Linkshoch Wonderful Movie

Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Kimball Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

rsternesq People who think this film is too 1930's don't remember a time before abortion was the answer to every inconvenience. This is a fine movie and yes, it is of its time. Men were and remain selfish because women, in their affection allow it. Women allow it because they love. Children then and now are the prize and often the lure. Bette is marvelous, as good as ever. To be honest, Fonda is his usual boring self. I liked the lawyer but he had to be disposed of because he loved too well. For him the boy wasn't the prize. I honestly think this is a good film for exploring the darker side of Stella Dallas. I also think some of the other reviewers could do with a time machine, or at least a moment of contemplation that the past is at least a different country.

mark.waltz Bette goes down Kay Francis territory in this 30's women's film, not getting a break from the men in her life (which are many), yet finding sympathy in the oddest places-her men's wives.She is the widow of a gangster and is being followed around by a reporter out for a scoop on "Where are yesterday's gangsters?". Now working for a highly respectable lawyer (Ian Hunter), she runs into an old beau (Henry Fonda) whose tyrant father (Donald Crisp) dominates his life and instantly sets out to keep Fonda and Davis apart. When they elope, Crisp confronts the two on their honeymoon, and Davis decides to leave behind the man she loves, apparently realizing she's married to a wimp. Guess what happens nine months later. Yep, Davis is now a single mother, and has managed to keep Fonda from finding out about their son. Hunter, who is a loveless marriage with Katharine Alexander, makes Davis his mistress, something his wife doesn't seem to mind. But when tragedy strikes and the two women are snapped together in a photo, the scandal sheet makes it appear like a slugfest. Fonda turns up, having married a sweet society lady (Margaret Lindsay), but she was crippled in a car accident while on their honeymoon, so he is desperate to get Davis back. Papa Crisp makes another threat against Davis, so she must take drastic steps to ensure that he does not destroy her life again.It is ironic that Davis's married name from her first husband is Mary Haines, the same name as the cheated on wife in the then hit Broadway play "The Women", filmed two years later by MGM. Like MGM's Norma Shearer (Mary in the movie version of "The Women"), Davis was queen of her studio (Warner Brothers), having just taken over that title from the reigning queen of mother love sob stories (Kay Francis). The problem in the movie is that it is so unbelievable that a seemingly tough mob widow would not stand up to the threats of the nasty father, played by the normally likable Donald Crisp. I found his dialogue to be so inane that I cringed every time he came on screen. All of the men are one dimensional-Crisp is totally nasty, Fonda is a wimp, and Hunter is so extremely noble he appears to be the male Ann Harding. There are nice scenes between Davis and the two women in her lover's lives, and Dwane Day gives a cute performance as Davis's four year old son. Mary Philips is also memorable as Davis's devoted companion.Warner Brothers had their share of mother love stories, most notably several with Kay Francis, including one of my all time favorites, the same year's "Confession". Those ones are better recommended than this one. Davis would fare better two years later as an unwed mother in the excellent "The Old Maid".

blanche-2 Bette Davis is "That Certain Woman" in this 1937 remake of "The Trespasser." Davis is the widow of a mobster killed in the Saint Valentine's Day massacre. Now she works for a businessman Lloyd Rogers (Ian Hunter) and uses the name Mary Donnell. She has two men in love with her: her boss Lloyd and a man from a wealthy family, Jack Merrick (Henry Fonda). Knowing who she is thanks to a news story, Merrick's dad (Donald Crisp) is violently opposed to the marriage, but she and Jack marry. They break up right after the honeymoon, thanks to the dad, but during the honeymoon, Mary conceived Jack Jr. Jack goes off to Paris and marries Flip (Anita Louise), not knowing anything about the baby. Meanwhile, the unhappily married Lloyd is hanging around Mary.Very melodramatic and dated film in the Stella Davis sacrifice vein, with both Davis and Fonda giving excellent performances. Fonda in those days was Jane Fonda with a man's haircut - the resemblance is there for all to see. He's adorable. Also as an actor, he was more energetic and earnest; later, he became more internalized, and in my opinion, less interesting. Davis sports an ugly hair-do (except when she's either just waking up or going to bed).Very likable stars, and the story will keep you interested, even if it is dated.

rrubendu I actually liked this picture. The story loosely parallels that of Madame Butterfly...and if you see it in that light, it doesn't seem all that over the top. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if the writer had the idea of updating Madame Butterfly...I visually these guys in wrinkled shirtsleeves bending over their old Royal typewriters chomping on cigars..."Yeah...Madame Butterfly...that's the ticket...only she's not a prostitute, that won't work....but a fallen woman...but a noble one....she's a bootlegger's widow...yeah! that's the ticket...she marries a playboy, he dumps her, marries someone else...she waits for him....keep the faithful maid in the plot...has a kid....the husband comes back...remarried....she sends the kid off to live with her ex and then offs herself....yeah! It'll be a hit! Not a dry in the house."I actually realized the similarity only in the last 15 minutes of the film when I got that awful yet familiar feeling in the pit of my stomach which always anticipates a mother's pending self-sacrifice. When Butterfly sees the American wife for the first time standing outside her little house on hill in Japan and realizes who she is and why she's there...it's really heartbreaking.Anyway, despite the melodrama, the performances That Certain Woman are really very good, especially Davis's. She was a very intelligent actress, and understood what the camera would catch.So, maybe you don't need to OWN this video, but I wouldn't disregard it entirely. Then go out and rent Frédéric Mitterrand's beautiful 1995 film of the opera. Heart-wrenching...