The Tiger Woman (1945) User Reviews

Sharon – The Tiger Woman!

[hitchcockthelegend · 7/10 · 27 December 2014]

A budget crime/mystery out of Republic Pictures, The Tiger Woman crams as much as it can into a running time of just under an hour. It's a private detective yarn tinged with a dangerous femme fatale as the plot sends P I Jerry Devery (Kane Richmond) into the world of Sharon Winslow (Adele Mara), who needs him to help get her husband out of debt to the mob. But the husband's death opens up a can of mysterious worms.

Please stop beating your gums.

What follows is a whole bunch of bluffs, wrong leads and red herrings, the latter of which usually involves cigarettes. The pic is strung together via a number of character exchanges where the dialogue pings with humorous spice, in the interim moments there's court shenanigans, murder, beat downs and a beautiful southpaw thrown! It all leads to a genuinely pleasing finale as the reveal seems obvious even though it wasn't, that's how good the twists and turns are in the build up.

Mara smoulders with her big eyes and shapely legs and Richmond offers up good solid lantern jawed machismo. They are supported well by Peggy Stewart, Richard Fraser, Cy Kendall, John Kelly and Addison Richards. Phillip Ford (The Last Crooked Mile/Hideout) directs with classic Republic "B" efficiency and Ernest Miller (The Steel Helmet) photographs to the good staple requirements of black and white crime yarns of the era. 7/10

Suicide disguised as murder disguised...as suicide?

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 21 October 2016]

What sounds like what would have been a campy adventure movie (considering the serial of the same name of the year before), this is just another B murder mystery where cheating wife Adele Mara and her lover (Richard Fraser) disguise her husband's alleged suicide as murder so she can collect the insurance, and the wild investigation ends with another young woman being arrested for his murder while Fraser tries to change the cause to suicide until he learns the horrifying truth. It's up to detective Kane Richmond to put all the pieces together in this short but twisted plot where an interesting but deadly femme fatal provides the thrills. Dark and film noir-ish in several aspects, this has its intriguing moments but often becomes a bit messed up. Put her up there with Stanwyck, Greer, Turner, Savage and Gardner as one of the first great black widows of film noir.

No tigers

[AAdaSC · 5/10 · 10 October 2016]

Kane Richmond (Jerry) is approached by Adele Mara (Sharon) to ask mobster Gregory Gaye (Joe) not to kill her husband. Richmond does precisely that but things get confusing when husband turns up dead having committed suicide and left a note. Husband's business partner Richard Fraser (Steve) and Mara find the body along with the suicide note. But, this needs to be destroyed as the insurance policy won't pay out if the cause of death is suicide. Mara and Fraser are also lovers so this note doesn't suit them at all as they could do with the dosh. Goodbye note.

Well, that's just the beginning and already quite a lot is happening. However, whilst the story does progress it just gets boring until the final few scenes when Mara comes into her element. She's pretty good in this film as are all the cast except perhaps for mobster boss Gregory Gaye and his peculiar accent.

The title of this film has nothing to do with a jungle setting or with a horror setting in which a woman turns into a tiger. It has to do with the setting of the film at the Tiger Club. It's like calling a film "the Bomb Squad" but the film not being about bombs or even having a military theme but instead concerning itself with a gang of people who hang out in a club called "The Bomb".

Neat,Stylish Mystery From Republic

[GManfred · 28 December 2011]

Gotta hand it to Republic for "The Tiger Woman", a murder mystery with unusual substance for a Poverty Row studio. I have to say reviewer django-1 just about covered all the bases, and I agree with his review. This is one of Republic's best efforts in a genre which can disintegrate quickly into schlock and formulaic predictability. But the direction and script are a cut above the norm for a small studio and give the picture polish and style.

Too bad they didn't make a series using the good-natured Kane Richmond in his role as Private Eye Jerry Devery, as I found his characterization appealing - just right for a series hero, like Lloyd Nolan as Michael Shayne. Here he is aided and abetted by Adele Mara, the Tiger Woman of the title. She was one of Hollywood's best 'B' femme fatales.

