The Strange Woman (film, 1946)

In 1824, in Bangor , Maine , young Jenny Hager, daughter of Tim Hager, the city's drunkard, plays by the river with local boys, among them Efraim Poster, the son of Isaia Poster, the store owner ( Gene Lockhart ). Knowing that Ephraim is afraid of water, Jenny first encourages him to jump from the bridge into the river, and then does not allow him to get ashore. However, when Judge Saladine ( Alan Napier ) drives up to the river in a wheelchair, Jenny pretends to help Ephraim get ashore ...

Sixteen years pass. Jenny ( Hadie Lamarr ) grew up as a beautiful attractive girl, Isaiah became one of the city’s largest industrialists and traders, and he sent Efraima to study in Cambridge. In the city port, where Isaiah directs the unloading of one of his merchant ships, a playful Jenny appears, turning her gaze to the captain. The widower Isaiah also looks at Jenny with interest, after which she meets a drunk Tim in a tavern and tells him that his daughter goes to the port to talk with the sailors. An enraged Tim comes home, accusing her daughter of behaving in the same way as her turtle-tail mother. At one time, Tim's wife ran away from him, leaving with little Jenny, after which he began to drink heavily. When Tim lashes out at Jenny and starts whipping her, she pushes her father away and runs away from home. Tim chases after her, but falls in the doorway and dies in place. Seeing this, Jenny in horror runs into the house to Isaiah, who carefully takes her. He instructs his housekeeper to wash the girl’s wounds, and he lustfully looks at the girl’s bare shoulder with a beating scar.

When the elders of the city discuss the fate of the unfortunate and destitute Jenny, Isaiah gradually leads them to the decision that for the good of the girl she should be married to him. Overnight, Jenny breaks up with the world of slums, taverns and brothels in which she grew up, and becomes the richest lady in the city, living in a chic mansion on the most prestigious street. Shortly after the wedding, Jenny writes a letter to Ephraim, persuading him to return home, and then asks his new best friend, the daughter of Judge Meg Saladine ( Hillary Brook ) to teach her etiquette and secular manners. After that, using her husband’s money, Jenny begins to strengthen her authority in society. During the regular service in the city church, the parish priest ( Moroni Olsen ) asks wealthy citizens to donate money for the expansion and improvement of the church, but no one shows such a desire until Jenny stands up and declares that he donates $ 1,000 to the church. After other wives follow her example, Jenny's reputation as a virtuous Christian is markedly strengthened. Jenny begins to actively participate in charity work, using her husband's funds, which he is not very happy about.

Returning home, Efraim ( Louis Hayward ), who studied to be an architect, has nothing to do in the city, as a result, he begins to drink and walk around the hot places. Isaiah is trying to involve his son in the work of his company and for this he plans to send him to his logging enterprises to study the work of local loggers. However, Efraim is not interested in this, and Jenny, who has her views on him, persuades Isaiah to leave her son at home. Meanwhile, in secret from her husband, Jenny begins to show Efraim signs of attention and flirt with him, and soon he falls in love with her. At this moment, Isaiah is seriously ill, and Jenny, forgetting everything, day and night caring for her husband. Despite the fact that the condition of the middle-aged Isaiah was rather difficult, he still recovers, which causes Jenny a secret tantrum.

In Bangor, where there is no police of its own, lumberjacks who have arrived on vacation begin to squander their earned money, drinking in taverns and having fun in brothels. Gradually the drunken tricks of the lumberjacks are overwhelming the city, leading to mass cases of hooliganism and disturbance of public order. This situation causes serious concern to the townspeople to such an extent that they are afraid to go out to arrange a funeral for the deceased judge Saladine. John Evered ( George Sanders ), manager of one of Poster's logging companies and fiance Meg Saladine, comes to town. He quickly manages to pacify the unbridled lumberjacks and restore order in the city. Seeing John, Jenny instantly becomes interested in him, and on the same day invites him along with Meg to his dinner, trying to attract his attention. However, a few days later, John leaves for his business.

