A Woman's Vengeance

Trailer—A Woman's Vengeance

In this classic Universal film Jessica Tandy plays a refined woman cast aside by a handsome man (Charles Boyer). And as her subsequent behavior demonstrates, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. The story might have worked better if Tandy was playing a mentally unstable wife or a hostile ex-wife. Or if there had been a huge backstory where she was his first love, things didn't work out, and he moved on but she never got over it. Instead, Boyer has a perfectly refined wife played by Rachel Kempson who becomes ill and dies. After a sufficient period of mourning, Boyer realizes he has fallen in love with a much younger woman (Ann Blyth). Their May-December romance is unconventional to say the least, and it sets tongues wagging in the couple's upper crust community. This drives Tandy's character to emotional extremes since she secretly hoped he would have chosen her after his wife's death. She is harboring her own unrequited feelings. But since there is no real backstory, we don't really learn how these intense feelings on her part even came about in the first place. In spite of the various inadequacies of the plot, Tandy has more than enough skill to etch out a strong characterization. She gives us a despondent woman who only wants to be loved. It is the curse of her character, Janet Spence, to be in the same socio-economic circle as Henry Maurier (Boyer). She wouldn't have been able to avoid him if she tried, since they share a lot of the same friends and acquaintances. We're not really supposed to root for Janet, but Tandy does such a good job drawing us in, that we cannot help but feel total sympathy for her...even when her more heinous deeds come to light. Ann Blyth, lovely as she may be, is the weakest link in the cast. She does not have the acting chops or experience that Boyer or Tandy bring to the proceedings. And when you put her alongside other supporting players like Mildred Natwick, Cedric Hardwicke and John Williams, plus Kempson, she pales even more by comparison. Still, I think Blyth projects the requisite amount of naivety. Getting back to Jessica Tandy, she gives a dark performance. And it is no surprise that she would do electrifying things on Broadway- for example, playing Blanche Dubois in Elia Kazan's original stage version of 'A Streetcar Named Desire.' In the 50s & 60s Miss Tandy would occasionally turn up in films or on television shows. She experienced a career resurgence in the 1980s, and eventually received an Oscar for DRIVING MISS DAISY (1989). But I think she gives her very best performance as jilted, demented Janet whose ability to exact vengeance makes Cruella de Vil look like an amateur.

The wife, with an heart disease, is blatantly quite a nuisance in herself, and the husband is a more or less known womanizer. She dies, and everybody have seen the husband serving her a glass of wine containing her medicine, the day of her death. So - if he was the murderer - the movie would have been ended at 10 minutes from the start. Which is impossible, as the film drags on for another hour and 25 minutes. The other possible murderer is the husband's lover. Something more shall happen to keep the audience's attention alive: some new unexpected suspects, some new turns of events, something... Nothing! At the end, the husband's lover is precisely the killer. You lost 1 hours 25 minutes of your life.

An excellent psychological thriller , based on Aldous Huxley's novella (adapted by himself,but the Mona Lisa title was better than that of the film) , with a stellar cast . Although "Rebecca " was written after Huxley's work , there are shades of Du Maurier's tale : "I feel she's still here" ;in the movie, (like in real life),Boyer is French : il s'appelle Maurier ici ! The scene of the thunder over the house is a great moment to rival the best of Gothic horror movies ;and it' not gratuitous for it comes back in the extraordinary final Boyer/Tandy confrontation which makes your hair stand on end ;the way both are filmed (she seems to be an exterminating angel watching him in Hell) is stunning. In my book ,Tandy steals the show from Blyth . This "beyond the grave" vengeance will remind you of Stahl's "leave her to heaven " (1946); it's a must for Gothic melodramas buffs.

Strangely enough, this is the first time I have watched this film. I was intrigued to see that it was written by Aldous Huxley, a favourite author of mine. Expecting a fairly run of the mill 30's melodrama I was surprised just how good this was. The characters are nuanced and flawed and not particularly likeable, as is nearly always the case with Huxley's characters, The views are of their time. Women are past it at 30 and their non-acceptance of that reality is to be derided; take a listen to Cedric Hardwicke's character. Overall, it was quite a grown-up movie, with themes which could not be broadcast, given the time, but were nevertheless there. What really blew me away was Jessica Tandy's brilliant performance, her back and forth with Cedric Hardwicke towards the end of the film, was spell binding.

Zoltan Korda does a fine job of directing this film noir. He particularly succeeds in extracting superior performances from the suave Boyer, the self-pitying Kempson, the vengeful Tandy and, above all, Cedric Hardwicke as the highly professional psychologist who solves the whodunnit. Great photography and some very good dialogue. Definitely worth watching!

