Mulher Caluniada

I must admit I have been a Hedy Lamarr fan since "Algiers", which was a great big hit back in 1938, so I do not understand some reviewers here saying, unfortunately, most of her movies are "forgettable". She was one actress that one can just go and admire her looks. Other gorgeous actress's, and there were plenty, never given me that same effect. As for her other 'unforgettable' films she was fine in "H.M Pulham, esq.", "Comrade X", "Tortilla Flat","Experiment Perilous", and "The Strange Woman".In all her roles, someone, the leading man, feature players always had to comment on her beauty...like we had to be reminded. I never heard those attributes given to other leading actress's of that period...Rita, Gene and etc. So there must have been a reason for her to get that title of 'the most beautiful woman in films". Aside from her looks, I always thought she was a fine actress, and a fine comedienne, when given such roles, which were few... . In this movie, she had one 'drunken' scene that I thought she was great. I actually believed she was 'high'. it was the scene in the night club where she was suppose to help her gossipy ex-coworker. It's not easy to portray someone that is 'high' on a few drinks..one can actually see when one is overdoing it. Another trivia ...it took another studio, Paramount, to put her in a Technicolor movie, "Samson & Delilah" for the first time after being at MGM, since 1938...11 years later. During that same period, Betty Grable was making technicolor movies, one after another musical and Dorothy Lamour with her Jungle roles.

Hedy Lamarr once remarked, I believe, that most of her films were pretty forgettable. If she didn't, then most of her critics did. Maybe, looking back on them, none stood out as exceptional. But they can be called good for what they were. This film, Dishonored Lady, is one such example. It may not win any awards and may not be that important in the long scheme of things, but this is a good little programmer (or 'b' picture) that really packs a wallop and entertains for about 90 minutes. We open on Hedy sitting in her car, and after a time and after a cop asking if she's okay, she rams her car into a tree. A psychiatrist saves her and tries to get her to tell him her problems. She's thankful for his interest, but leaves not planning on going back. We then see how things develop as she ultimately leaves her job, wanting to find peace somewhere. She changes her name for a fresh start and meets Dennis O'Keefe, who's another tenant in the apartment. John Loder (who was one of Hedy Lamarr's husbands in real life) plays a client of hers from the fashion job who finds her in her new place and from there, things happen. William Lundigan, Morris Carnovsky as the psychiatrist, Natalie Schafer (from "Gilligan's Island",) Paul Cavanaugh, Douglas Dumbrille, and Margaret Hamilton (the Wicked Witch of the West from "The Wizard of Oz") make up the rest of the cast. Their names may not mean much to the average person today, but these are all very reliable actors who make the film even more enjoyable. What's unique about Lundigan and O'Keefe being in the same picture here is that usually they were competing for the same type of roles in films, the young man usually on the right side of the law and is set on solving a murder that is thrust upon them. Sometimes they played a detective and other times they were an average Joe, with a murder rap on their head to clear. If you ever get a chance to catch a "Dishonored Lady," see it for yourself. It may be one of the best of Hedy Lamarr's "forgettable films."

It moves rather slowly much of the time, but this is an interesting drama with a performance from Hedy Lamarr that is well worth seeing in itself. The story is rather ambitious, and though it does not always fit together as well as it could have, it has a number of interesting aspects centering on Lamarr's character, Madeleine.

Madeleine is an interesting and complex character, starting out as a hard-driving, self-absorbed art editor, confronting an emotional crisis, and then starting a new life that brings its own challenges. It's a great role, and Lamarr fills it pretty well and makes good use of the material. The character is well-drawn enough to make the movie as a whole worthwhile despite a number of flaws elsewhere.

The supporting cast is solid, though most of the secondary characters don't have as much depth. They usually serve mainly to drive the plot and/or to develop the main character further. The psychiatrist character seems just a little exaggerated now, since the assumptions he makes are no longer accepted unquestioningly. The character would still work all right if he were made less infallible and inflexible.

The first part of the story probably works the best, painting an interesting picture of the changes in Madeleine's life. The courtroom sequence in the second half sometimes seems a bit contrived, but dramatically it works all right. Overall, the movie seems as if it could have been better with a few improvements, but it's worth seeing, and Lamarr provides a good reason to watch it.

I've just seen Dishonored Lady for the first time and quite enjoyed it.

A fashion editor of a magazine has a breakdown after she crashes her car. She is taken in by a psychiatrist and when she has recovered, heads to New York where stays in an apartment block and has a new identity too. She falls in love with a scientist and also a millionaire. This millionaire is then murdered and she gets the blame for it, even though she didn't do it. Can she clear her name in court?

The cast includes Hedy Lamarr, Dennis O'Keefe and John Lodar. With the Wicked Witch of the West herself, Margaret Hamilton as a landlady.

Dishonored Lady is worth checking out. Enjoyable.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

This movie was generally well made. The critics have not been kind to this movie over the years. I think it had a 'dream and erotic' quality. I think it did a good job of implying sexual behavior, so as not to incense censors of that time. Hedy was beautiful, and I thought her rather ambiguous performance, gave the film a nice sense of mystery. Again, the supporting cast was generally second rate. I think budget concerns were responsible for some rather lack-luster actors. I do believe Hedy Lamarr needed strong supporting performances, to help carry her movies, and inspire her performances.