My only complaint is that the murderer's hand is tipped early on and was not as much of a puzzle as it could have been, but I would still rate "The Tiger Woman" a 7 out of 10. It was a big surprise, especially if you're not expecting one.

Enjoyable though not especially logical.

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 25 January 2020]

"The Tiger Woman" is a cheap B-mystery film from Republic Pictures. While it is enjoyable enough to make it worth watching, the mystery itself isn't that mysterious and the smart private eye doesn't seem THAT smart!

When the story begins, Sharon (Adele Mara) arrives to engage private dick Jerry Devery (Kane Richmond). He, of course, is being used by her...and it seems obvious to everyone but the supposedly smart Devery. After helping her with her case, they just happen upon the body of her husband who had apparently just committed suicide. What follows is pretty much what you might expect...if Deverly was a bit slow on the uptake.

I think the biggest strike against the film is Kane Richmond. He made a career out of playing in Bs and serials...and his acting was no better than you'd expect. As for Mara, on the other hand, she was terrific...and I wanted more of her in the movie. As for the script, it's okay but a tad obvious.

Movie Does Not Live Up To Its Title

[cdlistguy · 5/10 · 19 August 2021]

Perhaps it should have been called "The Tell-Tale Pom-Pom instead! There's a deadly-dull detective; a resolution that is patently obvious; a lot of boring, talky scenes that might have been helped by a slight injection of humor; and a typically dependable performance by Adele Mara that is wasted in this crime drama. This plays like a standard television mystery with about the same running time. It's a B movie that is more like a C-, but you may like it if you're willing to grade on a curve.

Entertaining Republic 40's crime-mystery with comic touches

[django-1 · 8/10 · 1 October 2006]

Republic Pictures will always be best-known for its serials and westerns and John Wayne films, but their feature films, most of which resemble the "B" programmers of, say, Columbia or Universal, are a little-known asset of the studio. Most haven't been shown on TV in decades and few have been released on video. Republic issued a strange assortment of excellent and not so good (such as When Gangland Strikes) features back in the VHS days, but nothing really in 15 years. Republic features were almost always entertaining, economical, professionally made, well-cast, and tightly paced...just like their westerns. This particular feature, the first director credit of Philip Ford (nephew of John), casts the witty, square-jawed leading man of serials and b-action films, Kane Richmond, as a private eye sucked into a web of dirty dealings involving a nightclub owner, his wife, her "friend", etc. The night club is the Tiger Club, and thus the wife is the "Tiger Woman" of the title. No, this is not a jungle film and has nothing to do with the serial of the same name. Xavier Cugat vocalist and Republic leading lady Adele Mara plays Sharon, the Tiger Woman, and shows a range of emotions from confused, naive victim to mourning widow to shrill black widow. Ms. Mara is always a delight to see--her large seductive eyes are not soon forgotten!--and she did a lot of work for Republic in the mid and late 40's. Her boyfriend is played by British actor Richard Fraser (Picture of Dorian Gray), whose accent slips in here and there, and who does a good job of playing a character who thinks he's in control of the relationship with Ms. Mara but who is simply a plaything to be discarded. As always, Kane Richmond is the perfect b-movie leading man--handsome, athletic, witty, self-deprecating even while the character he's playing might be vain--and he and Adele Mara take what could be a standard, unimaginative mystery programmer and make it special. Also usual for Republic is the fine cast of colorful supporting players such as Cy Kendall (often a heavy, here a quirky police detective) and Gregory Gay (as a mobster/mortician (!!!!!) of uncertain ethnicity!). The print reviewed is a 16mm Hollywood Television Service (Republic's television syndication arm) copy with the republic logo removed, so it's possible that this copy could have a few minutes trimmed from the original theatrical release print, but most of these b-programmers are under an hour anyway, and the films moves quickly and gets a lot done in a short time. I also acquired at the same time as this film one made the next year at Republic with the same two stars, PASSKEY TO DANGER, and will try to review that within the next few weeks. THE TIGER WOMAN is a pleasant way to kill an hour, the mystery angle works quite well and while the conclusion could probably be anticipated, the film leads the viewer down so many other blind alleys that when the REAL conclusion comes it almost seems to come out of the blue. If only one could see the Republic library on some cable channel...

