Dishonored Lady (1947) User Reviews

Promiscuity and She

[wes-connors · 6/10 · 21 March 2010]

Beautiful and suicidal Hedy Lamarr (as Madeleine Damien) takes her psychiatrist's advice, and moves from promiscuous Manhattan magazine editor to struggling Greenwich Village artist. She falls in love with building mate Dennis O'Keefe (as David S. Cousins), a scientist; and, the two plan to marry. But, when Mr. O'Keefe is called away on business, Ms. Lamarr gets snookered and lapses into her prior lifestyle. Although she comes to her senses in time to flee frisky John Loder (as Felix Courtland), her presence in his apartment makes Lamarr a murder suspect.

So, how does she explain all this to returning fiancé O'Keefe?

This deliciously ludicrous, dated melodrama is gamely performed by Lamarr, who really pulls it off, with determination and beauty. These types of pictures are always easier to watch with an extremely attractive woman at the helm; and, "Dishonored Lady" is tailor-made for a beautiful Hollywood actress. Interestingly, Mr. Loder was, at the time, Lamarr's real-life husband - though, not for long. None of the men seem entirely up for Lamarr, but chatty Margaret Hamilton (after "The Wizard of Oz") and catty Natalie Schafer (before "Gilligan's Island") offer helpful support.

****** Dishonored Lady (5/16/47) Robert Stevenson ~ Hedy Lamarr, Dennis O'Keefe, John Loder, William Lundigan

Unusual and Entertaining Movie

[wndlz · 7/10 · 12 November 2002]

This movie was generally well made. The critics have not been kind to this movie over the years. I think it had a 'dream and erotic' quality. I think it did a good job of implying sexual behavior, so as not to incense censors of that time. Hedy was beautiful, and I thought her rather ambiguous performance, gave the film a nice sense of mystery. Again, the supporting cast was generally second rate. I think budget concerns were responsible for some rather lack-luster actors. I do believe Hedy Lamarr needed strong supporting performances, to help carry her movies, and inspire her performances.

Never a Dull Moment

[mortlich · 7/10 · 20 September 2015]

I was delightfully surprised in every way by the quality of this film in respect of the sharpness of the picture and the clarity of the sound, AND by its sheer entertainment value. Set in New York in the immediate post-war years, "Dishonored Lady" grabs our attention straight from the outset, as Hedy Lamarr walks to work at her office, and from there it is non-stop interest as the story unfolds, in the office itself, in cocktail bars, the opulent mansion of predatory male, John Loder (twice, as well as twice in his chauffeur-driven limousine), in Hedy's flat where she has started a new life, in the courtroom and at the airport. Hedy, as Madeleine Damien, has a lot of acting to do, and she does it quite superbly. She is well supported by the rest of the cast, in what is a film that deserves recognition as 90 minutes of gripping cinema, with the bonus of seeing Lamarr throughout, whose role as a woman that men can't resist is entirely credible.

Slow But Interesting, & Lamarr Is Well Worth Seeing

[Snow Leopard · 21 November 2005]

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.

"I didn't commit this murder!"

[chris_gaskin123 · 7/10 · 6 March 2006]

I've just seen Dishonored Lady for the first time and quite enjoyed it.

A fashion editor of a magazine has a breakdown after she crashes her car. She is taken in by a psychiatrist and when she has recovered, heads to New York where stays in an apartment block and has a new identity too. She falls in love with a scientist and also a millionaire. This millionaire is then murdered and she gets the blame for it, even though she didn't do it. Can she clear her name in court?

The cast includes Hedy Lamarr, Dennis O'Keefe and John Lodar. With the Wicked Witch of the West herself, Margaret Hamilton as a landlady.

Dishonored Lady is worth checking out. Enjoyable.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

Hedy's Not Dishonoured

[m0rphy · 6/10 · 22 October 2003]

When Hedy Lamarr made this film she was 34 and her Viennese accent and sophisticated European poise were evident in this film where she plays the art editor of a posh New York magazine.Her rather promiscous personality on screen (allowing for what was allowed by 1940's censors) and her rather stentorian personality to her subordinates at work gave her a rather sadistic quality which I found not unattractive!!

It seems the job is stressing her out and although brilliant at what she does, she does not like what she has become.She decides to have a complete break and adopts another persona and live elsewhere.Her rich boyfriend (one of her real life husbands - John Loder) tracks her down and complicates her life when she poses as an artist in a flat above a scientist (Dennis O'Keefe)in a modest block run by a landlady - the unmistakeable actress who plays the wicked witch from "The Wizard of Oz" (1939)!!

