I Loved a Woman (1933)

Waste of time

Good movie but grossly overrated

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

What a peculiar (but often fascinating!) film! The title has a little to do with Robinson's character, but it really isn't a woman he loves, but the meat-packing business! Eddie G., who wants to make the world more artistic and to clean up the Chicago slums, inherits an unsavory but highly successful business from his father, and makes an attempt to break away from corporate alliances--enter Kay Francis, in one of her vamp roles, this time as an opera singer aiming for the top European houses, but needing a little cash infusion to get there--she seduces the good EGR by sitting down at the piano--and suddenly warbles a contralto version of "Home On The Range"! No Tosca, no Mimi, no Traviata--this overdressed little flower brims blooms with the Western tune a total of three times--and it becomes an ironic interlude throughout the film--Robinson also attempts to capture the world food market, even buys cattle instead of just canning it! (Some echoes of Upton Sinclair feeds plot complications).For early fans of Mr. Robinson and Our Kay, this is compelling fun, and frequently details fascinating turns of historical event--Teddy Roosevelt makes a personal appearance and WWI turns the world upside down. For those expecting the powerful one-note (but perhaps less well-rounded) characterizations which Robinson was often gave, there may be surprises as he ages--and hides out in another country. For others, this is a historical curiosity peopled with familiar early First National Faces.

Bohemian Edward G. Robinson has to take over his late father's meatpacking business. He tries to run it honestly but eventually becomes corrupt. Meanwhile, he takes opera singer Kay Francis as his mistress, which doesn't sit well with wife Genevieve Tobin. Slow-moving melodrama with moments of unintended hilarity. The romantic scenes are especially bad. Kay Francis hams it up, as was her tendency. You either like her or you don't. I dare you not to laugh when she sings "Home on the Range." Eddie Robinson does fine, except for the aforementioned romantic scenes. He has zero chemistry with Francis. Genevieve Tobin is badly miscast as the villainous wife. She was better suited playing likable characters. It's a pretty boring effort. Final line of the movie sums it up best: "I'm sleepy."

"I Loved a Woman" is a 1933 film starring Edward G. Robinson and Kaye Francis. It's the story of an art-lover in the Victorian era whose family is in the meat-packing business in Chicago. With his father's death, John Hayden cuts his trip to Greece short to go home and take over the company. A humanitarian, he is interested in making life better for the employees by cleaning up the packing house district where the employees live, and he is not interested in the cut-rate practices of his competitors. He meets and falls in love with the pretty Martha Lane, whose father is just such a competitor and in need of money. Martha, too, is interested in causes. She and John marry, but they grow apart as she becomes more practical. John is approached by an aspiring opera singer Laura McDonald (Francis) who wants him to back her studies; he agrees, and he falls in love with her. Laura, however, is ruthless and convinces John that he must be, too. He goes against everything he ever believed in to put his company back on top with disastrous results.I have to admit I was less impressed with this film than the first person who commented. First of all, with all of the beautiful operatic music in the world, why is the only song Laura sings "Home on the Range" - many times? Okay, I get the cattle theme but it was too much. And I didn't understand John suddenly becoming this ruthless man willing to send to soldiers overseas bad meat with fillers and other substances. Laura gives him one little lecture, and he turns into a third world dictator.Robinson is very good, though he and Francis wear a lot of makeup. The characters, however, weren't especially likable or sympathetic. John does have the audience's sympathy at the beginning and at the very end, where Robinson's acting really stood out.

Here is yet another of the films from early in Edward G. Robinson's career that has inexplicably and unfortunately been forgotten. A tale which anticipates "Citizen Kane" in an astonishing number of ways, it tells the moving story of a multi-dimensional character transformed from an idealistic and impetuous young man into a ruthless, demanding, ultimately abandoned force in business and politics. Robinson's character, John Hayden, knows how to get what he wants, but is never sure what that really is. Solid performances by a first-rate cast complement a scenario able to cover decades with crisp efficiency.There are some unfortunate sequences in which the dialog becomes florid, stilted, and too much in the manner of a lesser Victorian romance. And the use of "Home On The Range" as a Rosebud motif comes across as ludicrous, to put it charitably. Such flaws, however, do not seriously lessen the impact and entertainment value of this undeservedly obscure picture.