Dishonored Lady (1947)

Madeleine Damien is the fashion editor of a slick Manhattan magazine by day and a lively party girl by night. Unfortunately, the pressures of her job, including kowtowing to a hefty ... See full summary »

Director:

Robert Stevenson

Writers:

Edward Sheldon (play), Margaret Ayer Barnes (play)

Stars:

Hedy Lamarr, Dennis O'Keefe, John Loder

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Hedy Lamarr	...	Madeleine Damien
Dennis O'Keefe	...	Dr. David S. Cousins
John Loder	...	Felix Courtland
William Lundigan	...	Jack Garet
Morris Carnovsky	...	Dr. Richard Caleb
Natalie Schafer	...	Ethel Royce
Paul Cavanagh	...	Victor Kranish
Douglass Dumbrille	...	District Attorney O'Brien (as Douglas Dumbrille)
Margaret Hamilton	...	Mrs. Geiger

Storyline

Madeleine Damien is the fashion editor of a slick Manhattan magazine by day and a lively party girl by night. Unfortunately, the pressures of her job, including kowtowing to a hefty advertiser, and her bad luck with men are driving her to a breakdown. She seeks the help of a psychiatrist, and under his orders, quits her job and moves into a smaller flat under a new identity. She becomes interested in painting and a handsome neighbor. He soon finds out about her past when an ex-suitor implicates her in a murder.

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Plot Keywords:

psychiatrist | editor | magazine | murder | disillusionment | 

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Taglines:

Unbridled passion . . . scandal . . . murder!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 May 1947 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sins of Madeleine

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hunt Stromberg Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film is one of many which the original copyright holder failed to renew the film's copyright, which resulted in it falling into public domain.

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Goofs

When Madeleine and Felix are in the car together right after they first met, it is snowing outside; however, the snow is only apparent from the rear windshield and the left passenger door. It is wholly absent the other passenger window in wide shots. However in close ups of Madeleine, there is an excess of snow falling, despite the wind blowing Felix's side.

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Quotes

Madeleine Damien: You're not helping me, you're insulting me.
Dr. Richard Caleb, Psychiatrist: You've been insulting yourself Miss Damian.

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Connections

Version of Letty Lynton (1932)

User Reviews

Slow But Interesting, & Lamarr Is Well Worth Seeing

It moves rather slowly much of the time, but this is an interesting drama with a performance from Hedy Lamarr that is well worth seeing in itself. The story is rather ambitious, and though it does not always fit together as well as it could have, it has a number of interesting aspects centering on Lamarr's character, Madeleine.

Madeleine is an interesting and complex character, starting out as a hard-driving, self-absorbed art editor, confronting an emotional crisis, and then starting a new life that brings its own challenges. It's a great role, and Lamarr fills it pretty well and makes good use of the material. The character is well-drawn enough to make the movie as a whole worthwhile despite a number of flaws elsewhere.

The supporting cast is solid, though most of the secondary characters don't have as much depth. They usually serve mainly to drive the plot and/or to develop the main character further. The psychiatrist character seems just a little exaggerated now, since the assumptions he makes are no longer accepted unquestioningly. The character would still work all right if he were made less infallible and inflexible.

The first part of the story probably works the best, painting an interesting picture of the changes in Madeleine's life. The courtroom sequence in the second half sometimes seems a bit contrived, but dramatically it works all right. Overall, the movie seems as if it could have been better with a few improvements, but it's worth seeing, and Lamarr provides a good reason to watch it.