I Loved a Woman

Here is yet another of the films from early in Edward G. Robinson's career that has inexplicably and unfortunately been forgotten. A tale which anticipates "Citizen Kane" in an astonishing number of ways, it tells the moving story of a multi-dimensional character transformed from an idealistic and impetuous young man into a ruthless, demanding, ultimately abandoned force in business and politics. Robinson's character, John Hayden, knows how to get what he wants, but is never sure what that really is. Solid performances by a first-rate cast complement a scenario able to cover decades with crisp efficiency.

There are some unfortunate sequences in which the dialog becomes florid, stilted, and too much in the manner of a lesser Victorian romance. And the use of "Home On The Range" as a Rosebud motif comes across as ludicrous, to put it charitably. Such flaws, however, do not seriously lessen the impact and entertainment value of this undeservedly obscure picture.

During the so-called 'Pre-Code Era', Hollywood was essentially in charge of policing themselves. Considering that there was no rating system AND Hollywood was really pushing the boundaries of morality in many of their films, there was an uproar and in July, 1934, a new, tougher Production Code was adopted...thus heavily sanitizing films for the next three decades. Gone were the old Pre-Code plots and occasional nudity...in now it was a squeaky clean era. "I Loved a Woman" was a Pre-Code film that certainly could NOT have been made just a year later, as its plot glamorizes and seems to excuse adultery...something specifically outlawed in the new Code, as adultery was either NOT to be in films or was to be heavily condemned.

John Hayden (Edward G. Robinson) is the heir to a meatpacking fortune and has just learned that his father has died. Despite claiming to being the champion of improved working conditions, wages and cleanliness, he spends the next few years leaving the company to essentially run itself while he devotes his energy towards raising a family. However, he slowly realizes that his company is going bankrupt AND his wife couldn't care less, as her father is the head of a group of meatpackers who are opposed to Hayden's STATED ideals. I say stated because during his absence from the company, he pretty much ignored his fine talk of running a progressive company.

Now with a company in trouble and a marriage a bit rocky, Hayden decides to run the company like the rest....or worse. Cleanliness and safe hygience mean nothing to him. In addition, he's got a new sweetie (Kay Francis) and his energies are focused on her and making millions...his wife, well, she's expendable. When war breaks out, he's more than happy to sell the government tainted meat for the soldiers! Nice guy, huh? If you haven't guessed, he's essentially a jerk!

So what did I like and not like about this film? What I didn't like was that Hayden changed so dramatically...too dramatically to make any sense. One minute he's a champion of the little people and a good husband, the next he's the opposite. His change was just too abrupt to be believable. On the positive side, the acting is very nice and the film has all the polish you'd expect from a Warner Brothers epic...though I could have done without all the times the film used "Home on the Range". Overall, decent but hardly among Robinson's best...and much of it is because no one in this film is likable and so you lose interest along the way. Plus, it never seems to know when to quit...so it's overlong to boot.

In his acclaimed and enjoyable autobiography All My Yesterdays published in 1973 (the year he died), Edward G. Robinson explained in considerable detail the process that produced the interesting but disjointed movie I Loved a Woman (ILAW). Basically, the prevailing Studio System that was then an integral part of Hollywood movie-making allowed for several people (of varying ability and differing agendas) to modify a novel or play as it became the final screenplay that when shot was the film we finally saw in the theater. Each "contributor"to this process may have worked independently of all the others, and the result was somewhat like "putting Bandaids on boils" rather than attempting to produce the best cure for the condition. As Robinson further explained it, he as an actor/artist also took an interest in fashioning the final script, and often frustrating battles ensued over just how much of his input (if any) would be acceptable. No wonder that ILAW seems like a film that some think is too long and others too short---or that some believe contains incomplete or confusing characterizations while others are bothered by the abrupt/inconsistent aspects of the dramatic narrative.

