Ursula is She who Must be Obeyed
Palestine 1918, having finished their military duty; Holly (Peter Cushing), Job (Bernard Cribbins), and Leo (John Richardson) are enjoying the local nightlife when Leo heads off with an attractive young woman (Rosenda Monteros) only to be knocked out and confronted by the stunning Ayesha (Ursula Andress). It appears that Leo looks just like the image on an ancient Egyptian coin. After returning to Holly and Job the three friends decide to hire camels and head off in to the desert with a map they have acquired where they come across a hidden city which is still home to the Hellenistic age. Ruled by Ayesha (Ursula Andress) who believes that Leo is the reincarnation of a companion of Alexander the Great who she has been waiting for, offering him immortality, a share of the throne and her eternal love.
"She" feels like a movie where someone read a book and fought that it had the potential to be a good movie but by the time the production had finished the movie was only okay as it was squeezed in to a format audiences would enjoy. As such what you get in "She" is a movie which has some action and adventure in the desert, it has some familiar actors who worked with Hammer productions, it also has some humour with Bernard Cribbins playing a valet, and then it has the beautiful Ursula Andress as this supernatural ruler. And all those ingredients work, especially Ursula Andress who whilst clearly dubbed is exceptionally alluring, something I am sure back in 1965 was part of the movie's appeal.
The thing is that the whole adventure storyline in "She" with its supernatural angle never really comes to life in a way which is truly enthralling and despite some nice location shoots has the feel about it that time and money were of greater importance than bringing the story to life when they made it. In fact whilst you have the appeal of Ursula Andress alongside Rosenda Monteros, as well as Hammer stalwarts Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, it is very much the humorous nature of Bernard Cribbins who gives the movie a layer of entertainment which without it would have caused it to end up quite dull and reliant on Ursula Andress' beauty to carry it.
What this all boils down to is that "She" is now one of those older movies which is less about being entertaining and enthralling but interesting for those who enjoy older movies, especially those made by Hammer.
