The Living Idol (1957)

Starring Steve Forrest, Liliane Montevecchi, James Robertson Justice, Sara Garcia, Eduardo Noriega
Directed by Albert Lewin
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

After an archaeologist in Mexico discovers an idol representing an evil jaguar god, a young native girl becomes terrified by it and is later stricken with a strange illness.

I was pretty disappointed with this film, as it has a number of winning elements, but isn't able to pull them together into a satisfying production.  Written and directed by Lewin, who previously helmed the well-received The Picture Of Dorian Gray and Pandora And The Flying Dutchman, the film boasts a good performance from Justice, and wonderful color cinematography by Jack Hildyard, exquisitely capturing the beauty of the Mexican scenery.  However, I found Montevecchi inadequate as the central character of Juanita, who is supposed to be somehow possessed by the jaguar god, or dominated by it, but can't seem to reflect that in her performance other than by a general malaise.    What's worse is the times in the film when she's supposed to exude happiness, she doesn't even smile or project any kind of emotion.  Leading man Steve Forrest doesn't fare much better, unconvincing at being acceptable as her paramour.  Whether this is the actors' fault or the director's, I can't say, but it's a crucial failure.  The film also seems content to downplay any fantasy or horror themes, other than one effective sequence where Montevecchi is bound and surrounded by circling flaming torches.  There are suspenseful moments at the film's climax, where a real living jaguar enters the girl's home, but even these are not executed as well as in other films.  I would have preferred to see this production filmed in black and white, with shadow enveloping the characters and the jungle cat for maximum effect, but that was not to be.