A Woman Rebels (1936)

Director:

Mark Sandrich

Writers:

Netta Syrett (novel)
Anthony Veiller (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

6 November 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | Romance

Tagline:

She's glorious ...As a Woman In Arms! ...He's Magnificent As the Man She Adores.

Plot:

The story revolves around Pamela, as a woman in late-1800's England who has no intention of marriage and wishes to be her own person...

Plot Keywords:

Magazine | England | London England | Motherhood | Social Custom

Cast

Katharine Hepburn	...	Pamela 'Pam' Thistlewaite
Herbert Marshall	...	Thomas Lane
Elizabeth Allan	...	Flora Anne Thistlewaite
Donald Crisp	...	Judge Byron Thistlewaite
Doris Dudley	...	Young Flora 'Floss'
David Manners	...	Lieutenant Alan Craig Freeland
Lucile Watson	...	Betty Bumble
Van Heflin	...	Lord Gerald Waring Gaythorne
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Leonard Carey	...	Lord Gaythorne's Butler (uncredited)
George Davis	...	French Purser (uncredited)
Elspeth Dudgeon	...	Lord Gaythorne's Maid (uncredited)
Marilyn French	...	Flora as an Infant (uncredited)
Sam Harris	...	Courtroom Extra (uncredited)
Lillian Kemble-Cooper	...	Lady Rinlake (uncredited)
Marilyn Knowlden	...	Flora at Age 9 (uncredited)
Molly Lamont	...	Young Girl with Sick Baby (uncredited)
Doris Lloyd	...	Mrs. Seaton, at Party (uncredited)
Constance Lupino	...	Lady Gaythorne (uncredited)
Joseph P. Mack	...	Italian Donkey Carriage Driver (uncredited)
Eily Malyon	...	Miss Piper, the Governess (uncredited)
Bonnie June McNamara	...	Flora at Age 4 (uncredited)
Inez Palange	...	Signora Grassi (uncredited)
Lionel Pape	...	William C. White, Editor (uncredited)
Barnett Parker	...	Lady Gaythorne's Lawyer (uncredited)
Tony Romano	...	Tony Romero, the Italian Boy (uncredited)
Hector Sarno	...	Doctor Attending Flora (uncredited)
Margaret Seddon	...	Aunt Serena (uncredited)
Nick Thompson	...	Signor Guiseppe Grassi (uncredited)

Directed by
Mark Sandrich

Writing credits
Netta Syrett		(novel "Portrait of a Rebel")
Anthony Veiller		(screenplay) and
Ernest Vajda		(screenplay)

Produced by
Pandro S. Berman	....	producer
B.B. Kahane	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Roy Webb		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Robert De Grasse		(as Robert de Grasse)

Film Editing by
Jane Loring		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Van Nest Polglase

Set Decoration by
Darrell Silvera

Costume Design by
Walter Plunkett		(gowns)

Makeup Department
Mel Berns	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Dewey Starkey	....	assistant director

Art Department
Perry Ferguson	....	associate art director

Sound Department
George D. Ellis	....	sound recordist
Clem Portman	....	sound recordist (uncredited)

Music Department
Maurice De Packh	....	music arranger (as Maurice de Packh)
Roy Webb	....	musical director
Nathaniel Shilkret	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Max Steiner	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Other crew
Elizabeth McGaffey	....	researcher (uncredited)
Hermes Pan	....	choreographer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• RKO Radio Pictures

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1936) (USA) (theatrical)
• C&C Television Corporation (1955) (USA) (TV)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #2406)

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

Debut of Van Heflin.

Quotes:

Miss Piper, the Governess: As women, the first thing of importance is to be content to be inferior to men, inferior in mental power in the same proportion that she is in physical strength. A really sensible woman feels her dependence. She's conscious of her inferiority and therefore grateful for her thought.

Soundtrack:

The Wedding March

The sins of the father...

The sins of the father shall be visited upon his children, and upon his children's children. Katharine Hepburn plays a woman who was a bright, curious child whose father stymied that curiosity because she was "just a girl". Later in life, Hepburn's illegitimate daughter, whom she raises as her niece, is a bright, curious child, whose curiosity Hepburn stymies whenever said curiosity would reveal her illegitimacy. There's wonderful hypocrisy at work in Hepburn's character, but the film absolutely fails in addressing the issue. Very disappointing.

Also infuriating is the handling of the character of the father, who is strict and regimented at the beginning of the film and is reduced to being a near-weeping milksop, comforted by and comforting his loving daughter, near the end. Where was he during the raising of his granddaughter? Were I Hepburn, I wouldn't let him near her, but if that's the case, how did they become reconciled by the end? It makes no sense.