When Isaiah decides to go on a harvest trip, at the insistence of Jenny, he takes Ephraim with him. Before leaving, Jenny secretly meets with Ephraim, making it clear that for the sake of their happiness he should arrange things so that Isaiah would not be gone. During the trip, when Isaiah and Efraim, accompanied by lumberjacks, canoe along the mountain river, Efraim, who is afraid of water, gets up from fear, as a result of which the boat turns over and everyone falls into the water. Ephraim grabs the nearest rescue tank, unintentionally pushing his father away from him, who is being carried away by a stormy stream. In the end, everyone gets ashore, but Isaiah's body cannot be found.

When Ephraim returns to the city, Jenny does not let him into the house, actually publicly accusing him of Isaiah's death due to Ephraim's cowardice. The suppressed Ephraim begins to gradually drunk. Meanwhile, Jenny takes control of Isaiah’s company. She holds a meeting of managers of logging enterprises, at which she appoints John as the chief manager of the company and transfers him to work in the city. John works a lot, developing her company and completely forgetting about his bride. Meanwhile, Jenny enthusiastically communicates with John on business, and also takes care of his lifestyle.

Eternally drunk Ephraim is trying to tell the townspeople the truth about the lying and insidious essence of Jenny, but no one believes him, since he has lost all respect from the townspeople, and Jenny's moral authority, on the contrary, is very high. When rumors of accusations emanating from Ephraim reach John, he decides to investigate this personally. John finds a hut ten miles from the city where Ephraim lives and listens to his emotional tale of how Jenny seduced him and brought to the thought of killing his father. To provide final clarity, John asks Jenny to meet with Efriam and prove in innocence in a personal meeting. In a severe thunderstorm, they both come to Efraim’s hut to talk to him, but they discover that he hanged himself. While John sets off to take Ephraim’s body out of the loop, Jenny intentionally unties and drives the horses. With no other choice, they remain in the hut for the night, during which Jenny frankly seduces John, and they kiss on the background of a blazing tree, in which the lightning fell an instant before. John realizes that he is in love with Jenny, but does not know how to tell Meg about it. However, Jenny herself comes to her friend and submits the story in such a way that Meg voluntarily gives in to her fiancé.

Soon, Jenny and John get married and begin a happy family life. John, who came from a large family, dreams of children, but at the doctor’s appointment, Jenny finds out that she cannot have children. She honestly tells John about this, to which he calmly replies that he will still love her. Meanwhile, the wandering evangelist Lincoln Pittridge arrives in the city, who in one of his sermons, as Jenny seems, lists all her sins, saying that such a strange woman cannot have children and burn her own fire. Upon returning home, Jenny tells John that the preacher spoke to her personally, and confesses that Ephraim’s words about her were true. After hearing her confession, John leaves home to put his thoughts in order. The next morning, Jenny in a wheelchair sets off in search of him throughout the city. Meanwhile, Meg finds John in a country gatehouse. He tells the ex-bride that, having considered everything, he still loves Jenny and will return to her. At this moment, Jenny sees them, and in a fit of jealousy directs the stroller directly at them. However, at full speed, the stroller hits a stone and breaks off a cliff. Jenny falls and crashes to death. In her last words to John, who came running up, she said that she had just tried to kill him. Her last words were: "I wanted so much, I wanted the whole world, in fact I only wanted you."

Hadie Lamarr first attracted attention in the Austrian melodrama Ecstasy (1933), "where she appeared naked" ^[2] . After moving to Hollywood , she played in such criminal melodramas and noir films as Algeria (1938), Crossroads (1942), Conspirators (1944), Risky Experiment (1944) and Lady Without a Passport ( 1950). Among the most popular films with her participation are the adventure romance Noisy City (1940), the romantic comedy Comrade X (1940), the musical The Siegfield Girls (1941), and the comedy Come With Me (1941), romantic comedy “ Tortilla-Flat Quarter ” (1942) ^[3] . After completing work on the film “The Strange Woman”, “Lamarr decided to maintain her independence, and in collaboration with producers Jack Chertok and Hunt Stromberg made another crime drama -“ The Disgraced Lady ”(1947), again distributed by United United Artists . However, in 1949, Lamarr renounced his independence and returned to the studio system. In Cecil de Mill ’s film “ Samson and Delilah ” (1949), she played a fatal woman who looked like the sexually dissolute heroine of this film. ”As film critic Bret Wood notes,“ it seems that Lamarr's attempt to change his screen image was successful ” ^[4] .