When Charles Boyer's wife, Rachel Kempson, dies prematurely, all suspicion falls on him, especially since they had a bad marriage and he was cheating on her with the beautiful, much younger Ann Blyth. He marries Ann shortly after Rachel's death, but their very adorable bliss is cut short when he gets suspected of murder. It's an easy conclusion to come to; after all, he was in Gaslight! Aldous Huxley, adapting the script from his short story, has written a thoughtful, exciting, romantic drama, while many other films with a similar plot are just written to be a cheap thriller. If you're tired of the same old whodunnit, check out A Woman's Vengeance. There are many thoughtful speeches about life, death, love, and the preciousness of time, that you'll probably remember long after you watch this hidden gem. Cedric Hardwicke plays the family doctor and friend, and while he isn't particularly warm, he's very intelligent and important to the story. Mildred Natwick plays Rachel's nurse, and although she's very upset about her mistress's death, she was hoping to inherit a broach. Jessica Tandy is a neighbor harboring a long-standing crush on Charles, and her spastic, emotional craze is evident even in her earliest scenes. I might be a little picky, since I have a special relationship with A Streetcar Named Desire, but it felt like Jessica was trying to remind everyone of her success as Blanche duBois. It's difficult to pick one star of this show, because it's a very good movie all-around, but if there is only one, it's Ann Blyth. Incredibly beautiful and adapting herself to a role different than she'd ever played, she's young without being naïve, uncultured without being un-classy, romantic without being stupid, and sensual without being loose. Every one of those characteristics is difficult to pull off, and they're all necessary for the plot of the movie to be meaningful. Charles Boyer is also very good, giving a sensitive performance rather than an over-the-top performance. Watch this movie. It's exciting from start to finish.

Aldous Huxley possessed one of the greatest intellects and was one of the most original thinkers of the Twentieth, or indeed, any century. He also made a great deal of money writing screenplays in Hollywood. His short story of 1922 'The Giaconda Smile' is his most anthologised and so as not to baffle the average cinema-goer the title here has been changed to 'A Woman's Vengeance' which merely serves to give the game away from the outset! We should be grateful at least that the adaptation has not been assigned to some Hollywood hack but has been done by the author himself although the infernal compromises of film have obliged him to deviate from his original. The suspected wife poisoner has been transformed from the flawed Anglo-Saxon Hutton to the Gallic Maurier of inveterate charmer Charles Boyer and his naive bit of fluff Doris, played by Ann Blythe, is needless to say no longer a Cockney! The character of Janet Spence, described by Huxley as resembling Agrippina 'or perhaps George Robey', is played by Jessica Tandy. All do what they do very well but it is the performance of the superlative Miss Tandy that lingers longest. She depicts frustrated passion and sexual repression as strongly as would have been permitted at the time and is absolutely riveting if a little too attractive. For filmic purposes the character of Doctor Libbard has been fleshed out considerably by Mr. Huxley and is beautifully played by Cedric Hardwicke. His character not only serves as Maurier's conscience but saves him from the gallows, thereby drastically altering the original ending but that's Hollywood for you. It is capably directed by Zoltan Korda although one senses that he is more suited to the great outdoors. Noirish touches by cinematographer Russell Metty and a suitably dramatic score by the great Miklos Rozsa. It was Sir Cedric who said: "God felt sorry for actors so he created Hollywood to give them a place in the sun and a swimming pool. The price they had to pay was to surrender their talent." The same would apply to writers it seems!

When Henry Maurier's (Charles Boyer) wife Emily (Rachel Kempson) dies suddenly, suspicion falls on him in "A Woman's Vengeance" from 1948, with a script by Aldous Huxley. Maurier is an unhappily married womanizer; his wife Emily is a neurotic invalid. Her good friend Janet (Jessica Tandy) visits at Maurier's urging to cheer Emily up after one of their arguments - this one concerning her errant brother (Robert Lester) who wants money. After lunch with Janet and Emily, Henry leaves to meet his girlfriend (Ann Blyth); Emily retires to her room and dies. The maid (Mildred Natwick) suspects Henry, goes to the police, and the body is exhumed. Emily was poisoned! Henry is arrested, charged with murder, found guilty, and sentenced to death. Making matters worse for Henry is the fact that his 18-year-old girlfriend Doris is pregnant, and Henry marries her almost immediately after Emily's death. Very good noir with excellent performances by all involved, particularly Sir Cedric Hardwicke as Emily's doctor. It was amazing to see Jessica Tandy so young -- she's actually 39 here. This film was made probably just prior to her appearing as the original Blanche in "A Streetcar Named Desire" on Broadway. Hers is a showy role, and given her stage experience, she handles it well. Boyer is smooth and debonair, and as his fragile bride, Ann Blyth gives a good performance. This was a real gem I hadn't heard of -- I loved it.

"A Woman's Vengeance" is unusual in that it was written by Aldous Huxley, they author of the brilliant "Brave New World" and the son of the famous evolutionist, Thomas Henry Huxley. I had no idea he wrote this sort of story...a murder mystery. When the story begins, Henry (Charles Boyer) and his wife, Emily, are having a fight. It seems that Emily is a very histrionic and demanding woman...the sort that would be nearly impossible to love. On the other hand, Henry isn't exactly an angel...he's got a VERY young girlfriend (Ann Blythe) on the side. He also has a family friend, Janet (Jessica Tandy), who loves him. One day after yet another fight brought on by Emily, Henry goes out to spend the day with his mistress. During this time period, Emily dies of a heart attack...thus freeing Henry to marry his girlfriend. But once he does, Janet and, especially, the family's maid (Mildred Natwick) begin to wonder if Emily died a natural death. Soon, there is an exhumation and it's determined that Emily was poisoned!! Did Henry do it? After all, he clearly had the most to gain and any man married to Emily would be likely to at least consider poisoning her! Or is there some other answer? The story is greatly helped by its cast. It's easy to make a good film with the likes of Charles Boyer, Jessica Tandy, Mildred Natwick, John Williams and Cederic Hardwicke in a movie...and it's obvious Universal Pictures put a lot of money into the production. It's also helped that the story is so clever and offers some interesting twists. I also appreciate that the characters are quite flawed...much like many real people. Overall, well worth seeing and wonderfully well acted.