The Life of Vergie Winters
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The Life of Vergie Winters |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1934 |
| length | 75 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Alfred Santell |
| script | Jane Murfin |
| production | Pandro S. Berman for RKO |
| music | Max Steiner |
| camera | Lucien Andriot |
| occupation | |
| |
The Life of Vergie Winters is an American melodrama starring Ann Harding . The film is a typical example of the Confession Tales . The world premiere was on June 14, 1934.
action
In 1910 the young Vergie Winters falls in love with the handsome John Shadwell, who comes from a family of better society. His relatives break the relationship and John appropriately marries the cold-hearted Laura. Vergie has meanwhile become pregnant by John and gives her child John and Laura for adoption. Again and again John Vergie offers the divorce, but this nobly and well-behaved refrains from building her happiness on the ruins of a failed relationship. Instead, she becomes the successful owner of an elegant fashion salon and soon has the very best company among her customers. John has maintained a relationship with Vergie over the years and at the same time tries everything in his power to persuade Laura to divorce. When he finally found some leverage to get rid of his wife, she shoots him in a fit of jealousy. Inexplicably, Vergie Winters takes the blame and goes to jail in place of Laura. Years later, on her deathbed, Laura confesses the truth and Vergie can finally embrace her daughter.
background
Films like The Life of Vergie Winters have been part of the standard repertoire of every studio since the beginning of the sound film era . The productions confession tales ( commitment movies ), portrayed the suffering of women who had fallen to the wrong man, and all the problems that had opened up after the failed relationship. Very often the heroine was pregnant, but unmarried. In order to be able to feed herself and the child, she either had the choice of becoming a prostitute, such as Helen Hayes in The Sin of Madelon Claudet or Marlene Dietrich in Blonde Venus . Or she gave up her child for adoption, like Ann Harding in Devotion from 1932 or Gallant Lady from 1934, Barbara Stanwyck in Stella Dallas or Kay Francis in The House on 56th Street .
All the films had in common that they mostly showed women as self-confident characters who actively approached their fate and tried to find a way out of the apparently hopeless situation. It was particularly important to provide the heroine with the highest level of glamor and to give her a new, lavish wardrobe for each setting. The logic and credibility of the story sometimes fell by the wayside when the heroine almost died of hunger, but wore a fur coat and clothes made of velvet or lamé.
Theatrical release
Production costs were $ 331,000, compared to a total revenue of $ 654,000. The studio ended up making a profit of $ 84,000.