I will not provide a spoiler but a murder is committed and Hedy is accused.Examined in the film is the power of love and belief in that person when all the evidence points against them.Hedy's supporting cast are only adequate as this film evidently could only support one star.I am not familiar with the director Robert Stevenson. Certainly he is not of the first order but ...adequate, a bit like the film.My motive to own the DVD was to see the mature Hedy Lamarr after seeing her as a 20 year old in "Exctase"(1933).She comes over as rather enigmatic, even when she resolves her love with Dr. David S. Cousins her fiancee.

I still enjoyed this thriller from 1947 mainly because of the awesome beauty of its principal actress.As a film I would rate it generally at 6/10.

A pretty good flick--odd that it's slipped into the public domain.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 11 May 2011]

While this is not always the case, often films that have slipped into the public domain are not all that good--orphans from studios that would sooner pretend they didn't exist! In other words, the film was a stinker so they didn't bother to renew the copyright. But, in the case of "Dishonored Lady", the film is pretty good and you wonder why it's included with these clunkers.

The film begins with Hedy Lamarr behaving like she'd like to die--though she denies she has a problem. She also is apparently 'a bad lady' though the film only implied what this means--and I do think this is one case where the requirements of the Production Code harmed the movie. Had they said she had been very sexually active, what happened throughout the film would have made a lot more sense.

Regardless, a kind psychiatrist sees a sad and sick lady and offers to help. They make some progress and Hedy decides much of her problem is the company she keeps, so she quits her high-paid job and leaves all her old 'friends'. With a brand-new identity, she takes joy in a simpler and less salacious life. She also meets a nice guy (Dennis O'Keefe) and they fall in love. However, she does not tell him about her past--and eventually this comes between them. I could say a lot more, but I'll leave it up to you to find out for yourself.

The film had some nice performances. While Hedy is a bit wooden, she often was wooden--and it's probably one of her better performances. While O'Keefe is a lesser-known actor, he was also very good--and I liked him at the end in a very rough and tumble scene. The script was nice as well--with my only real complaint being the vagueness of Hedy's past. Worth seeing, though by no means a great film.

By the way, if you do see this movie, get a load of the crazy wardrobe Hedy wears through much of the film. NO ONE ever dressed like this--not that chic and well-coiffed. In fact, I found it a bit laughable that she looked like she stepped off a fashion runway every time she went to work!

Enjoyable, and good performance by Hedy Lamarr.

[ludivinereynaud · 7/10 · 25 March 2018]

I don't quite get why Lamarr is systematically held out as a mediocre actress. I found her to be a fine actress in this movie. She's certainly no worse than many other actresses of her time that are thought so highly of.

Madeleine is quite a touching character and her inner struggles may strike a chord with many high achieving and hard working women, although there's obviously a moralizing untertone that has to be expected from a movie shot in the late 40s. Still, the theme is really modern and I was surprised it was deemed admissible at the time.

The psychiatrist came across at time as an unecessary addition to the plot, but that's also in line with the late 40s, when psychiatry was still very influential.

Overall, that's a very enjoyable movie, with an abrupt ending that'll keep you on tenterhooks until about the last minute of it.

Don't Diss a Dishonored Lady

[JLRMovieReviews · 9/10 · 26 July 2012]

Hedy Lamarr once remarked, I believe, that most of her films were pretty forgettable. If she didn't, then most of her critics did. Maybe, looking back on them, none stood out as exceptional. But they can be called good for what they were. This film, Dishonored Lady, is one such example. It may not win any awards and may not be that important in the long scheme of things, but this is a good little programmer (or 'b' picture) that really packs a wallop and entertains for about 90 minutes. We open on Hedy sitting in her car, and after a time and after a cop asking if she's okay, she rams her car into a tree. A psychiatrist saves her and tries to get her to tell him her problems. She's thankful for his interest, but leaves not planning on going back. We then see how things develop as she ultimately leaves her job, wanting to find peace somewhere. She changes her name for a fresh start and meets Dennis O'Keefe, who's another tenant in the apartment. John Loder (who was one of Hedy Lamarr's husbands in real life) plays a client of hers from the fashion job who finds her in her new place and from there, things happen. William Lundigan, Morris Carnovsky as the psychiatrist, Natalie Schafer (from "Gilligan's Island",) Paul Cavanaugh, Douglas Dumbrille, and Margaret Hamilton (the Wicked Witch of the West from "The Wizard of Oz") make up the rest of the cast. Their names may not mean much to the average person today, but these are all very reliable actors who make the film even more enjoyable. What's unique about Lundigan and O'Keefe being in the same picture here is that usually they were competing for the same type of roles in films, the young man usually on the right side of the law and is set on solving a murder that is thrust upon them. Sometimes they played a detective and other times they were an average Joe, with a murder rap on their head to clear. If you ever get a chance to catch a "Dishonored Lady," see it for yourself. It may be one of the best of Hedy Lamarr's "forgettable films."

