The Strange Woman (1946)

In 1820s New England beautiful but poor and manipulative Jenny Hager marries rich old man Isaiah Poster but also seduces his son and his company foreman.

Directors:

Edgar G. Ulmer (as Edgar Ulmer), Douglas Sirk (uncredited)

Writers:

Herb Meadow (screenplay), Ben Ames Williams (novel)

Stars:

Hedy Lamarr, George Sanders, Louis Hayward

Cast

Cast overview:
Hedy Lamarr	...	Jenny Hager
George Sanders	...	John Evered
Louis Hayward	...	Ephraim Poster
Gene Lockhart	...	Isaiah Poster
Hillary Brooke	...	Meg Saladine
Rhys Williams	...	Deacon Adams
June Storey	...	Lena Tempest
Moroni Olsen	...	Rev. Thatcher
Olive Blakeney	...	Mrs. Hollis
Kathleen Lockhart	...	Mrs. Partridge
Alan Napier	...	Judge Henry Saladine
Dennis Hoey	...	Tim Hager

Storyline

Beautiful Jenny Hager finds she can always get what she wants from the men in the 1820's port of Bangor, Maine. Freed by his death from her drunkard father she soon manoeuvres herself into a position to marry a middle-aged monied local businessman. Though she often uses his money to do good, she continues to consider all other men fair game.

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Plot Keywords:

reference to cleopatra | town | rich old man | maine | lawlessness | 

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Taglines:

There Was Evil in Her Kisses!

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Genres:

Drama | Film-Noir | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 October 1946 (USA)

Also Known As:

Den onda ängeln

Filming Locations:

Samuel Goldwyn Studios - 7200 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hunt Stromberg Productions, Mars Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Is in the Public Domain, like most films directed by Edgar G. Ulmer.

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Goofs

No explanation is given as to how Hedy Lamarr's character, a young girl who grew up in Bangor, Maine, in the 1800s, acquired an Austrian accent.

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Quotes

Lincoln Pittridge: [Giving a sermon, quoting from Proverbs 5:3] The lips of a strange woman drip honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil... But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword!

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Connections

Featured in Cinema: Alguns Cortes - Censura III (2015)

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Soundtracks

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
(uncredited)
Written by Charles Wesley and Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
Traditional Christmas carol
[Heard during snow scene]

User Reviews

"The Strange Review" (2003)

Oh, but that Hedy Lamarr is unearthly beautiful. No wonder people just stared at her constantly.

At this part of her career (the mid-forties) Hedy Lamarr seemingly became tired of her "stand still and look stupid" technique (supposedly her own words there). I believe this is the film where she decided to start acting, and for unknown reasons no one liked her. She does surprisingly well, but as other reviewers have said, people have a difficult time concentrating on what she's doing. She doesn't appear to be too affected and irritating, but I don't think she was going to get an Oscar.

At the beginning of the film, young Jenny Hager (Kay from "Mildred Pierce") says that when she is older, she will have whatever she wants because she's going to be beautiful. In a transition shot she dissolves into Hedy Lamarr. Reaction--"Yep, she'll get whatever she wants. Definitely." The long dark hair, arranged perfectly but not too "done," the high arching eyebrows, those lips...one could go on forever. Unfortunately, her beauty doesn't seem to be more than skin deep. She is a complete jerk. She takes from her rich husband and gives to the poor church, but no reason is given for that. She takes care of her prostitute friend, but apparently only because she thinks prostitution is "cool." She is the type that believes in being honest, which means she likes talking about men and women and what they do. This makes her ahead of her time, I suppose. That doesn't offend me or anything, but she's kinda stereotypical in a way (a corset burner?). When the young Jenny made her remark about getting what she wanted, it's frightening that at that age she knew she could use sex for personal gain. That's what the older Jenny does. She uses men, she steals them, she bewitches them, the list just gets longer.

Biggest gripes--the totally unreal character of Jenny's sort-of friend, whose name escapes me, and the power of money. The friend is quite bland, so it's hard to remember anything distinct. She is the ultimate sacrificing woman, yet she's not very nice. It gets ridiculous. Early in the film, she is described as not liking Jenny, then all of a sudden, money changes everything. That's another irritating thing. Jenny marries a rich man, and the world's her oyster. She doesn't change as a person, but everyone's idea of her alters. The women in church talk out of both sides of their mouth--"I'm sorry I didn't call on you when you were married, but now we'll be best friends"; things to that effect. Also aggravating is the way older films punish the bad characters. Jenny gets punished no less than twice, and both are irreversible. To use a title from the silent version of "The Ten Commandments"--"If you break the Ten Commandments, they will break you." Jenny didn't deserve to be broken.