit on the hysterical side
like Florrie, and a Chinese staff member Miss Ling (Jane Chang). We now have
our seven women gathered, and we know, despite their insistence, that they are
safe, that it is only a matter of time before all hell breaks loose.
First of all, Miss Andrews is not all thoroughly
cordial about having members of another religious denomination share her
quarters, offering them temporary lodging only until they can find another
place. Seconding, as Dr. Cartwright quickly discerns, they have brought cholera
with them. Suddenly, it is she is who giving all the orders to burn the
clothing, blankets, everything; demanding that all the children receive shots,
and basically keeping something close to a 24-watch over the sick and dying,
with only Emma offering to come an relieve her.
Because of their fast-acting doctor, the
mission is spared any further outbreak, and for the moment Cartwright is ready
to celebrate with a bottle of whiskey, bringing to the dinner table and
offering small cups to all. Miss Andrews is totally outraged, seemingly not at
all appreciate for what Cartwright has just accomplished, and sends her off,
now having yet another reason to plead for a new replacement.
Almost immediately after, Charles notices a
bright light in the sky; joined with Emma they realize that a nearby fort is under
attack by Tunga Khan. And without hours military jeeps and wagons can be seen passing
by, the local military fort is being evacuated.
Once more, others, in this Charles Pether
and Dr. Cartwright are forced to take over the increasingly resistant and
confused Miss Andrews. They order all mission caretakers and the children to
pack up so that they can escape the eventual onslaught.
The others begin doing so, while Charles go
out to inspect what has happened to the city nearby. Miss Andrews refuses to
participate in the evacuation. But even while they await Charles’ return to
reveal what has happened, the gate is opened, for the return of Charle’s car;
but this time it is only the driver who explain that Charles was killed in
attempting to protect a young girl from rape.
And
while the gate is still open, it is suddenly overrun by Tunga Khan’s forces.
The seven women are rounded up and put
away in a shed, only Miss Ling being taken off. The children, because they are
Chinese, are massacred.
By this time finally, all the women
except Miss Andrews have been wised up to her lack of good judgment and turn to
Cartwright for help; but at the moment she and Emma are struggling to give
birth to Torrie’s child. Both survive, but there is no milk for the child.
Tunga Khan’s men refuse to help with ransom money, but as Cartwright explains
they have no such money and it would weeks, even they raise the ransom, to
arrive. She offers herself as ransom if they will provide milk for the baby.
She brings back her doctor’s bag and milk,
able to temporarily provide for Torrie’s new baby.
By
this time Miss Andrews has truly mentally gone insane, accusing her of being
the “whore of Babylon” and calling her every mad name she can conjure up.
From a small window they watch the men
wrestle each killing the other. And finally, Tunga Khan himself enters the ring
against his most handsome soldier (Woody Strode, who unfortunately epitomizes
the yellowface drag of this film, demanded in this case from a black man).
Tunga quickly breaks even his soldier’s neck leaving him there to die as he
returns to his concubine. Now dressed in Imperial robes, Cartwright convinces
him to let the other women and the child leave, she briefly returning to
retrieve a vial of poison in her beg before the others sent off in a retinue of
a wagon and horses. Miss Argent sees her hide the bottle away, and in moral
desperation whispers to her that “it is a sin.” Cartwright cynically replies, “Then
pray for me.” Soon after as the women are wheeled again, Miss Andrews again
attempts to continue her tirade against the doctor, Argent turning on her to
tell her to be quiet, that she never wants to hear from again.
Emma has already declared, “Now I know
what evil is.”
Cartwright returns as promised to Tunga Khan’s room as he sends all the
other women off. The doctor pours out some broth for both of them to drink, poisoning
both drinks. She offers the cup to Tunga Khan from which he greedily drinks,
she shouting out “So long, ya bastard,” before she takes up her own cup,
swallows, and hurls the porcelain bowl to the ground.
The critics were not particularly
praising of this brilliant film when it first came out. But later many of them
put it on their lists of the most misappreciated US films of all time. And today
I see it as among Ford’s greatest works such as Stagecoach (1939), My
Darling Clementine (1946), and The Searchers (1956).
Los
Angeles, May 18, 2026
Reprinted
from My Queer Cinema (May 2026).
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