The gorgeous Lamarr is a Dishonored Lady

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 10 December 2016]

Meaning, I guess, that she slept around.

So this is what used to happen when a female movie star turned 30 during Hollywood's golden age - her studio drops her, and she winds up with the serviceable Dennis O'Keefe as her leading man. Luckily for Lamarr, her career wasn't quite over because Cecil B. DeMille later cast her as Delilah in "Samson and Delilah."

Before that, and her time at MGM over, Lamarr made "Dishonored Lady" in 1947, starring the aforementioned O'Keefe as well as her husband, John Loder, Morris Carnovsky, William Lundigan, Natalie Schaefer, Paul Cavanaugh, and Margaret Hamilton.

Lamarr plays Madeleine, the beautiful, glamorous, editor of a Manhattan magazine who goes from man to man, which we gather from this carefully- worded script.

After sessions with a psychiatrist, she changes her name and moves away from her job, deciding instead to concentrate on painting while getting her life and herself back together. In her apartment building, she meets an attractive scientist (O'Keefe) and the two fall in love.

However, the past returns to haunt Madeleine in a particularly vicious way.

Decent film, and it's always a pleasure to see Lamarr. There were precious few who could even come close to her beauty, even here, when she's the grand old age of 32. Though she was often cast for her beauty and sexuality, Lamarr had a spark as well as a very pleasant voice and here turns in a fine performance. She's surrounded by some excellent actors as well.

Much has been written about Lamarr's work as an inventor, but her life was fascinating even without it. There are two stories about how she escaped her first husband, Fritz Mandl, who was connected to the Nazis, as well as getting out of Austria. One is that she drugged a maid who resembled her and changed into her uniform. Another is that she wore all of her jewelry to a party and left afterwards, never returning home.

Recommended for Lamarr fans.

Fame and Character

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 10 October 2014]

Dishoned Lady finds Hedy Lamarr taking on a role originated by Katherine Cornell in a play on Broadway that ran 127 performances during the Depression era 1930 season. Lamarr plays the high powered art director of a fashion magazine who has quite the active love life. Kept on a string by her are accountant William Lundigan, her boss and jeweler real life husband John Loder and research scientist Dennis O'Keefe whom when she first him, he has no idea about her fame and character.

The film opens with a suicide attempt where psychiatrist Morris Carnovsky is on the scene and she becomes a patient. With the Code in place we never get a frank discussion of her illness which is nymphomania. That in itself hampers the development of the characters who except for Lamarr are quite one dimensional.

Three men are involved with her, one of them dies, one of them did it, and one of them winds up with her. No real suspense in identifying who is who as you watch the film.

Still 84 minutes of Hedy Lamarr is also a pleasure.

Gorgeous Hedy Lamarr Outshines Glizy Fashions and Psychology on the Half-Shell

[oldblackandwhite · 8/10 · 19 November 2010]

It would be a mistake to say that Hedy Lamarr was just a pretty face for two reasons. 1) Pretty would be a gross understatement. She had a gorgeous face, and all the rest of her was likewise, if you get what I mean. 2) She really could act, as she proved taking on a complex role in Dishonored Lady. Okay, she wasn't in a class with Bette Davis. But then Bette Davis would not have been believable in Hedy's role, because no one would believe all those men would have been so obsessively attracted to the frumpy Ms. Davis.

Dishonored Lady is an early example of the "pycho-drama" and possibly one of the best in that typically dreary, and not so entertaining genre. The average American of the late 1940's wasn't really sure what a psychiatrist was, unless he was a WWII veteran suffering from what is now called post-traumatic stress syndrome. But the high-living Hollywood crowd knew all about that shadowy type of doc. So, it is not surprising we started seeing movies about people with structural problems in the upper stories. Joan Crawford at this stage of her career glommed on to this overwrought type of dramas. Not surprisingly, since it would be a major shocker if a dame like her didn't have a shrink on the payroll.