Producer Jack Chertok was best known as the producer of many short films of the Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer studio, the crime radio series of this studio Crime does not pay off (since 1935), and later as the producer of the 182-series television movie Lone Ranger (1949 —1955). Executive producer Hunt Stromberg was also a native of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, his most famous works include all three films of the extremely popular crime comedy about the Subtle Man - The Thin Man (1934), After the Thin Man (1936) and “ Another Subtle Man ” (1939) ^[4] .

The film was directed by Edgar Ulmer , the master of category B author’s cinema , during his long career he was able to produce very few Category A films. ^[5] In 1930, he became famous thanks to the groundbreaking German film People on Sunday (1930). After moving to Hollywood in 1930, Ulmer directed the highly acclaimed horror thrillers Black Cat (1934) and Bluebeard (1944), as well as the films Noir Detour (1945), Strange Illusion (1945), and Merciless ( 1948) and " Murder - my job " (1955) ^[6] According to Deming, "Hedy Lamarr personally chose Ulmer. as a director of this big-budget project, which it has collected to change its image starlet, sex appeal which outweighed her acting skills " ^[5] . As Wood notes," the path of the actress and director crossed again during the work on the costume melodrama " in Love Paris " (1954) ” ^[4] .

The British actor Luis Heyward was very successful as a hero of costumed adventure action games, twice playing the roles of Count Monte Cristo and Captain Blood , and once - d'Artagnan , captain Sirocco and Dick Turpin ^[7] . His most successful paintings were the adventure dramas The Man in the Iron Mask (1939) and The Return of Monte Cristo (1946), The Pirates of Capri Island (1949, staged by Ulmer), crime dramas and films noir, Retired Ladies ( 1941), “ And There Was No One Left ” (1945), “ Repeated Performance ” (1947), “ Merciless ” (1948) by Ulmer and “ House by the River ” (1950) by Fritz Lang ^[8] . George Sanders , also an actor of British descent, became known for his roles in the thrillers Rebecca (1940) and Foreign Correspondent (1940), Hitchcock , Hunting for a Man (1941) and While the City Sleeps (1956), Fritz Lang, in the fantasy dramas Portrait of Dorian Gray (1945) and Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), as well as in the noir films The Resident (1944) and Hangover Square (1945) by John Brahm , Uncle Harry ’s Strange Affair "(1945) and" Witness to the murder "(1954) ^[9] . In 1951, Sanders received an Oscar for his supporting role in Joseph Mankevich ’s drama “ All About Eve ” (1950) ^[10] .

As movie historian Bret Wood notes, “the driving force behind this film was Lamarr , who was looking for ways to get out of control from major Hollywood studios and demonstrate her creative and financial independence.” For this, “Lamarr was looking for a more serious role ... something dark and mysterious in order to strengthen her image. As she recalled in her autobiography, “Estaz and I: My Life as Women”: “I had producers ... and I had money. Plus, I had several companies wanting to do distribution “” ^[4] . According to film critic Dennis Schwartz , “for her first project outside Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer, Lamarr, once named the most beautiful woman in the world, received the rights to the popular novel by Ben Ames Williams ” ^[2] . Wood further points out that “despite the fact that the producers of the film, Jack Chertok and Hunt Stromberg, contributed significantly to the film, the budget for the film was modest according to Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer standards. “It required a director who knew how to squeeze maximum quality out of limited resources, and Edgar Ulmer was a specialist in solving such problems” ^[4] . As Ulmer’s daughter Arianna recalled, “when Hunt Stromberg decided to make this film, it was Lamarr who demanded to invite his father,” whom she had known since her youth in Vienna, and later in Berlin, according to the circle of friends that developed around the Max Reinhardt theater troupe ” ^{[4 ]} . Ulmer, “a fruitful director of Category B films , got a rare chance to work with an adequate budget and high-class performers (although he still got his usual low pay from United Artists).” ^[2] For Ulmer, who directed quite a few films at the studio “ poor series ” PRC (Producers Releasing Corporation), this film became one of the most expensive, and he performed it in such a way that“ the economic limitations of the picture are practically not noticeable ” ^[4] .