Nonetheless, ILAW is entertaining and absorbing with its often rambling tale of a Chicago robber baron loosely modeled after real life meat-packer Samuel Insull. And while the romantic scenes between Robinson and his leading ladies Kay Francis and Genevieve Tobin may lack appropriate chemistry or credibility, it cannot be denied that in ILAW Robinson delivered a robust and commanding performance. He was a powerful actor in this early pre-code effort, and certainly gave us every indication that he would evolve into the superb character actor that became his future destiny.

As for veteran director Alfred E. Green, he would go on to direct The Jolson Story, The Fabulous Dorseys and The Eddie Cantor Story among many other films.

ILAW is little known today. That is too bad, because it provides an excellent time capsule that captured three accomplished actors as they were moving into their peak career period, as well as just how the Warner Brothers Studio System actually worked in practice. Next time TCM shows ILAW, check it out!

Young Edward G. Robinson is discovering the art and culture of Greece and finding himself, when he gets a telegram from home. Heir to a beef- packing business, he reads his father has just died. He rushes home but didn't have much plans or a business mind to take over, when he meets Genevieve Tobin, who is an heir to a competitor. In fact, there are several meat-packing companies, but they don't all use pure beef in their product/business. Edward's father did and their business was number one in the industry, in this film was takes place in 1892, just before Teddy Roosevelt becomes President. In fact, Teddy and Eddie meet and become enemies of sorts. But, I'm ahead of myself. Getting married to Genevieve Tobin, and using only prime beef, Eddie does take over, but the business does not do so well, just adequate and others become more successful. Meanwhile, a young aspiring opera singer (Kay Francis) looking for a backer comes to him, asking for capital as an investment. When he hears her sing and she knows his favorite song, "Home on the Range," he obviously falls for her. But what he didn't realize was that she was what she was. She did form a fond attachment for him, but never claimed to love only him. She was a very cavalier lover. When he is inspired by her gusto to live life fully and go for the gold, he becomes ruthless in getting contracts for his business and in cutting costs, not always using premium beef, like everyone else. But in his getting fat deals, his food affects more people, more important people. So when the fit hits the shan, he is the scapegoat. Meanwhile, Genevieve learns about Kay and she lives for the day to show Edward up. This is a very well-made film that does not overdo its dramatics. In fact, this played out very well and was very realistic. While not a very important film or that great a film in the long run, it really delivers with great performances by all. This was not a turkey by no means, as Edward felt he was being thrown into them by the movie studio all the time. They were uninspired and repetitive to him, as he was a stage actor by heart. He never understood the appeal of "Little Caesar," despite the fact it made him an overnight movie star. Playing a gangster was not all that it was hyped up to be, but this film he felt at least was "about something," as he said in his autobiography. And, he had fond memories of Kay Francis. If you see this on TCM one day, watch and enjoy Edward G. Robinson, one of Hollywood's most versatile actors, who earned an Honorary Oscar for his performances of men in all walks of life.

I love pre-code films, often even when they're less than great. They're usually so fast-paced, packing more plot and ideas into one hour than today's movies do in two and a half, that one is willing to overlook inconsistencies and implausibilities in the script, if such occur.

But when they reach an hour and a half, they sometimes bog down and become as dull as the inane films the Production Code later foisted on us.

This film is a good example. The history of Edward G. Robinson's transformation from a young idealist inheriting his father's meat-packing business to a ruthless capitalist defies credulity both for his naivete and the ease of his rise to the top when he discards his scruples. The characters are mostly one-dimensional stereotypes. The character of his opera star mistress, a somewhat miscast Kay Francis, who eggs him on with Nietzschean pep talks about dominating the world, sounds like Ayn Rand on steroids.

All this is fine for the first hour or so, when the rapid succession of events keeps you guessing what will happen next and too busy to think about the logic of it all. The last half hour or so, about his well-deserved downfall, goes by much more slowly and grinds to an undramatic ending.

Still worth a look for pre-code fans for Robinson, Francis and other fine actors, but don't put it at the top of your list.