George Bernard Shaw delivered his lecture 'The Quintessence of Ibsenism' in 1890 after which English theatre would never be quite the same again. 'Mrs. Warren's Profession' is the third of what he called his 'unpleasant' plays, in which he attacks the evils of capitalism and stifling, outmoded social conventions which thrive courtesy of hypocrisy, complacency and self-interest. He avoids being self-righteous of course and peppers his plays with tremendous wit. His characters talk a great deal but are certainly never dull!
This play has been adapted by Anatole de Grunwald, certainly no stranger to filmic versions of Shaw and capably directed by Hungarian Atos von Ráthonyi. Needless to say, lengthy speeches have been truncated but it remains pretty faithful to the original whilst in the flashback scenes Ráthonyi has taken the action out of the proscenium arch.
The constant struggle in film between art and box office is apparent in the casting of the title character, a former prostitute who has risen from the slums and now owns a string of high class brothels and who is described by Shaw as a 'vulgar but fairly presentable old blackguard of a woman'. Enter Lilli Palmer! This splendid artiste is wonderfully touching in the role of a woman who is spurned by her high-minded daughter but she is far too classy and elegant for the role. Of course for those who haven't seen the original, devotees of the wondrous Miss Palmer will not care a jot. In the role of her business partner, the thoroughly cynical and degenerate Sir George Crofts, we have 0. E. Hasse, one of Germany's finest actors, probably best known as the villain in Hitchcock's 'I confess'. He too is a far cry from Shaw's description of a 'tall, gentlemany brute' but as with Miss Palmer, his performance is simply too good for it to matter to any but Shavian purists. Johanna Matz is very taking as Mrs. Warren's self-confident daughter and their duologues are excellent.
Thomas Mann said of Shaw that although 'he points a finger at human frailty, his jests are never at the expense of humanity.' This comment applies perfectly to this portrait of a woman who has been forced by an uncaring society to ply a trade which has made her wealthy but also a pariah in 'civilised' circles.