Wood notes that “for Lamarr, the multi-dimensional role of Jenny Hager provided an opportunity to demonstrate her acting range.” As the actress herself noted, “this time, when I was making a picture for myself, I decided to reveal the role as I always wanted - I went to study a girl of this type in the flesh in her native environment, and then play her the way she is revealing the real driving forces of her actions ” ^[4] . Wood writes that “Lamarr was preparing for the role, traveling anonymously through the harbors around Boston .” In her own words, she “disguised herself as a blonde in a wig and conservative clothes”, then for three days she anonymously talked with the girls from the port and listened to the stories of poor fish before heading to Hollywood ^[4] .

According to Wood, "in an interview published in 1997, Arianna Ulmer recalled that during the filming of some key episodes, her father," to get Lamarr to play a more convincing game, did her a little pain, squeezing her ankle. According to Arianna, "he wanted to arouse emotions in the actress, and the only way to achieve this was to physically affect her." She continues: “Sometimes they say that my father was temperamental - and this is true. But much of what he did was thought out by him in advance. When he could not get the actor to overcome himself and open up, one of his tricks was to anger him. And then somehow the constriction of the actor flew. Such was his nature; so he could make people play. This is one of those things that people with real charm can do ” ^[4] . Lamarr in his autobiography recalls the directorial style of Ulmer in different ways, "suggesting that - plowing so long in second-rate studios - he was scared of category A actors." The actress recalled: “Edgar was a little afraid of me, ... and at first he was timid to make any adjustments to my game” ^[4] . In the end, according to Lamarr, "the channel of communication between them opened up, flaring up during the filming of the seduction scene." I told Edgar: "I feel like this seduction is being performed by Hadie Lamarr, not Jenny Hager." “So it is,” he said, “Jenny is immoral ... and your approach, Hadie, is too delicate and subtle. Jenny would not be thin. She goes to what she wants, directly and quickly. Let's try it. Do not be Hadi Lamarr - be a tigress “”. However, according to Wood, "no matter how much Lamarr tries, she just was not a sexual predator." She wrote: “We repeated the scene in the bedroom again and again with so many roses that I can play it now, twenty years later, from one take. And still it didn't work. I was simply not a tigress. And all my talent did not allow me to do this. Feeling that we were moving in the wrong direction, in the middle of filming we attracted fresh screenwriters, and I spent many hours with them trying to rewrite Jenny's character, her personal and moral qualities. And when the budget started to run out, we decided to make the most out of what we had at that time ” ^[4] .

Wood writes that in order to promote this film, “Lamarr personally went on an advertising tour. She wrote that there’s always something unpleasant on such trips, „no matter how many press agents come with you to protect you. Once in Chicago, after a day of advertising, I came to my hotel room completely exhausted. I took a shower and left the bathroom for a bathrobe. I opened the door to the locker, and there stood a teenage voyeur . He immediately jumped out the window and disappeared up the fire escape. He was caught and detained. The newspapers were full of it. I did not make charges because he was so young and, to be honest - this was my secret to this day - he told the press that my body was perfect “ ^[4] . Lamarr concluded that “her personal appearances did little to sweeten the response to the film.” In her book, she quoted a review in Variety , which said: “Hedy, who was even prettier than ever, this time bit off more than she can survive ... So other actors had to chew, and as a result the script got chewed up "". In fact, as Wood observes, “this phrase is not in the Variety review, which was actually quite flattering” ^[4] . Wood writes: “According to Lamarr (whose memories do not always reflect historical facts), fans were alarmed that the actress played such an immoral girl as Jenny.“ You are so gorgeous and beautiful off-screen. You are my idol. Why don't you play beautiful princesses instead of a drunken port rat? "She gives another quote:" You should have been satisfied with the role of the producer of the picture and let some little immoral starlet play Jenny. We love you too much to have such a reputation " ^[4] .

Despite everything, “the film raised $ 2.8 million, becoming one of the most successful films of 1946 - and a rare foray into category A films for Ulmer, who usually worked on films below his level” ^[11] .