In Dishonored Lady the shrink, played with great verve by Morris Carnovsky, is the pivotal character. Hedy's character is a high-paid advertising designer, surrounded by shallow, dishonorable men who take advantage of her promiscuous nature. I say promiscuous, but I mean by the standards of the late 1940's, when the world was only just starting to go mad. By today's drop-your-drawers-if-somebody-just-looks-like-they-want-you-to standards maybe she would be regarded as a prude. At least she has some guilt feelings about it. In fact she becomes so disgusted with herself that she tries to commit suicide by ramming her speeding car into a stone fence. She has the good luck 1) not to be seriously injured and 2) to fall right into the attentions of psychiatrist Carnovsky, who owns the house behind the fence. He proceeds to help her get over the suicidal urge and to put some corners on her round heels.

Turns out she has found in this psychiatrist one of the best of that iffy bunch. Though we see the couch business in his office as if he were a practitioner of the now-discredited Freudian branch of psychoanalysis, he is in reality a common sense psychologist. Like one of those good, old-time, tough priests, he doesn't mind telling someone he or she is doing wrong and just needs to straighten up. Best line in the movie -- when one of Hedy's rich, carnivorous ex-boyfriends takes offense at Carnovsky's criticism of his ways, the psychiatrist replies, "I usually get paid for insulting people." It goes on from there, and this is a very entertaining movie. It's part psycho-drama, part crime drama, part courtroom drama, part love story. All works well. Heddy's supporting cast, led by Carnovsky and Dennis O'Keefe are all very good. O'Keefe, cast somewhat against type, plays a nice medical research doctor who thinks of nothing but germs until he falls in love at first sight with Hedy (and what man wouldn't). But we get to see a little of his tough guy side before the end. To say any late 'forties movie has good cinematography and fluid editing is redundant.

Dishonored Lady is an enjoyable watch and a good showcase for Hedy Lamarr's beauty and talent.

THE UNDERRATED HEDY LAMARR IS OUTSTANDING AS A SUICIDAL NYMPHOMANIAC

[LeonLouisRicci · 7/10 · 27 August 2021]

Up Front it must be Acknowledged that the Maladie Madeline Suffers is Nymphomania.

A Taboo Diagnosis in the Code-Years to even Speak Directly About on Screen.

So Hedy Lamar's Bed-Hopping and Her Inability to Say No is Danced Around Verbally but Visually there is Plenty to See.

Trying to Confront Her "Problem" at Work in a High-Style New York Advertising Office, Constantly the Butt of Innuendoes and Jokes from Co-Workers, and a Suicide Attempt, She Seeks Psychiatric Care.

This puts the Movie in Film-Noir Territory.

The Dated Double-Standard that Men can Fool-Around but a Woman Who Does is Labeled a "Dishonored Lady" Abounds in this Engaging Foray into a Woman's Dilemma Dealing with the Ridicule and Guilt.

Hedy Lamarr is Fantastic Portraying the Scarlet Woman and the "New" Woman She Attempts to Cultivate with an Alternate Identity and a Gallant Go at Changing Her Ways.

The Third Act, after She Meets and Falls in Love with Scientist Dennis O' Keefe, is Twisted into a Murder-Courtroom Field.

But it is the Mental Health Aspects of the Movie that is the Reason for the Film's Existence and Intrigue.

It's Interesting to Watch the Script Deflect what is Really Going On and the Underrated Hedy Lamarr is Always Interesting to Watch.

This is the Type of Role where She Exhibits a Talent that was Underused.

The Actress was Often Miscast and Never Managed to Breakthrough to the Status and A-List Parts that was Deserving of the Beautiful and Intelligent Woman.

Hedy Lamarr Looks Fabulous

[boblipton · 5/10 · 18 September 2019]

Hedy Lamarr is a high-living, high-loving, headstrong photo editor for a magazine. Of course, this means she is deeply miserable, as psychiatrist Morris Carnovsky explains to her. This causes her to abandon the high life and live in a Greenwich Village bed-sit, with Marjorie Main her landlord. Another tenant is research doctor Dennis O'Keefe, and they fall in love. She doesn't tell him about her past, which catches up with her, when ex-lover John Loder gets her into his apartment. Eventually, she flees, but he gets killed that night and with her fingerprints all over the place, and her too depressed over O'Keefe being mad at her, she's likely to be hanged.

It's based on the Madeleine Smith case, and on a play by Edward Sheldon and Margaret Ayers Barnes; an MGM production LETTY LYNTON was found to be a plagiarism, and that's probably how former MGM producer Hunt Stromberg came to be producing this, with Robert Stevenson directing. The problem with this version is there's no suspense. We know Miss Lamarr didn't kill Loder; we see the murder scene. Instead, the only question is when will O'Keefe stop being mad at the woman he loves.

This isn't the only movie version of the Madeleine Smith affair. David Lean would direct a better one in 1950, called MADELEINE.

