Once a lady
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Once a lady |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1931 |
| length | 78 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Guthrie McClintic |
| script | Zoe Akins |
| production | Paramount |
| music |
Dave Dreyer Karl Hajo's Herman Hand |
| camera | Charles Lang |
| occupation | |
| |
Once a Lady is a 1931 American film starring Ruth Chatterton .
action
Anna Keremazoff marries the English nobleman Penwick, a boring man without esprit. Shortly after the birth of their daughter Faith, the problems begin with his bigoted family, who reject the fun-loving nature of Anna. The constant quarrels with his relatives wear down Anna, who soon meets Casanova Bennett Cloud on a train ride, who seduces the inexperienced woman and corrupts her morally. Feelings of guilt drive Anna to abandon her husband and child, and she fakes her own death in a train wreck to save both of them the scandal. Over the years, Anna drifts from one rich lover to the next. She acquires great wealth herself, but inwardly longs for her child. One day she meets again with her husband, who has annulled his marriage to Anna. Both have a heated argument in which Anna realizes that her ex-husband wants to ruin the life of their daughter through rigid moral codes. Anna blackmails her ex-husband, and the daughter finds true happiness. Accompanied by her current lover, an incredibly wealthy industrialist, Anna goes to America.
background
Ruth Chatterton had been a big star since the early days of talkies, and Paramount Pictures bestowed her on the title "First Lady of the Screen," which MGM was also using for Norma Shearer . However, with the rise of Marlene Dietrich , Chatterton's popularity quickly declined. Most of the time, the actress played self-confident women of better society who use their sexual stimuli to add fun and excitement to their otherwise boring life. The great success of Madame X , which showed the actress as a fallen woman who sinks deeper and deeper, to end up in court for murder, led to countless variations on the theme. In Once a Lady , Chatterton's ability to credibly adopt foreign accents was also highlighted. In Lullaby from the previous year, Chatterton played a German immigrant and received praise from the critics for her careful modulation of the initially heavy German accent and a nomination for the Oscar for best actress at the 1930 Academy Awards (November) . Ruth Chatterton took on the role in Once a Lady , the remake of the 1928 silent film Three Sinners starring Pola Negri , only because of the promise that Broadway director Guthrie McClintic would direct. Ivor Novello took on a supporting role at the express request of Chatterton, with whom he had been friends for several years. The finished film fell through with both critics and audiences.
criticism
In the New York Times , Mordaunt Hall wrote on November 9, 1931:
"Time flies quickly for those involved and Miss Chatteron becomes a sexy blonde instead of an old woman."
Web links
- Once a lady in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Literature on the subject of pre-code films
- Mark A. Viera: Sin in Soft Focus: Pre-Code Hollywood, ISBN 978-0-8109-4475-6
- Mick LaSalle: Complicated Women: Sex and Power in Pre-Code Hollywood - ISBN 978-0-312-28431-2
- Thomas Doherty: Pre-Code Hollywood. ISBN 978-0-231-11095-2
- Lea Jacobs: The Wages of Sin: Censorship and the Fallen Woman Film, 1928-1942 - ISBN 978-0-520-20790-5
Footnotes
- ↑ Time deals quite lightly with the persons involved and Miss Chatterton, instead of becoming gray, is transformed into a dazzling blonde.