Madame X

A woman (Gladys George) is forced to leave her baby to avoid scandal when her husband (Warren William) throws her out for being unfaithful. Her son grows up thinking she is dead. Twenty years later she kills a blackmailer who threatens to expose her secret. The son (John Beal) is now an attorney and is assigned to represent the woman, with no idea that she's his mother.

Gladys George is amazing in one of her best roles. Good supporting cast includes Reginald Owen, Henry Daniell, and George Zucco. Ruth Hussey has a single but important scene. It's always nice to see her. Only weakness in the cast is John Beal. He's out of his depth and it shows. Best of all the film versions of Madame X. It's one of those "power of a mother's love" tearjerkers that were so popular in the 1930s.

Gladys George is "Madame X" in this 1937 version of the famous story - it's 1937, and this is already the second remake. The first was in 1929. The film also stars Warren William, John Beal, and Henry Daniell.

MGM pared down this production after a deal fell through which would have brought Tyrone Power in as Jacqueline's adult son and Shirley Temple in "The Wizard of Oz" from Fox and taken Gable and Harlow to Fox for "In Old Chicago." Harlow's death killed the deal, and I think all of the actors involved were better for it, except, of course, for Harlow. Power got to star in the important "In Old Chicago" instead of a supporting role; Judy Garland ended up as Dorothy; and Gable was able to stay away from another disaster film after "San Francisco."

There are story differences from the 1966 Lana Turner film, and I'm not sure which version is more accurate to the book. One thing that is definitely more accurate is Jacqueline's addiction to absinthe in the 1966 version, which isn't mentioned in 1937. Since the 1929 version has the alternate title of "Absinthe," I guess it was part of that script, and most likely the book a well. In this version, Jacqueline is thrown out by her husband (Warren William) for infidelity, and the boyfriend is murdered by another woman; William doesn't have a mother who engineers the exile to avoid a scandal after the accidental death of a man pursuing Jacqueline. The rest of the story is about the same.

Warren William by this time was playing flirtatious detectives - this role really hearkens back to the days when he played a villain, and he's very good. Henry Daniell is excellent as the blackmailer. John Beal, as Jacqueline's son, is so handsome in a Tyrone Power-esquire way, and he has a big, melodramatic monologue in court toward the end of the film. He does a great job, though of course the acting style today seems over the top. I had the pleasure of meeting him many years ago, and he was a lovely man. Though he never achieved stardom, he worked constantly through the '30s and '40s in film, constantly in television through the '50s, and through the '60s to the '90s, alternated between stage, film, and television.

This brings me to Gladys George, who wound up in supporting roles shortly after this film. George is magnificent as Jacqueline. A beautiful woman and great actress, she certainly showed in this film what she was capable of. She went on giving wonderful performances until her sad death in 1954 from a stroke, complicated by cirrhosis of the liver. Difficult personal problems definitely affected her career, but she left a fine legacy, "Madame X" being but one.

Not many cheers in this picture but lots of drinking, and drinking, etc. This must be Gladys George's best performance, even better than in "Valiant Is The Word For Carrie" (1936), for which she won an Oscar nom but is rarely on TV. The picture depicts the precipitous fall from grace of a Parisian socialite, who is turned out of her home by her unforgiving husband after an adulterous affair.

So good is she in her role as a fallen woman that the movie is almost unwatchable at times, and the lower she descends the more sympathetic she becomes. Her portrayal of a floozy is perhaps the best characterization you will ever see, especially when she is drunk. There was not one scene in which she was off the mark in this picture - she was 'spot on', as they say.

The film has a 'B' picture feel, with Warren William and John Beal in crucial roles, although I think it was probably an 'A' in its time. I was very surprised and was not expecting George's extraordinary performance. I thought she was better here than Stanwyck was in another soaper, "Stella Dallas" (1937), and she gives you a better rooting interest.

In Paris, neglected blonde Gladys George (as Jacqueline Fleuriot) decides to end her affair with a handsome young man. She has decided to patch up her marriage to wealthy lawyer Warren William (as Bernard Fleuriot) and attend to their son. Alas, the timing for Ms. George's turnabout is bad. Another woman discovers the couple and causes an explosive scene. Barely making it home ahead of the police, George learns her own husband has discovered her dalliance. He throws George out on the streets. She drowns her sorrows in alcohol and is passed from man to man. Now mostly drunk, George lets her identity slip while living with deliciously sleazy Henry Daniell (as Lerocle). To protect her adult lawyer son John Beal (as Raymond Fleuriot) from scandal, George gets herself in trouble with the law...

MGM had already released an "all-talking" version of the warhorse "Madame X" in 1929, which resulted in "Academy Award" nominations for its star (Ruth Chatterton) and director (Lionel Barrymore). They didn't get any "Oscar" consideration, but star Gladys George and director Sam Wood do at least as well as their predecessors. The leading role is one with which several of MGM's big female stars could have acted up a storm. While not in the studio's upper tier, George is definitely up for the task. She probably should have been nominated for a "Best Actress" award. In the story's climatic moments, George and Mr. Beal hit melodramatic heights of mythological proportions, but Mr. Wood and his crew move it along beautifully and George keeps you interested in her degradation and fate.

******** Madame X (10/1/37) Sam Wood ~ Gladys George, John Beal, Warren William, Henry Daniell

Other versions of this women's picture I have seen are creaky. This one is not melodrama, or doesn't play like it. It is drama, thanks to its title character.

Gladys George is a sadly neglected actress who worked steadily for her short life. She was attractive but, as in this movie, willing to look like a sloven if the script called for that. Her gravely voice was unique. And what skills as an actress!

The rest of this is more stylishly directed than other versions of "Madame X." But the other performers are mediocre.

This is a must-see for a performance that truly ought to have won an Academy Award for Ms. George.