Gorgeous Hedy

[bruno-32 · 7 November 2012]

I must admit I have been a Hedy Lamarr fan since "Algiers", which was a great big hit back in 1938, so I do not understand some reviewers here saying, unfortunately, most of her movies are "forgettable". She was one actress that one can just go and admire her looks. Other gorgeous actress's, and there were plenty, never given me that same effect. As for her other 'unforgettable' films she was fine in "H.M Pulham, esq.", "Comrade X", "Tortilla Flat","Experiment Perilous", and "The Strange Woman".In all her roles, someone, the leading man, feature players always had to comment on her beauty...like we had to be reminded. I never heard those attributes given to other leading actress's of that period...Rita, Gene and etc. So there must have been a reason for her to get that title of 'the most beautiful woman in films". Aside from her looks, I always thought she was a fine actress, and a fine comedienne, when given such roles, which were few... . In this movie, she had one 'drunken' scene that I thought she was great. I actually believed she was 'high'. it was the scene in the night club where she was suppose to help her gossipy ex-coworker. It's not easy to portray someone that is 'high' on a few drinks..one can actually see when one is overdoing it. Another trivia ...it took another studio, Paramount, to put her in a Technicolor movie, "Samson & Delilah" for the first time after being at MGM, since 1938...11 years later. During that same period, Betty Grable was making technicolor movies, one after another musical and Dorothy Lamour with her Jungle roles.

Hedy is gorgeous in this great little film about chance, change and double standards.

[cgvsluis · 7/10 · 26 October 2021]

Hedy Lamar is absolutely gorgeous playing this dishonorable lady...who is pegged accurately by the physiatrist who finds her after having been thrown from her car after wrapping it around a tree on his property, as a very beautiful woman who doesn't care what happens to her. He returns her home with his business card, making her promise to call him before throwing herself off the Brooklyn Bridge.

Back home we discover she works for a magazine as their art editor and she makes questionable choices about the men she sees...allowing herself to be used, manipulated and made love to. Leading this questionable life that she mirrored after her artist father...the ultimate love them and leave them and who cares about the consequences.

Turns out the doctor was right and before killing herself for good...Madeline Damien contacts the doctor and he starts therapy right away. She quits her job, gives up her apartment and moves into a tiny boarding house where she continues to get therapy and under an assumed name tries her hand at painting again. She seems to be finding some level of happiness in this simple life...and she meets one of her neighbors a poor research physician from Oregon who convinces her to draw blood cells for his research report. He ends up having success around the same time that a wealthy former paramour locates her through a P. I., who not only finds her but makes a copy of her apartment key for him!

The wealthy former paramour ends up murdered and our Madeline Damien is implicated, which is how our research doctor finally finds out her real identity and past. Thinking her new life and love is gone, Madeline doesn't allow her lawyer to put up a fight as she is accused of murder and goes on trial.

Great film! I am surprised this isn't more popular. It is an interesting study in the double standard for men and women. Hedy is of course gorgeous in this film and does a great job both with the apathetic role and the change to happiness and true love. The handsome and unquestioning Oregon doctor is well played by Dennis O'Keefe.

Madeline Damien has been successful in a man's world, playing a man's game...including sleeping around. The problem is nothing seems to make her happy. Women gossip about her, men including her boss take advantage of her and use her beauty and promiscuity to their advantage without thinking about the consequences to her. Meanwhile their opinion of her remains low...even though she is lining their pockets with money. She is afraid to tell the doctor about her promiscuous past because she is afraid to loose the happiness that she has found with him...but he has been in the military and lived a life up until this point...no one is asking the good doctor to account for his sex life.

Great film, great study in the double standard of the sexes at the time.

"Don't you want to show me your jewels?"

[classicsoncall · 6/10 · 9 October 2012]

This is absolutely the first time ever after some twenty five hundred plus reviews on this board that I've been compelled to go with a 'half' vote. It's too good for my standard programmer rating of a six, but doesn't quite nail it as a seven. Since there's no rounding here, I'll have to drop it the half point.

No doubt about it, Hedy Lamarr is rather stunning here, even if over the hill by the era's standards at thirty four. The film maker added to the mystique with quite an extensive wardrobe throughout, masking those inner demons that threatened to destroy her character Madeleine Damien at any turn. I had to do a double take over that rather inventive car wreck to open the story; how did Miss Damien manage to shake off the effects of that after a brief encounter with Dr. Caleb (Morris Carnovsky)?

