What Every Woman Knows

"What Every Woman Knows" is an odd sort of romance. It involved two people who were in a one-sided relationship. The woman loved the man, and the man just tolerated the woman.

Maggie Wylie (Helen Hayes) was a plain Scottish woman who couldn't find love. Her father and her two brothers were determined to help her get married even if it meant making a man contractually obligated to do so. And that's what they did.

They entered into a bargain with a young rabble rouser named John Shand (Brian Aherne). They would pay for his schooling for five years and in return, he'd have to marry Maggie should she want him. Maggie was well aware of this bargain, and she didn't mind it at all. After the five years were up, Maggie wanted to marry John, and he agreed to marry her per his word, even though he didn't love her. It was a rare movie in that a man was obligated to marry a woman instead of the other way around. That gave it a different sort of feel.

There have been plenty of movies in which a woman goes through with marrying or being with a man out of a sense of duty, but very few men have ever had to be in that situation. I've always felt a little sorry for the women, I didn't feel sorry at all for John Shand. Maggie gave him the option to be free of her, but he was too principled to back out of an agreement he benefited greatly from.

In some ways it was sad watching Maggie sweat and toil for John's benefit in hopes that he would one day love her as she loved him. John was such a serious man that it seemed he would never love anybody. Such a sentiment was put to the test when Lady Sybil Tenterden (Madge Evans) entered the picture.

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Brilliantly constructed movie and the casting is spot on. Intriguing plot - this movie is one that needs to be watched at least twice to pick up the details missed the first time around - maybe the Scottish accents need some adjusting to - If you know the perception of Scottish frugality (especially by those south of the border) the movie really has some hugely comical moments, such as the taxi scene, the newspaper that was never purchased and the expensive shawl moment. Helen Hayes plays the adoring wife of a young politician precisely and the plot has a very positive and surprising ending to what seems like an impossible situation. They just don't make 'em like this any more. I watched this movie for the first time this year (2005) and my only regret is not having seen it years ago - get a copy is my advice and enjoy!

HELEN HAYES indeed made a stage name for herself in this vehicle, but it's hard to see why in this film version of her stage success. BRIAN AHERNE does nicely as her somewhat stuffy husband, but all in all it's clearly aimed at pleasing the followers of Miss Hayes.

She photographs well as the supposedly plain heroine and her Scottish accent is never too jarring--and thankfully, she downplays a lot of her stage mannerisms with a style of acting more suited to the camera. But this tale of a little woman who is really the brains behind her non too bright politically minded husband, is a very modest effort from the pen of Sir James M. Barrie and there is no big payoff for anyone in the cast. Madge Evans has a rather thankless role as the other woman.

Donald Crisp and Lucille Watson have the most to do in supporting roles but have distinguished themselves elsewhere in better material.

Only interesting as an early Helen Hayes vehicle that seems more quaint than charming. As in most films of this period, there is almost no background music to give a lift to any of the stagebound scenes.

Trivia bit: Olivia de Havilland starred at the Westport Country Playhouse in this play--summer stock in 1946--and during the run of the play was married to first husband, writer Marcus Goodrich.

Maybe you have to be Scottish to completely appreciate this, but I've always loved this film. It is great to see Helen Hayes not playing the victim in a film role for once - although she played them well, and Brian Aherne, always a good actor, is a vivacious hunk at age 32, perfect for the role of a man who thinks he is more than he really is.

The story starts out with Maggie Wylie's (Helen Hayes') brothers pacing the floor worrying about what is to become of their baby sister given that she has reached the age of 27 and is unmarried with no prospects. They end up making a deal with a burglar (Aherne as John Shand) to finance his education IF at the end of five years he marries Maggie if she is still single and willing. You see, Shand was a student who ran out of money and has been breaking into the Wylie home every night to read the books they have in their extensive library - and nothing else.

Shand agrees, but manages to waste the money, never gets his education, and the five years is up. A bargain is a bargain to a Scot, and although he wants to run for a seat in Parliament he decides to go for a job in the local foundry instead so he and the still unmarried Maggie can be wed. Maggie insists he go for the Parliament seat instead. He does and wins, due a great deal to Maggie's help.

Now Maggie very much knows that John does not love her, although she seems like she has loved him since he first stood up at a town meeting - prior to the burglary discovery - and insulted the entire town, AND her brother -something the all too outwardly passive Maggie seems itching to have done, but is glad to have John do it instead.

The complication in all of this is two crises collide. John (and Maggie) believe the nation's troubles can be averted by going off the gold standard, but John would have to threaten to resign his seat to make a meaningful stand, AND a beautiful woman of poise has actually captured John's heart - and Maggie knows about it. How does this work out? Watch and find out.

The funny part about all of this is how really clueless the men are in this film which is almost feminist in nature. Maggie's brothers are so concerned about her marital status when none of them are married themselves and are well into what was then called "old bachelorhood". To top it off all three are buffoons. Maggie seems to know this and loves them anyways. The same could be said of Shand, since Maggie is his strength and he seems blind to that, not that he treats her rudely.

I recommend this one. It is very quirky and fun for an early post production code film.

Splendid fare! Delicious dialogue! Pay no heed to comments from twerps with attention deficit disorder, this is a fine and engrossing story, a story for grownups and definitely not a victim of old-fashioned techniques. The only thing "old-fashioned" about this movie is the wealth of interesting, true to life characters down to the last bit player. Helen Hayes is a joy and Lucile Watson perfection, as usual. Brian Aherne as the golden boy is looking tall and handsome, his Scottish accent so unforced that I was surprised to realize it was indeed Brian Aherne. This movie, playing in another room of the house, pulled me in and sat me down. I knew it must have been adapted from a stage play, but couldn't guess the playwright. Ah, Mr. Barrie, thank you for this entertaining, feminist movie -- feminist in the true, classic (non Feminazi) sense of the word.