Women Won't Tell

"Women Won't Tell" is a tough film to watch...at first. Your first instinct might be to turn it off. Afterall, it's a cheap film made by tiny Chesterfield...and most of their pictures aren't especially good. Despite this, you do need to keep watching...as over time the story improves and really grows on you.

The story begins at a garbage dump adjacent to a factory owned by a nasty old goat. In this dump live many folks who eke out an existence looking for scrap and items they can re-sell. One of them, the Duchess, is widely loved by the folks who live there. She has a daughter, April, who she loves dearly.

After the old goat dies, a newspaper reporter interviews folks in the dump and is shocked to hear that the girl is the old goat's illegitimate daughter. And, since there are no known relatives of the deceased, she's soon declared by the courts as his heir.

Years pass. April's grown into a lovely young lady and tennis star. The Duchess now runs the company...and apparently runs it very well. While things seem nearly perfect, two problems have arisen. April's boyfriend adores her...but her snooty parents don't like the idea of the young man marrying a daughter who was illegitimate. Then, folks approach the Duchess....telling them that they are April's biological parents and they want her back...and presumably the fortune. What's next? See the film!

This story, while improbable and a bit sickely sweet, works very well for several reasons. The most important of which is its originality....but it's also very enjoyable and creative. I appreciate that despite a smaller budget, the acting, direction and writing were quite good. It's a B-movie well worth seeing.

Walter V. Mong has a factory and he hates the dump that he sees out of his office window. He wrangles a lot with Sarah Padden, who lives in the dump and raises her daughter, Gloria Shea there. When Mong dies without a will, she puts in a claim for Miss Shea, who she says is Mong's natural daughter. Eight years later...

Richard Thorpe directs this script by Lela Rogers (Ginger Rogers' mother) pretty well, although the line readings are of mixed quality. Miss Padden is very good in the first half, then, in the middle, when she is running the factory efficiently and compassionately, her line readings sound unnatural. Dewey Robinson, usually a fine bit player of seedy toughs, is also pretty bad. On the other hand, Isabel Withers as a newspaperwoman had me checking to make sure I wasn't looking at Una Merkel, and John Hyams and Jane Darwell, in small roles as the parents of juvenile Larry Kent, are excellent.

I imagine it was the sort of budgeting that Poverty Row production company Chesterfield could afford that caused this unevenness. Some actors were cast who were good and inexpensive, like Otis Harlan and Mae Busch; others had to be coached along and Thorpe lacked either the time or expertise to do so. He would develop a workaround of starting scenes in a longer shot, cranking until a line was flubbed, then moving the camera in closer. Either he hadn't developed it yet, or it wasn't enough.

It's an interesting story, though, with a couple of nice performances. For a Poverty Row movie intended for States Rights Release, that's all right.