Lady Scarface (1941)

Lieutenant Bill Mason pursues a Chicago gang to New York unaware that its scar-cheeked leader Slade is a woman.

Director:

Frank Woodruff

Writers:

Arnaud d'Usseau (screenplay), Richard Collins (screenplay)

Stars:

Dennis O'Keefe, Judith Anderson, Frances E. Neal

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Dennis O'Keefe	...	Lt. Bill Mason
Judith Anderson	...	Slade
Frances E. Neal	...	Ann Rogers (as Frances Neal)
Mildred Coles	...	Mary Jordan Powell
Eric Blore	...	Mr. Hartford
Marc Lawrence	...	Lefty Landers
Damian O'Flynn	...	Lt. Onslow
Andrew Tombes	...	Art Seidel (hotel detective)
Marion Martin	...	Ruby, aka Mary Jordan
Rand Brooks	...	James 'Jimmy' Powell
Arthur Shields	...	Matt Willis
Lee Bonnell	...	George Atkins
Harry Burns	...	Big 'Sem' Semenoff
Horace McMahon	...	Mullen (as Horace MacMahon)

Storyline

A Chicago gang led by scar-cheeked Slade carries out an audacious brokerage robbery. Lieut. Bill Mason takes the case, continuing his friendly-enemy relationship with crime reporter Ann Rogers. One gang member is caught; eventually, others follow. But Mason hasn't a clue to Slade, principally because he's unaware she's a woman. The plot periodically pauses for comic and romantic interludes.

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Plot Keywords:

robbery | hudson river | hotel | secret code | dictograph | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 September 1941 (USA)

Also Known As:

La dama de la cicatriu

Filming Locations:

Hudson River, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

66 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Modern sources claim the screenplay was based on the movie, Wanted: Jane Turner.

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Quotes

Mr. Hartford: [to Seidel] Why, your kennels aren't fit for a dog.

User Reviews

Dame Judith Anderson too big for this little crime programmer

`Always leave them wanting more' is one of the hoary axioms of show business, but why there isn't more of Lady Scarface in Lady Scarface is a better mystery than anything the movie has to offer. The title role, a tough Chicago mob boss, falls to Judith Anderson, who more often than not was the best thing in any movie where she happened to appear (e.g. her Mrs. Danvers in Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca). Title character or no, she takes second billing to Dennis O'Keefe as a minion of the law pursuing her; the billing accurately reflects the screen time each is allotted.

It's a pity, since, apart from Anderson, Lady Scarface is just another print struck from the template of light crime programmers. The bulk of the movie has to do with O'Keefe's following money to New York in order to smoke out the gang. And, to cover all the bases, there's mistaken identity involving a newlywed couple; comic relief in the form of a beef-witted hotel detective and fussy Eric Blore; and a matey romance between O'Keefe and Frances Neal.

But Anderson took her assignments seriously; she brings the same steel to Lady Scarface as she would later to Lady Macbeth. (The movie could have settled for a lesser villain, and Anderson should have held out for a better movie.) The last scene, in which she steals into the Leonard Sheldon Hotel disguised as a chambermaid, looks very much like the final confrontation between James Bond and Rosa Klebb in From Russia With Love. Was that an hommage, or just a steal?