So with the juggling act going on here between Lamarr's character and her suitors, I wasn't expecting the murder mystery that occurs later in the story. Except that it's not really a mystery and Madeleine is conveniently set up to take the fall. The whole psychological angle presented by Doc Caleb was an interesting one considering the era, a time when good guesswork could have readily stood side by side with science. Caleb's pronouncements about Miss Damien's identity and commitment fit the story well, but it made me a little suspicious that Cousins (Dennis O'Keefe) could figure out Garet's (William Lundigan) murder of Courtland (John Loder) so easily. Aside from all that, it was just plain cool to see Natalie Schafer auditioning for the part of Mrs. Thurston Howell.

Woman In Conflict.

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 11 August 2013]

Hedy Lamarr, she of the perfect proboscis, was a beautiful woman, no matter from what angle she was regarded. In her Hollywood years she'd been glamorized and Sydney Guilaroffed to a tee. Earlier, in her 1936 breakout film, "Extase", she was a little heftier although you'd never notice it except in her nude scenes. Her real name, of course, was not Hedy Lamarr. Nobody's name is that exquisite. In life, she was born to a family of Lichtenberger nobility and was known as Baronesse Sieglinda von Sturmen und Drangen. Really.

At any rate, she looks just fine in this rather drawn-out romantic drama of a woman who is consumed by the need for power and money and rises to the top of the art department of a chic New York magazine, or something like that. She sleeps around recklessly, becomes despondent, accidentally meets a psychiatrist who advises her to "find herself." So she quits being rich, which is always a foolish move, sheds her old identity, and starts life over as a struggling artist in a shabby room. Her neighbor is a fledgling research scientist, Dennis O'Keefe, and they fall for each other. Lamarr, however, is reluctant to reveal her past to O'Keefe, despite the urging of her psychiatrist.

A private eye, hired by one of her former lovers who must be very rich because he's festooned with watch fobs, discovers Lamarr's new identity. The slimy former lover gets her drunk, mates with her in his apartment, and after she dashes out in a guilt-ridden funk, Mr. Croesus is murdered by someone who shall remain nameless here. (Hint: It's William Lundigan.)

Throughout, poor Lamarr is in trouble. Her past imperfect life haunts her. She's hectored by that rich old satyr. She has no artistic talent. Her new life is a revelation and she beams with a tentative happiness, especially when O'Keefe proposes to her, but she still can't bring herself to tell him about her checkered history. But it all comes out in the murder trial.

It's really too long for what it has to say. And nobody turns in a bravura performance. It must be said that Hedy Lamarr can at least "do drunk" better than some others, like Richard Egan and Doris Day, who were positive embarrassments when they tried. Doris Day in "That Touch of Mink." Eww, I wince, just thinking about it. "Good" screen drunks included Jimmy Cagney and Lee Marvin, but that's neither here nor there.

The dialog has some bright spots. Somebody's reply is described as "decidedly acidic." And when the rich jewel collector entices her into his apartment and begins whispering sweet nothings into her ear, she looks at him over her shoulder and asks, "Aren't you going to show me your jewels?" I doubt that last one was intended to be as amusing as it is.

At heart, this is the kind of woman's picture that was common in the 30s and 40s and always found a ready audience. There has never been such strenuous suffering outside of a war movie.

sleazily pompous silliness

[Cristi_Ciopron · 6/10 · 11 April 2016]

The movie is effective and thorough in a sleazy way, though with a peculiar scent of silliness and the awkwardness of an untruthful standpoint, an educational and cautionary movie, like others from that age …; Stevenson, the director, knew his trade and here he leads us through a few milieus and uses a few quirks (as in the tracking of Hedy's new place of residence, or, earlier, when she's shown returning to her office, or when her idyll is shot from on high). It has a 2nd rate cast: Hedy Lamarr plays the nymphomaniac (and presumably abused daughter), O'Keefe: the researcher, Loder: the jeweler and seducer, Carnovsky: the psychiatrist and 1st rescuer, Lundigan: the murderer, Margaret Hamilton: the landlady, Cavanagh plays a small part as a shark; Dumbrille has a bit part. The musty dialogs and much of the acting are severely phony, but the direction, the sets, the camera-work, the wardrobe, the players' physiognomies themselves boost the feel (some by their sheer ugliness, the oldsters especially), which is a foul feel.

This is an enjoyable drama, with a very B spirit (i.e., silliness) and, alas, acting, but a better look. We are shown offices, a mansion, a restaurant, a lodging house, a laboratory …. The prologue with the motorcycle cops hints at the irresponsibility of leaving adventurous women do as they wish.

Some shameless lines would seem scandalous even nowadays, and it's a sleaze feast. By then, making love could still mean flirting; but Loder asks Hedy about being wet, she asks him to show her his jewels ….

