The Sin of Madelon Claudet

Or words to that effect sprang from the snarling mouth of Helen Hayes, anonymous mother of Robert Young in this Award-winning old-timer. Having hit rock bottom, Madelon was caught picking a guy's pocket in a dive bar. As she was leaving he discovered the scam and began to chase her, whereupon she grabbed a beer bottle, smashed it on a table and uttered the defiant words above. The scene is worth the price of admission.

Helen Hayes?? The First Lady Of The American Theater?? Elwood P.Dowd's aunt in "Harvey"?? After I picked myself up off the floor, I realized why she was awarded Best Actress Oscar for her vivid portrayal of a 'fallen' woman who has bad luck and no luck with men. Predictably, she sacrifices everything for her son (Robert Young), who does not know her. Although this has since become a recurrent theme in Hollywood ("Stella Dallas", "Madame X", etc.), this may have been one of the first of it's kind. Helen Hayes puts it over in style in a bravura performance, winning an Oscar in 1931. Fans of the Golden Age, this one is a must.

Helen Hayes is well worthy of the Oscar she won for her performance in this one. The role required her to play a young lover, single mother, wealthy socialite, prisoner, prostitute, and beaten-down old woman, and she did so brilliantly. I found her beautiful and a great actor, particularly at a time when overacting was the norm. The scene where she responds with a humorous puffy facial expression to a question about what someone is like is priceless. Her suggestions of lasciviousness using only her eyes are also great; while the movie is pre-Code and has a suggestive title, it's quite tame. We're all rooting for because she's been driven to such depths quite unfairly, and because she's made the incredible sacrifice of separating herself from her son, so that he can pursue being a doctor, unencumbered by her shame, which back then would have stopped him. It leads to a pretty syrupy ending, but was balanced for the most part, and the supporting cast is also strong.

Parents-sacrificing-themselves-for-their-children's-happiness stories were a dime a dozen in the 1930s, and this one gave Helen Hayes, already known at the time for her stage work, a film vehicle in an attempt to lure her to Hollywood. It didn't take, and Hayes didn't go on to make many notable movies, but she did manage to win two Oscars for her film work, a supporting trophy in 1970 for "Airport," and, 39 years earlier, her first, a Best Actress award for "The Sin of Madelon Claudet."

The movie is standard melodrama stuff, relentless and shameless in its tugging of the heartstrings, but, like many Oscar-winning performances from the Academy's early years, it's easy to see why Hayes impressed voters at the time. The film's histrionics seem dated today, but Hayes is pretty good, and her acting style, much more natural than many of her contemporaries who still had one foot planted firmly in silent films, is refreshing. Toss in the fact that she physically transforms over the course of the movie from fetching young thing to broken down crone, and no wonder the Academy went for her. They still go gaga over that kind of stuff today.

Grade: B

Helen Hayes is well worthy of the Oscar she won for her performance in this one. The role required her to play a young lover, single mother, wealthy socialite, prisoner, prostitute, and beaten-down old woman, and she did so brilliantly. I found her beautiful and a great actor, particularly at a time when overacting was the norm. The scene where she responds with a humorous puffy facial expression to a question about what someone is like is priceless. Her suggestions of lasciviousness using only her eyes are also great; while the movie is pre-Code and has a suggestive title, it's quite tame. We're all rooting for because she's been driven to such depths quite unfairly, and because she's made the incredible sacrifice of separating herself from her son, so that he can pursue being a doctor, unencumbered by her shame, which back then would have stopped him. It leads to a pretty syrupy ending, but was balanced for the most part, and the supporting cast is also strong.

Which do you talk about first? The saccharine, weepy tale of a mother's sacrifice? Or Helen Hayes' superb performance despite the claptrap about a woman who enables the son she gave away to become a great doctor? I'll go with Hayes. As Madelon, she goes from the naively adoring bride of a bounder to the mistress of a criminal nobleman to a fallen woman of the streets to a pathetic bag lady,each phase of her life revealing fresh nuances. No question she deserved the Oscar she won, if only for making the melodrama make sense and coping with direction that was clumsy even for 1932. Worth watching to see an amazingly gifted actress in her prime.