A Wicked Woman (1934)

You won't be disappointed!

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

"A Wicked Woman" hit the screens in 1934. It is a melodrama with a solid core of morality. Nono Trice (Mady Christians) is a young woman living in extreme poverty with her moonshiner husband. On the run from the sheriff, the husband is going to dump Nono and take the eldest boy with him. She can't allow this and ends up shooting the drunken husband and dumping his body in the bayou. The next day she gives birth to her fourth child, a boy with a deformed leg.The young mother leaves town with the children and begins to turn herself into a different woman through education. She is an extremely strict disciplinarian--so harsh that a modern viewer would disapprove. She changes her name to Naomi Stroud and eventually becomes a high end dressmaker.When the children grow up, Naomi cannot let go of them, trying to hold them in childhood for their own protection. They, naturally, rebel-- discovering alcohol, dancing and dating. Naomi herself acquires a boyfriend in the person of a local newspaper editor (Charles Bickford). The youngest girl (Jean Peters) is dating a young, sleek and villainous Robert Taylor. Taylor is a louse who ends up injuring Curt (William Henry), the oldest boy. Naomi bargains with God (for the second time) that if Curt lives she will go back and turn herself in for murder.Naomi's defense is that she was protecting her children but she produces no children in court and is about to be convicted. At the last moment her whole family arrives, with her boyfriend, and she goes free and marries the boyfriend. The cast also includes Betty Furness as the older daughter and Sterling Holloway as her boyfriend.So why is this more than a soap opera? Because Naomi is self-sacrificing (perhaps a bit much so) but she is determined to better herself and bring her children up to be responsible citizens. In our current era of anything goes, this message probably seems laughable to many viewers. Education, honesty, propriety and courage may seem out of date, but they are not.Note: At this point MGM did not know what to do with Robert Taylor. No one anticipated that he would eventually earn the studio well over $150,000,000.

This is an amazingly dull film that just never seemed to gel for me. Despite a very, very promising initial scene, the film never seemed to capitalize on this or establish much momentum. Perhaps some of this was the leading lady's fault, Mady Christians, as her Austrian accent came and went throughout the film. More of the problem seems to be that the writing was poor--with uninvolving characters and plot.The film begins with an extremely melodramatic but exciting scene. An abusive husband returns home--announcing he's leaving his pregnant wife and taking his oldest son. When she tries to reason with him, the brute attacks her and she shoots him dead in self defense. While she had LOTS of provocation, she chose to throw the body in the swamp. Then, in an odd twist, she learns that this jerk had just shot the sheriff (but he didn't shoot the deputy) and the injured sheriff came looking for him. So, he's wanted for attempted murder and he just attacked his wife. So why, then, did she not bother to tell the sheriff that she shot him and did the world a favor?! Why not resolve this plot element? And, most importantly, why was this plot element all but forgotten by the next scene.In a bizarre bit or writing, apparently Christian decides that being nice to her kids will make them weak and irresponsible. So, she becomes tough and a bit emotionally abusive...but she also works her butt off for the kids. Suddenly, years pass and the poor family has somehow made it thanks to Christian's hard work--though, oddly, some of the kids seemed to never age. Now, the story becomes a bit of a soap opera with lots of truly boring subplots--a daughter who wants to grow up too fast and run off with her boyfriend (Robert Taylor), this boyfriend subsequently injuring Christian's son, Christian finding a boyfriend (Charles Bickford) and a variety of other plots. Had the viewer actually cared about these people, then this soap would have been more interesting. But, as it is, the plot elements come but seem to have no impact. And, incidentally, the story just bored me to tears--even if it did feature one of Robert Taylor's earliest screen roles. With a title like "A Wicked Woman", you'd sure expect something wicked or exciting! Too bad.

It would seem that the "woman sacrifices everything for her children" storyline was rather popular back in the 1930's. This is yet another one out of that pipeline and it's a competent effort with fluid direction from a veteran of silents, Charles Brabin (he puts together a couple of striking montages and seems to handle actors well). Interestingly, it was his last film. I had never EVER heard of Mady Christians going in but she certainly comes across as an especially passionate and forceful actress. She over-does it a bit at times but no one will ever accuse her of lacking conviction. Film is also noteworthy in featuring a relatively young Charles Bickford (he was in his early 40's) in a romantic role. He seems a tad uncomfortable when required to swoon, so he says his lines as quickly as possible in an effort to get it over with. Guess he was just born crusty.The real tragedy here is the pairing of beautiful young Betty Furness with that cartoon-voiced scarecrow Sterling Holloway. If Christians' plight doesn't put a lump in your throat, Holloway's charmless, bewilderingly successful pursuit of Furness definitely will.

Another good film performance by that GREAT actor, Charles Bickford, and also by Mady Christians. In fact, it is the performance of Miss Christians that this film hinges on, as without her, it would be a very dull film. It is too bad that Miss Christians never had a chance to become a big star in America as she had been in Europe, as she is a very good actress!! This film has one of the first performances of Robert Taylor and he does a very good job, as does all the supporting players in this film. I enjoyed this film and think you will too, if you get to see it on television.