Much is made of the medicine, two characters are physicians.

The trashy thoroughness shows in the fact that what could of been phony comes across as apposite and plausible. O'Keefe was a mediocre actor, and where the script hackneys and blunders the lines, it shows, but his acting matches his role: a dedicated scientist and country physician. Hedy overacts whenever presumably required, but achieves effectiveness: she looks insincere, etc.. Margaret Hamilton and Carnovsky play decently. The male characters are domineering and despotic, paternal types.

What is Madeleine's secret? Her moral feebleness, or its cause? Loder's sleaziness embodies the woman's depravity as shown in her taste. The topic of the script is as lurid as the title, cautionary exploitation, by turns hypocritical and sleazy; but in a spirit of equality, a few male characters are given a share of meanness. Like most teenagers have probably already guessed, Madeleine's _undivulged secret is twofold, not merely nymphomania, her addiction to sex, but also the undisclosed cause of this addiction, perhaps her living with her father (as shown by the grasp the sleazy oldster Loder has on her), but this explanation is only implicit, glimpsed. There are all sorts of circumstantial, suggested explanations for her behavior and symptoms of her alleged malady: she's Hungarian, she paints, things which make a woman seem untrustworthy …. This lady is more dishonorable, than dishonored, she's not only addicted to sex, but has perverted tastes.

At Loder's mansion, Hedy finds a portrait painted by her abusive father …. The nymphomaniac's penance is interrupted, the researcher avoids the mistake made by the cops at the beginning and doesn't leave her to do as she wishes (thus exposing herself to other temptations).

Hedy Lamarr in the Dock

[robert-temple-1 · 9/10 · 11 March 2009]

"The most beautiful woman in films" was the epithet generally bestowed upon the amazing Hedy Lamarr. But she might equally well have been called "the most intelligent woman in films", because she was the co-inventor with George Antheil of radio-guided torpedoes for the U.S. Navy using a frequency-hopping method of communication which is now fundamental to the technology of all mobile cellphones. (The story of this is well told in Antheil's autobiography, "Bad Boy of Music".) This film is excellently directed by English director Robert Stevenson, director of several classics such as "Owd Bob" (1936; see my review). Hedy is, as usual, fascinating to watch, and because the real Hedy was a somewhat disturbed character (she was twice arrested for shop-lifting and once convicted), the slightly mad flicker in her eyes may not all have been acting. We have recently learned that she was really Jewish, not Austrian, and that makes a lot more sense, as she did not exactly look like an Alpine Yodeler (her real surname was Kiesler), although strangely enough, in this film at one point she dresses like one. In fact, the clothes worn by Hedy in this film are all so amazingly spectacular that they amount to nothing less than a fantasy fashion parade. At one point, she walks into the snow in a white fur coat which is so large one almost imagines her to be a polar bear masquerading as a human. The gowns and jackets are a cross between Dior and Dali. Opposite Lamarr as the serious love interest is, of all people, Dennis O'Keefe, better known as a tough guy, and who went on to make "T-Men" (see my review) in the same year. O'Keefe was always under-rated and here does very well as a gentle young scientist who always has his nose up a test tube and only occasionally notices how beautiful his girlfriend is. But Hedy is a gal with a past, and what a past. In those days, sexual compulsion bordering on nymphomania had to be treated delicately in films, never overtly stated. So we have here a film heavy with innuendo, and lots of emphatic ambiguities from Hedy's psychiatrist to worry us. (Morris Carnovsky always played a very convincing psychiatrist, and if he looked at me in that stern way and told me I was a nymphomaniac, I might almost believe him, even though I am a man. So poor Hedy never had a chance but to get well.) Why was it that she could not resist the oily John Loder? And everyone else, for that matter? Her attempts to reform, by moving to a Greenwich Village hideaway and becoming a simple artist, where she meets O'Keefe, are threatened by all those guys who just won't leave her alone. And cocktails do terrible things to her. This is a very gripping film, and Hedy Lamarr was perfect for the lead. Wrongly accused of John Loder's murder, Lamarr sits in court refusing to defend herself because O'Keefe doesn't love her any more (or does he?), and the tension goes right up to the end. Will she be convicted? Will O'Keefe overcome his disgust? Can her psychiatrist sway the jury? Will, can, love conquer all? Good stuff.

A key combination

[AAdaSC · 7/10 · 30 January 2011]

Madeleine (Heddy Lamarr) tries to kill herself at the beginning of the film. We want to know why and it is left in the hands of a psychologist Dr Caleb (Morris Carnovsky) to help her to turn her life around and face the cause of her unhappiness. We follow her journey and pick up bits and bobs about her past during the process. For the first hour of the film, we mainly concentrate on her relationships with Courtland (John Loder) and David (Dennis O'Keefe). Then something unexpected happens.....a murder.....and Madeleine is the accused.....

