A Woman's Vengeance

This film noir gem spins the tale of romance, unrequited love and revenge that conspire to frustrate a spinster in her pursuit of a man. The romance involves the man's dalliances with an attractive girl and the unrequited love is the bitter fruit of the spinster's quest to capture the man for herself. The revenge plays out its part in due course as the triangle emerges with malevolent undercurrents taking shape. The cast is excellent, especially Jessica Tandy and Sir Cedric Hardwicke, with Charles Boyer caught in the middle by the eager, determined females. Ann Blyth marries her suave suitor and sets in motion the cold fury of the spurned woman who can only watch as her dreams of happiness are dashed. The black and white camera work has a brooding quality and gives the film a classic film noir look.

"A Woman's Vengeance" is unusual in that it was written by Aldous Huxley, they author of the brilliant "Brave New World" and the son of the famous evolutionist, Thomas Henry Huxley. I had no idea he wrote this sort of story...a murder mystery.

When the story begins, Henry (Charles Boyer) and his wife, Emily, are having a fight. It seems that Emily is a very histrionic and demanding woman...the sort that would be nearly impossible to love. On the other hand, Henry isn't exactly an angel...he's got a VERY young girlfriend (Ann Blythe) on the side. He also has a family friend, Janet (Jessica Tandy), who loves him.

One day after yet another fight brought on by Emily, Henry goes out to spend the day with his mistress. During this time period, Emily dies of a heart attack...thus freeing Henry to marry his girlfriend. But once he does, Janet and, especially, the family's maid (Mildred Natwick) begin to wonder if Emily died a natural death. Soon, there is an exhumation and it's determined that Emily was poisoned!! Did Henry do it? After all, he clearly had the most to gain and any man married to Emily would be likely to at least consider poisoning her! Or is there some other answer?

The story is greatly helped by its cast. It's easy to make a good film with the likes of Charles Boyer, Jessica Tandy, Mildred Natwick, John Williams and Cederic Hardwicke in a movie...and it's obvious Universal Pictures put a lot of money into the production.

It's also helped that the story is so clever and offers some interesting twists. I also appreciate that the characters are quite flawed...much like many real people. Overall, well worth seeing and wonderfully well acted.

When Charles Boyer's wife, Rachel Kempson, dies prematurely, all suspicion falls on him, especially since they had a bad marriage and he was cheating on her with the beautiful, much younger Ann Blyth. He marries Ann shortly after Rachel's death, but their very adorable bliss is cut short when he gets suspected of murder. It's an easy conclusion to come to; after all, he was in Gaslight!

Aldous Huxley, adapting the script from his short story, has written a thoughtful, exciting, romantic drama, while many other films with a similar plot are just written to be a cheap thriller. If you're tired of the same old whodunnit, check out A Woman's Vengeance. There are many thoughtful speeches about life, death, love, and the preciousness of time, that you'll probably remember long after you watch this hidden gem. Cedric Hardwicke plays the family doctor and friend, and while he isn't particularly warm, he's very intelligent and important to the story. Mildred Natwick plays Rachel's nurse, and although she's very upset about her mistress's death, she was hoping to inherit a broach. Jessica Tandy is a neighbor harboring a long-standing crush on Charles, and her spastic, emotional craze is evident even in her earliest scenes. I might be a little picky, since I have a special relationship with A Streetcar Named Desire, but it felt like Jessica was trying to remind everyone of her success as Blanche duBois.

It's difficult to pick one star of this show, because it's a very good movie all-around, but if there is only one, it's Ann Blyth. Incredibly beautiful and adapting herself to a role different than she'd ever played, she's young without being naïve, uncultured without being un-classy, romantic without being stupid, and sensual without being loose. Every one of those characteristics is difficult to pull off, and they're all necessary for the plot of the movie to be meaningful. Charles Boyer is also very good, giving a sensitive performance rather than an over-the-top performance. Watch this movie. It's exciting from start to finish.

An excellent psychological thriller , based on Aldous Huxley's novella (adapted by himself,but the Mona Lisa title was better than that of the film) , with a stellar cast .

Although "Rebecca " was written after Huxley's work , there are shades of Du Maurier's tale : "I feel she's still here" ;in the movie, (like in real life),Boyer is French : il s'appelle Maurier ici ! The scene of the thunder over the house is a great moment to rival the best of Gothic horror movies ;and it' not gratuitous for it comes back in the extraordinary final Boyer/Tandy confrontation which makes your hair stand on end ;the way both are filmed (she seems to be an exterminating angel watching him in Hell) is stunning. In my book ,Tandy steals the show from Blyth .

This "beyond the grave" vengeance will remind you of Stahl's "leave her to heaven " (1946); it's a must for Gothic melodramas buffs.

This movie provides some interesting character studies by Aldous Huxley. Charles Boyer portrays Henry, a not very likeable husband to an invalid wife,Emily (Rachel Kempson). He has a very young mistress on the side, Doris, played by Ann Blythe. On the sidelines stands Janet, played by Jessica Tandy, whom Henry flirts with as a matter of course, but she takes it all very seriously and is in love with him. When Emily is murdered, Henry is arrested and sentenced to death by hanging. The second half of the movie deals with the secrets underlying Emily's death. Very well done with one flaw. Ann Blythe seems to start out in the movie as a selfish, manipulative young mistress and her transformation to a caring wife seems a bit of a stretch. Mildred Natwick is superb as a nosy nurse as is Cedric Hardwicke as a doctor who just about effortlessly steals every scene he is in. A true pro. 8 out of 10.