Reflections on ... Tam Lin (1970)

Tam Lin (1970). Also known as: The Ballad of Tam-Lin, The Devil's Widow and The Devil's Woman. Tagline: “She drained them of their manhood – and then of their lives!” 

I’m using this period of enforced social isolation to explore the weirder corners of YouTube for long forgotten and obscure movies. (My boyfriend Pal is accompanying me only semi-willingly). At the close of the permissive sixties, aging Old Hollywood female stars gamely went Mod and experimental to extend their faltering careers. Think of Elizabeth Taylor in Boom! (1968), Jennifer Jones in the freaky Angel, Angel Down We Go (1969) or Lana Turner buggin’ out in the LSD flick The Big Cube (1969). Veteran screen goddess Ava Gardner’s equivalent is the strange,  unsettling and uncategorizable Tam Lin. 

Deceptively marketed as a lurid exploitation movie, Tam Lin (the sole directorial credit by actor and former child star Roddy McDowell and clearly a deeply-felt personal art statement for him) is actually a dreamlike, deliberately paced, flawed but interesting occult fable set in rural Scotland. In terms of rustic folk horror, Tam Lin anticipates The Wicker Man (1973) and Midsommar (2019). Gardner stars as Michaela Cazaret, a fabulously wealthy, cosmopolitan and mysterious older woman-of-the-world who is in fact the “Queen of the Fairies”, a sorceress who presides over a cult-like entourage of swinging pretty young things of both genders. Her coven is played by a who’s who of future British acting notables, including Ian McShane, Joanna Lumley, Sinaed Cusack and Bruce Robinson. McShane (who is heartbreakingly handsome and gets a very memorable nude scene) is Michaela’s younger male plaything. When he dares to fall in love with the vicar’s virtuous daughter (Stephanie Beacham), the jilted Michaela vows revenge and the tone turns increasingly ominous. (Towards the end, Michaela’s brainwashed coterie even begins to suggest the Manson Family). 

Not all of Tam Lin works - there are some naff “whimsical” moments typical of the era (characters playing Frisbee … in slow motion! JoJo Lumley is unintentionally hilarious when she solemnly declares, “Life is an illusion.  Therefore, nothing is permanent. I think I shall go to Sweden”). But the cinematography is spectacular, the mood is entrancing, and the soulfully ravaged and mature 47-year old Gardner is simply magnificent striding around imperiously in a series of haute couture brocade robes and chiffon caftans by Balmain. At the zenith of her stardom in the forties and fifties, Gardner didn’t always apply herself onscreen and was frequently content to sleep-walk through her films. I suspect I’m in the minority here, but I’d argue Tam Lin represents Gardner at the height of her powers. She was never better than in a nightclub scene where Gardner and McShane morosely drink brandy, smoke cigarettes and listen to a female blues singer. Using only her eyes, Gardner conveys the dawning painful realization that the romance is over, and she’s already lost him. Her mood swings are mesmerizing to watch, and she becomes genuinely scary as the film proceeds. 

Unfortunately, almost no one saw Gardner’s performance. A seemingly jinxed film, Tam Lin was shelved when the production company went bust. It stayed in the vault until 1972, when it was radically edited without McDowell’s consent and briefly released under the title The Devil’s Widow. The version on YouTube is apparently the closest equivalent to McDowell’s original vision. Tam Lin casts a spell and deserves to be better-known.

Watch Tam Lin here.