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Madame X

  • 19291929
  • PassedPassed
  • 1h 35m
IMDb RATING
5.6/10
502
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Madame X (1929)
  • Drama
A young lawyer unknowingly defends his mother who abandoned him when he was three.A young lawyer unknowingly defends his mother who abandoned him when he was three.A young lawyer unknowingly defends his mother who abandoned him when he was three.
IMDb RATING
5.6/10
502
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Lionel Barrymore
  • Writers
    • Alexandre Bisson(from the play by)
    • Willard Mack(dialogue)
  • Stars
    • Lewis Stone
    • Ruth Chatterton
    • Raymond Hackett
Top credits
  • Director
    • Lionel Barrymore
  • Writers
    • Alexandre Bisson(from the play by)
    • Willard Mack(dialogue)
  • Stars
    • Lewis Stone
    • Ruth Chatterton
    • Raymond Hackett
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 19User reviews
    • 1Critic review
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 2 Oscars
      • 2 nominations total

    Photos11

    Madame X (1929)
    Ruth Chatterton and Raymond Hackett in Madame X (1929)
    Ruth Chatterton and Raymond Hackett in Madame X (1929)
    Ruth Chatterton in Madame X (1929)
    Raymond Hackett, Holmes Herbert, and Lewis Stone in Madame X (1929)
    Ruth Chatterton in Madame X (1929)
    Ruth Chatterton and Lewis Stone in Madame X (1929)
    Ruth Chatterton in Madame X (1929)
    Madame X (1929)
    Madame X (1929)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Lewis Stone
    Lewis Stone
    • Floriotas Floriot
    Ruth Chatterton
    Ruth Chatterton
    • Jacquelineas Jacqueline
    Raymond Hackett
    Raymond Hackett
    • Raymondas Raymond
    Holmes Herbert
    Holmes Herbert
    • Noelas Noel
    Eugenie Besserer
    Eugenie Besserer
    • Roseas Rose
    John P. Edington
    • Doctoras Doctor
    Mitchell Lewis
    Mitchell Lewis
    • Colonel Hanbyas Colonel Hanby
    Ullrich Haupt
    • Laroqueas Laroque
    • (as Ullric Haupt)
    Sidney Toler
    Sidney Toler
    • Merivelas Merivel
    Richard Carle
    Richard Carle
    • Perissardas Perissard
    Carroll Nye
    Carroll Nye
    • Darrellas Darrell
    Claude King
    Claude King
    • Valmorinas Valmorin
    • (as Claud King)
    Chappell Dossett
    • Judgeas Judge
    Henry Armetta
    Henry Armetta
    • Hotel Owneras Hotel Owner
    • (uncredited)
    Agostino Borgato
    Agostino Borgato
    • Hotel Porteras Hotel Porter
    • (uncredited)
    Jack Chefe
    • Nightclub Waiteras Nightclub Waiter
    • (uncredited)
    Ronnie Cosby
    Ronnie Cosby
    • Boy at Puppet Showas Boy at Puppet Show
    • (uncredited)
    Carrie Daumery
    Carrie Daumery
    • Dining Room Guestas Dining Room Guest
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Lionel Barrymore
    • Writers
      • Alexandre Bisson(from the play by)
      • Willard Mack(dialogue)
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      No music is heard under the opening or closing credits of Madame X, which was the result of a short-lived practice in which studios expected the local theater musicians to provide live accompaniment to the opening credits of sound films. Keyboardists and orchestras were still working in the theaters in the late 1920s providing music for silent films still in distribution. Live music was a way to make the screening more of a special event and not a purely "canned" presentation.
    • Quotes

      Doctor: Idolatry, sheer idolatry!

    • Connections
      Alternate-language version of La mujer X (1931)

    User reviews19

    Review
    Top review
    5/10
    partly atrocious and partly brilliant
    This first talking film version of the venerable Madame X takes a full one-third of its running time to get started as a proper movie. The first 30 minutes suffer horribly from atrocious miking, unbelievably stilted acting and frozen camera placement that was all too common in the early talkie era. It's as if the actors were on morphine laced with acid and performing under water. The one scene that takes place outdoors in a public park is crudely recorded and more jarring than revelatory in its effect.

    When the locale finally shifts to southeast Asia the juicy part of the story begins with the star Ruth Chatterton on the first leg of her debauched round-the-world journey to oblivion as the wayward official's spouse whose life is ruined by an extramarital tryst. Chatterton's performance careens from laughably, abysmally dated posturings at the beginning to incandescent hyper-realism as she portrays the dissolution and ravages of absinthe addiction and self loathing. It is a brave and even startling tour de force, especially for its time. And the extreme contrast between the awful and the sublime is itself a phenomenon worth observing for its own sake. It speaks to the transition in acting styles that was taking place in the 1920s, a time of deep cultural change. Usually a movie from this era will contain different styles of acting coming from different actors - but here the differences are all within Chatterton herself.

    The rest of the cast simply falls by the wayside, although in the early minutes it is Lewis Stone who registers more strongly, due to his deeper and more mike- friendly voice. Raymond Hackett as Madame X's clueless son is suitably earnest and sympathetic in his bravado courtroom climax scene. Ullrich Haupt is effective as the con man who befriends the heroine in South America, but Burgess Meredith's rendition of the same character in the 1966 version was more chillingly repulsive.

    Toward the end Chatterton's performance begins to slip back into treacly mode (not helped by the overwrought dialogue), but for about 45 minutes she delivers one of the most entertaining acting jobs of 1929.
    helpful•12
    2
    • mukava991
    • Feb 21, 2009

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • August 17, 1929 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Absinthe
    • Filming locations
      • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 35 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.20 : 1

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