Marked Woman
by Friz Freleng, Lloyd Bacon, Michael Curtiz, Robert Clampett
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Actor: Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, Isabel Jewell, Lola Lane, Mel BlancDirector: Friz Freleng, Lloyd Bacon, Michael Curtiz, Robert Clampett
Brand: Warner Brothers
Writer: Abem Finkel
Writer: Ernest Gee
Writer: Robert Rossen
Writer: Seton I. Miller
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0
Format: Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 96 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-05-30
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Warner Home Video
DVD Reviews of Marked Woman
DVD Review: Davis Delivers In Knock-Out 'Torn From Today's Headlines' Gangster Classic
Summary: 5 Stars
Bette Davis distinguished herself as an actress in the early 1930s--but even with an Oscar to her credit she found the films offered to her by home studio Warner Brothers increasingly weak. She decided to break her contract, fled to England, and was soon embroiled in a lawsuit that she lost. But as Davis later noted, she lost the battle but won the war: her rebellion forced Warner Brothers to take her demands seriously, and upon returning to the studio she received MARKED WOMAN.
The story was very loosely based on mob boss 'Lucky' Luciano, who was felled by the testimony of New York prostitutes who revolted against his abusive reign. By 1937 Hollywood was under the "production code," a self-censorship program; consequently the script was somewhat veiled; even so, it went quite a bit further than most other films of its time. In the process it firmly re-established Davis as both actress and star and gave Humphrey Bogart a push toward the major stardom he would acheive in the 1940s.
New York night spot Club Intime is a reasonably respectable lounge until it is taken over by mob boss Johnny Vanning (Eduardo Ciannelli), who adds illegal gambling to the club's attractions and lays down harsh new rules for the "hostesses" in his employ--including Mary Dwight (Davis), who proves as tough as her new boss. But when a club patron is found dead, all the girls are caught up in the investigation, including Mary's innocent kid sister Betty (Jane Bryan.) And when Betty herself falls prey to Vanning, Mary determines to even up the score "if I have to crawl back from the grave to do it!"
The script is somewhat inconsistent in the way it presents its characters, who tend to shift in unexpected ways as the film progresses, but the cast easily overrides this defect. This is particularly true of the "hostesses," which include Lola Lane, Mayo Methot (who would marry Humphrey Bogart after the film wrapped), Isabell Jewel (best recalled as Emmy Slattery in GONE WITH THE WIND), and Rosalind Marquis. Bogart is memorable as the district attorney who convinces the girls to testify; so too is Eduardo Ciannelli as mob boss Vanning. But the film belongs to Davis, and she makes the most of it.
Where most film stars worked hard to maintain a glamorous image on the screen, Davis was among the very few who was willing to "look bad" on screen. When Ciannelli slaps her across the face in a pivitol scene, there's no doubt that the slap is real, and although Mary's beating at the hands of mobsters is played off screen it is power stuff--and so to are the results of the beating. According to film lore, Davis was greatly displeased with the dainty bandages the studio gave her for post-beating scenes and went to her own doctor for more realistic ones; she also insisted on realistic make-up in her hospital scenes. Audiences of the day were shocked by the film's brutality.
While it is flawed in terms of inconsistent characters and in the necessity of bowing to censorship of the day, MARKED WOMAN is an extremely, extremely watchable film and a must for Davis fans, as well as fans of 1930s ganster drama. The print offered here is as good as it gets short of digital remastering, and while the bonuses are slim the featurette "Marked Woman: Ripped from the Headlines" is both informative and enjoyable. Recommended.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
Description of Marked Woman
A JUKE JOINT HOSTESS BECOMES ENTANGLED WITH A GANGSTER IN A VENGEFUL PLOT.Bestsellers in DVD
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