The Ballad of Tam Lin (1970)

The Ballad of Tam Lin (also released as Tam Lin and as The Devil's Widow) was Roddy McDowall’s first and only film as a director. It’s a strange movie that probably never had any chance of commercial success.

It’s based on, or perhaps it would be better to say inspired by, a well-known Scottish folk tale about a love triangle involving the queen of the fairies. The approach taken by Director McDowall and screenwriter William Spier is not at all what you would expect and probably doomed the movie commercially. It is however an undeniably interesting approach.

Michaela ‘Miki’ Cazaret (Ava Gardner) is a very very rich woman who owns a very old but palatial home in Scotland. For her amusement she has collected a bunch of young hippies. We get an immediate interesting conjunction of the decadence of the very rich and the world of the counter-culture which by 1971 was arguably reaching a point of decadence of its own.

For her further amusement she collects handsome young men. Her latest toy boy is Tom Lynn (based on the Tam Lin of the folk tale and played by Ian McShane).

Things get awkward when Tom meets pretty vicar’s daughter Janet Ainsley (Stephanie Beacham) and they fall in love. As you might imagine Miki is less than delighted by this. She is however confident that she is still in full control of the situation and can persuade Tom to continue dancing to her tune.

Tom however is not prepared to give Janet up and there are further complications which draw Tom and Janet closer together. It’s obvious that sooner or later Miki will take steps to bring her toy boy back into line and to punish him. There are hints that in the past young men in Tom’s position have suffered drastic punishments.

A further complication is that one of Miki’s collection of Flower Children is angling to take Tom’s place in Miki’s affections, and her bed (and presumably angling for the rich financial rewards Miki bestows on her young men).

Towards the end the movie changes gear just a bit but the ending, like the whole movie, is riddled with ambiguities.

For the female lead what was needed was an actress in her forties who could be imperious, grand, glamorous and flamboyant and there could have been no better choice than Ava Gardner. She completely dominates the movie and her bravura performance is by far this film’s biggest asset.

Veteran British character actor Richard Wattis is unexpectedly sinister as Miki’s scheming private secretary. Stephanie Beacham is fine although like me you might find Janet a bit too sweet and innocent. That however is probably a carry-over from the folk tale. Joanna Lumley and Madeline Smith have supporting roles as members of Miki’s little circle of counter-culture types.

For me the weak link is Ian McShane. OK, he’s not playing a very admirable character but it’s difficult to feel any sympathy for him at all.

Tom and Janet are supposedly the hero and heroine and Miki is the villainess but I found Miki to be the only character I really cared about. This could be seen as unbalancing the film but on the other hand it does make it a lot more interesting. Tom is the hero but he’s not a very nice person. Miki is the villainess but she’s not a mere monster. We might not approve of her methods but we can understand her motivations and we acknowledge her emotional hurt.

I’m not sure that this movie entirely works but it’s undeniably interesting. It takes a particular approach to the material and sticks to it (I can’t say any more without revealing spoilers).

What’s really interesting is that the movie’s weaknesses (the unsympathetic hero and the surprisingly sympathetic villainess) can also be seen as strengths.

There will be a temptation to see this film as belonging to the folk horror genre that blossomed briefly in the late 60s and early 70s. It certainly has affinities with that genre although it also differs from most such movies in certain ways.

The Ballad of Tam Lin is a bit of an oddity but it’s an interesting oddity. It’s worth seeing anyway but Ava Gardner’s performance makes it a must-see. This may be her career-best performance. It is therefore highly recommended.

The imprint Blu-Ray looks great and is packed with extras.