A first, I wasn't sure where the film was heading but after a while I understood that it was about the character of Madeleine and who she was going to choose for a husband - the 2 candidates being Courtland and David. As a result of this woman's theme the film ticked along at a leisurely pace. But after an hour, it took an entirely new and welcome turn with some stolen jewels and a murder. We know who the murderer is but it is still intriguing to see how the culprit will be revealed to everyone else. The safe in Courtland's apartment now takes on significance.

The acting is good. Heddy Lamarr doesn't do much after the first hour - in fact she's pretty annoying as she resigns herself to being found guilty of murder. Actually, she's also pretty irritating in the first hour as well with her mood swings (she sacks her staff for gossipping about her - bitch!) and her indecision in affairs of the heart is pathetic. Dennis O'Keefe is good as her suitor who is fooled by her as is William Lundigan who plays "Geret", a former work colleague of her's. The cast is also supported well by Margaret Hamilton as the landlady who has a cartoon weirdness about her. The policemen who come to arrest Madeleine are also memorable for their no-nonsense approach.

I have to say that I found Morris Carnovsky slightly preachy and smug in his psychological interpretations. Madeleine knows what her problem is.....she's a slag.

I enjoyed this film - the memorable scenes coming at the beginning with Madeleine's suicide attempt and in the last half hour where the film picks up a gear.

Now I know why the copyright wasn't renewed

[mls4182 · 3/10 · 23 November 2021]

A crazy woman is pursued by three drippy men. She strings them along and one us murdered. She becomes a suspect and is put on trial. None of this makes sense and it is boring as hell.

Strictly for Lamar fans.

Best Movie for Capturing Hedy's Beauty

[cschieffer-655-751727 · 9/10 · 9 April 2013]

I too, have been a fan of Hedy's for a long time. All of her movies are very watchable because of her beauty and a few are better than others because of the production quality, story, etc. But, Dishonored Lady was made by a director that knew absolutely what he had. Every scene has the very best angle with lighting and expression. A lot of her movies have her looking great most of the time (how could she not look great)but, this one maximizes her beauty in every single scene. The copies I have seen are a little rough, and that is a shame. This is the movie that makes you wonder why she wasn't in higher demand. The story is great drama, with a respectable supporting cast, and allows her to be the working girl, the bad girl, the sad girl, the girl next door, and the accused murderess. Can it get any better than this, with every scene suitable as a still? There is not an actress today that comes close to having the screen presence that Hedy had in her hey-day.

Dishonored Lady

[CinemaSerf · 6/10 · 8 January 2023]

A pretty unremarkable vehicle for star Hedy Lamarr ("Madeleine Damien") as she portrays the fashion editor of a glossy New York magazine who burns the candle at both ends a bit too much. She eventually seeks the help of a psychiatrist "Dr Caleb" (Morris Carnosky) to help divert her from a mental breakdown. He suggests she quit her highly pressured job and to basically start her life all over again. It doesn't quite go to plan, as she soon becomes re-embroiled with a millionaire jeweller (and in his murder) and we end up in a court-room melodrama. The story twists and turns but not in any particularly interesting way; Lamarr is clearly the star but her performance is a bit soulless. So much more could have been done with the characterisation and the supporting cast don't add much value either.

Convoluted drama of a troubled lady in the dark.

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 16 August 2013]

Hedy Lamarr lacks the proper acting chops to really convince in this psychological study of a troubled magazine artist. She goes through a plethora of emotions, becoming both kind and cruel and seemingly at her happiest when she's living in squalor as opposed to the misery of a life in high society surrounded by pretentious phonies including one wealthy client who seems intent on possessing her. This threatens her new romance with a struggling scientist. At her best when she is easy-going, Lamarr seems forced and unnatural when emoting. As the men in her life, Morris Carnovsky is statically noble as the shrink, John Loder sleazy and one-dimensional as the skunk and Dennis O'Keefe spunky as the sap.

The supporting cast includes wonderful moments from Natalie Schaefer as Lamarr's trouble-making friend, Margaret Hamilton as her nosy landlady and Douglas Dumbrille as the tough prosecuting attorney when evidence points to Lamarr in a murder. It is here where the film tries to rise above its melodramatic nature to turn into something profound, a noble attempt that fails. An independent release written for its beautiful but stiff leading lady, it never amounts to much in spite of the surrounding talents.