Overall rating of the film

After the release of the film, the film received moderate reviews of criticism, which focused on the game of Hadie Lamarr . In particular, the New York Times wrote that “as a study of a single female character against the backdrop of a circle of ruined male destinies, this adaptation conveys the high points of Ben Ames Williams’s best-selling novel,” presenting a “revealing analysis of a predatory fatal woman.” However, he lacks the validity of the actions of some characters, pace and suspense to make a completely exciting drama. " The newspaper concludes that “like the prose of Williams, the film was made professionally, but the exciting moments of the heroine’s life are rarely reflected on the screen” ^[12] .

Modern critics give the film more balanced ratings. So, Wood called the picture “a costume drama wrapped in a cloak of the film noir”, where “Lamarr plays the main role of a young woman who claws her way to power,” further noting that “instead of relying on the subtle psychological aspects of history, the filmmakers opted for melodrama. ” So, “the culmination scene of seduction occurs during a severe thunderstorm. When Jenny slowly approaches John, lightning hits a nearby tree, and when she reaches it, the tree already burns in fire, and she hugs him against the background of thunder, lightning and flame ” ^[4] . Dennis Schwartz defined the picture as “a joyless costume costume melodrama” and “a pale soap opera”, which nonetheless “should satisfy numerous fans of Hadie Lamarr” ^[2] . David J. Hogan described the painting as “a fancy-dress melodrama with a decent budget that takes noir to Maine in the mid-19th century” ^[13] . According to Hogan, “this is a film of strong emotions, a story of selfish love and weak men, told by wide, massive strokes” ^[14] . Fernando F. Croce notes that “despite his large budget and composition more stellar for him, the story is no less crazy than Ulmer’s hallucinations in his films of the“ poor series ” - the scar from beating on the back of one character excites the libido of another, water sucks people like quicksand, fires and storms materialize as manifestations of the world controlled by conflicting impulses ” ^[15] .

Jenny Hager Personality

Film noir historian Spencer Selby characterizes Jenny as “an ambitious, predatory woman who destroys several men on their way to the top of society in New England ” ^[16] . According to Hogan, “Jenny Hager is an unusually complex character with many, often conflicting, internal motivations” ^[13] . Hogan believes that “Jenny’s most pronounced quality is her moral uncertainty. Based on the script by Madow (who revised Williams’s 700-page novel), Jenny is a chameleon who never reveals his true identity. Outwardly, we see a very seductive woman, but in the real Jenny, honesty and deception, kindness and cruelty, the desire to dominate others and bashfulness are strangely mixed ” ^[14] . Croce notes that in the film “accusations are circled against Jenny that she is a libertine and succubus , and“ not even a man ”, and the preacher in deerskin speaks as if directly to her with his fiery accusatory sermon" about a "strange woman." But at the same time, the critic also defends the “noir fatal woman,” whose “manipulating, generous, predatory and vulnerable essence is a complex“ oddity ”that threatens to reveal what is under the cover of urban stability” ^[15] .

Hedi Lamarr game

Hogan notes that "after the film was released, the focus of criticism was the play of Hedi Lamarr in an unusual psychologically complex role, which received mainly positive feedback." He writes: “Lamarr is tired of primitive roles, and wanted to prove that she is a real actress. And she succeeded ” ^[13] . And further: “modern critics were impressed by Lamarr's game and gave her what she dreamed of: recognition as an actress. Lamarr and Ulmer made sure that Sanders' powerful acting personality did not dominate the screen, and the cameraman Lucien Endrio masterfully showed the amazing beauty of Lamarr, especially her eyes and face ” ^[11] . Schwartz also noted that Ulmer “paid Lamarr for trust by making as many of her close-ups as he could to demonstrate her stellar power” ^[2] .

