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Ethan (1964)

An excellent 1960's drama-exploitation movie that really needs a better home video release!

If there is a film that needs to be available to both cult movie viewers interested in the most obscure movies that have never been heard of before, one particular contender is "Ethan". Well-played and effectively acted for its minor budget, as well as having a small share of exploitation to mix with the dramatics of the story, "Ethan" is a different film to emerge from the 1960s era of low-budget film-making. Of course, despite having a minor theatrical run and receiving only one early VHS release, "Ethan" is a film that's rarely been seen much less written about and it's a shame because its pretty damn good.

Father Ethan Harris (Robert Sampson) has been assigned to do missionary work in a small Philippine village that is culturally divided between the Muslims and the Catholic-Christian community. Ethan gets to know widow Andai (Rosa Rosal) who happens to fall in love with the priest despite his devotion to Church and God. At the town bar, local hot-head Yakoub (Joseph de Cordova), who makes no secret of his hate towards Ethan, is able to get Andai drunk on Bloody Marys and he coerces her to go keep Ethan company for the night. Andai wanders to Ethan's quarters and attempts to seduce him while he's trying to sleep; Ethan tries to resist, but temptation gets to him and he quickly succumbs to her. Ethan realizes what he's done and tries to go on as if nothing happened. Yakoub tells Andai's father Alli (Bruno Punzalan) what she and Ethan were up to and in a fit of rage Alli announces he'll kill the priest. Ethan's artist friend Carlos (Jennings Sturgeon) hears about it and tries to stop Alli, but Alli brutally cuts Carlos down. The police finally arrive to shoot Alli before he tries to murder Ethan. With all that's happened, Ethan blames God for everything, abandons the priesthood and becomes a depressed alcoholic. What follows afterward is Ethan trying to understand what has happened to himself and if he can start over again.

"Ethan" has a deep story to tell and for a low-budget exploitation-drama of its time-frame that's saying a lot. The film is certainly a slight cut-above the standard exploitation movie of the day, which makes excellent use of the exotic Philippine locations and good performances both from American and well-regarded Philippine thespians. Despite coming off as a Filipino production, "Ethan" was actually an American-based production by producer-director Michael Du Pont and associate producer Ferde Grofe Jr.

One aspect that makes "Ethan" interesting now is the small underlying conflicts between the Muslim and Christian religion, something that must've been new to those who saw the film when released and it's likely the audience didn't respond well to it either. How ironic that today in the post-9/11 era, the issues between Muslim's and Christian's in "Ethan" seem more predominant now than back when the film was made. However, despite the edge of religious differences involved in the film, they are only a small fraction of what the main story is about. The big focus of "Ethan" is really more about the issue of human conflict resulting in the misunderstanding between characters and what they are on the inside; the religious aspects are underplayed within the story and never tries to go down the 'which religion is better' route. Another aspect that's very striking is the seduction scene in which we are treated to some very frank and surprising topless nudity: while the 'Nudie Cutie' genre was still the rage during the early 1960s showing naked people frolicking around nudist camps of south Florida, it's still rather stunning to see nudity in this particular film! But then, that's part of the film's exploitation charm and it actually works as the nudity in "Ethan" isn't gratuitous or erotic; it's actually played out as a natural act and feels convincing. And considering it's about a woman seducing a priest that would also possibly indicate why American audiences didn't react well to this when released.

Aside from the good performances from lead actor Robert Sampson, who has raked up an incredible filmography of film and television supporting roles, and then-popular Philippine actress Rosa Rosal, a major aspect that works for the film is the effective music score by Paul Glass. Glass is able to deliver an excellent orchestral score that definitely brings this movie right out of the gate: the score is quite unusual with its combination of heavy orchestra and Jazz cues. And, for what might possibly be the first, the end credits not only list Glass for composing the score but it also lists the whole orchestral crew (Trivia: None other than Jazz artist Buddy Collette provided a few saxophone cues and he gets an on-screen credit).

However, it seems nothing would come from "Ethan" during its minor theatrical release, no matter how scattered it was (i.e., it was released both in 1964 and later in 1971 with an MPAA 'R' rating attached). Eventually, "Ethan" turned up on home video in the early 1990's on the small label Genesis Home Video with a horrible video transfer that completely lacked the visual quality of the original film: "Ethan" was originally shot in the 2.35:1 Techniscope-Technicolor format with some degree of cinematic composition to framing, but the old and hideously outdated VHS release shows the film in a horrendous panned-scanned image with little care in the presentation! I can say it's worth it to find a copy, just prepare to endure the worst panned-scanned image ever presented on home video!

It's a shame "Ethan" never got a decent break; even for an exploitation-drama on a low-budget it's certainly one of the good ones to emerge from the 1960s. Sadly, its obscurity continues on. And when you consider the amount of obscure cult titles which have appeared on DVD in the past few years that received stellar treatments, it seems "Ethan" is forever destined to remain obscure.