Great little thriller!

[gordonl56 · 8/10 · 31 December 2008]

THE TIGER WOMAN – 1945

I had a couple of hours to kill so I pulled this title out of the pile called, "The Tiger Woman-1944". It was marked as a Republic Studios serial so I thought I would watch a chapter or two. It was from Republic Pictures all right, but this one was from 1945. Same name, but boy, it was no serial! It turned out to be a brisk 57- minute programmer crammed with plenty of double-dealings, twists, turns, knives to the back, shots to the head etc.

Kane Richmond is a private detective who gets mixed up with the always luscious, Adele Mara. Mara needs some help getting her dear husband out of a spot of trouble. The husband, a nightclub owner, is in for 100 grand with a mob bookie. The mob wants what is owed or else.

It turns out that our man Richmond happens to know said bookie. He pays him a visit that night to ask for a time extension for the man. The bookie laughs and tells Richmond that the man's debt had been paid off in cash just that afternoon. Richmond considers the matter closed and heads back to the club to tell Mara everything is fine.

While Richmond has been having his chat with the mobster, Mara's dear one has put a gun to his head and added an extra hole to same. He leaves a note admitting to looting the club funds in order to pay off the bookie. The body is discovered by Mara and the co-owner in the club, Richard Fraser. Now we find out that Mara and Fraser have been up to a little bit of horizontal cha-cha behind her husband's back.

Since the partners insurance does not cover suicide, the pair decide to burn the note and stage what looks like a robbery murder. The police swallow the story and everything seems covered.

There are plenty of red herrings in this one. First, the club's accountant is grabbed up for the murder. Then the accountant's daughter gets the same treatment. When it looks like the gas chamber for the daughter, Fraser decides to come clean with the cops. He tells Mara that while he has no problem with beating the insurance company, there is no way he will let an innocent person get gassed.

He calls the police and asks them to come over so he can make a confession. Mara says she understands and suggests a bit of fresh air while they wait for the police. She walks him over to an open window. Next thing we know, Fraser has made a rather unsuccessful attempt at imitating a bird. Four flights down on his head end any confession idea he might of had.

The police arrive and also believe this death to be a suicide. Mara of course was long gone by the time the cops show. Just before "helping" Fraser out the window, we find out that it was Mara who had bumped off her husband. Hanging around the whole time has been detective Richmond. He just can't throw that feeling that something is amiss with this picture.

Mara had only hired Richmond to give herself an alibi for the time of the first murder. Now Richmond is becoming an annoyance. She offers Richmond a taste, but when he refuses, a gun is pulled. It is only the timely arrival of the police that saves Richmond from joining the other two in the morgue.

This is a great little gem that just zips along. The whole cast shines here with Mara stealing the show as the deadly femme fatale. The cast includes Cy Kendall, Peggy Stewart, John Kelly and Addison Richards. We never do see the husbands face.

The director was John Ford's nephew, Philip Ford. His work included, The Inner Circle, The Last Crooked Mile, Missing Women and The Mysterious Mr. Valentine.

The d of p was Republic staple Ernest Miller, he was involved in the production of over 300 films. He did work with Sam Fuller twice. He shot Fuller's, I Shot Jesse James and The Steel Helmet.

The film editor was Fred Allen who worked on Hell's Half Acre, Make Haste to Live, The City that Never Sleeps, The Enforcer, The Black Book, The Scar, T-Men and The Madonna's Secret.

Best line – As she dumps boyfriend Fraser out the window she cracks, "I get no thrill from killing stupid people." (B/W)