After the release of the film, Variety magazine wrote that “Miss Lamarr was successful in the role of the treacherous and duplicitous Jenny Hager, giving her character significant realism. Her ability to look like a sensitive, caring angel and demonstrate sadistic satisfaction in the midst of violence speaks of a wide range of her talent ” ^[1] . The New York Times noted that “without a doubt, every actress is eager to get her outstanding film, and Hadi Lamarr, who plays the main role here, has fully realized this desire,” further indicating that “this dark drama about a charming sinner allows Miss Lamarr to play his most meaningful role in many years ", get" a lot of selected replicas and a wardrobe that will not go unnoticed by ladies. " The reviewer further notes that “as a grip, an insidious libertine, Hedi Lamarr is beautiful even in basque and tournaments . A desirable, savvy and passionate woman, she seems to be able to captivate men very easily. ” However, the ending of the film with “a rather unexpected establishment of her barrenness” and with a warning to the wandering evangelist that “the strange woman’s lips exude honey, but her end is bitter like wormwood” is too light and hasty ” ^[12] .

Modern film expert Bret Wood notes that in this film, Lamarr played her “most informative role - the role of an insidious woman playing games with three men, while climbing the ladder of success - which proved to all doubters that she was not just a beautiful face, but also I knew how to play ” ^[4] . Kini believes that “Lamarr is fascinating in the role of an insidious siren , which is ready for anything for a good life, even if it means the destruction of those who love her” ^[17] . According to Deming, “it is generally believed that Hadie Lamarr played one of her best roles in this film, although her most famous role still remained in the movie Ecstasy (1933), largely due to the bold nudes for that time with her participation ” ^[5] .

Comparisons with other works and characters

The New York Times called the heroine Lamarr, “ Lilith Among the Lumberjacks,” ^[12] and Dennis Schwartz, “the disgusting, selfish monster that Bett Davis could play.” The film itself “reminiscent of female psychological pathology” reminded Schwartz of the noir melodrama “ God be her judge ” (1945, also staged from a Williams novel), although, according to him, this picture “does not have the same power of influence” ^[2] . Hogan noted that "a lot in the image of Jenny is taken directly from Scarlett O'Hara " ^[14] . Film critic Fernando Croce also described Jenny Hager as “the frugal storefront of Scarlett O'Hara” and, moreover, compared her with Geraldine from Coleridge ’s poem “ Cristabel ” (1800) and with Lulu from the movie G.V. Pabst “ Pandora's Box ” (1929 ) The film itself, in his opinion, bears a thematic and plot similarity with “The Day of Wrath ” (1943) by Karl Theodor Dreyer and “ Beyond the Forest ” (1949) by King Widor and Bette Davis , who “pick up the thread and press the gas” ^[15] . The film also bears some resemblance to yet another Ulmer’s film, “ Ruthless ” (1948), with the difference that a male character rises from poverty to the heights of wealth and power ( Zachary Scott plays his role).

Evaluation of the game of other actors

According to Variety , “the male partners of Lamarr are not so skilled. Luis Heyward creates the image of the weak son of the first husband, Hager, who is ultimately brought to suicide by an evil woman, and George Sanders is far from his depth as a shy, provincial character who becomes Lamarr's second husband ” ^[1] . Wood also cites the words Variety that “Sanders' indifferent game makes him the weak link that pulls the film back from his overall very successful rating” ^[4] . The New York Times notes that “ Gene Lockhart as her first husband accurately creates the image of a hypocrite and a hypocrite who is suspicious and mean. The brief role of Louis Hayward as a son with an unfortunate fate does not give a complete portrait, but he is quite convincing, while George Sanders, as a manager and a good person, does his best from the character he plays ” ^[12] . According to Kini, “Hayward is good in the role of a cowardly scapegoat, but the aristocratic Sanders is incorrectly taken as the rough lumberjack” ^[17] .

• Spencer Selby. Dark City: The Film Noir . - Jeffeson, NC and London: McFarland & Co Inc, 1997 .-- ISBN 978-0-7864-0478-0 .
• Michael F. Keaney. Film Noir Guide: 745 Films of the Classic Era, 1940–1959 . - Jefferson, North Carolina, and London: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2010 .-- ISBN 978-0-7864-6366-4 .
• David J. Hogan. Film Noir FAQ: All That's Left to Know About Hollywood's Golden Age of Dames, Detectives, and Danger . - Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard Corporation, 2013 .-- ISBN 978-1-4803-4305-4 .

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