A Woman Possessed

A momma's boy comes home from medical school with a surprise in tow--a new fiancée! Well, his mother certainly can't have ANYONE taking her little boy away from her, so she spends much of the film trying to bring her son back under her thumb--and to drive the fiancée away from him. When Mother learns that her daughter-in-law to be has a heart condition, she does her best to make sure her new rival has a heart attack. What's next in sick sick, twisted, Oedipal home?

The basic idea of an evil and possessive mother trying to break up her son's upcoming marriage is an interesting one. The problem with "Woman Possessed" is that it's all too obvious. No subtlety is involved at all and only a complete moron wouldn't recognize that his mother was trying to destroy the marriage! And, when his fiancée brings it to his attention, he is adamant in defending his mother. In other words, the man is simply too stupid and the mother's actions should have been handled with more finesse. The mother is pretty bad and in an obvious way. And, for that matter, why would the fiancée stay? She KNOWS her future mother-in-law is bad--and who wants to marry a weenie like the son?! But, if you ignore all these reasonable questions in your mind, you can enjoy the film.

Great idea, somewhat indifferent execution--it's worth seeing and not as bad as the current 3.1 rating would suggest, but it's not an especially inspired film. At least the nice twist at the end made it worth seeing.

It's a Dan zinger film which explains a lot of the complaints reviewers have made about this film.So regardless of forgotten plot lines and slapdash editing and predictable situations it is nonetheless rather entertaining.The ending isn't too predictable although the way it is handled is rather cackhanded.A reasonable efforts.

Margaretta Scott is "A Woman Possessed" in this 1958 film, also starring Francis Matthews, Kay Callard, and Ian Fleming.

Scott is Katharine, a widow whose son John (Francis Matthews) has been away at medical school and comes home after being away for a time. Katharine is terribly excited, as is her maid, who has known the boy since childhood, until John walks in with a fiancée, Ann (Callard). Katharine doesn't take kindly to the fact that her beloved son is getting married, nor does she take kindly to the fact that after the wedding, he will set up practice somewhere other than in the next room.

Katharine immediately starts her dominating influence on John, telling him that she has called in architects to turn part of the house into a surgery for him, and using Ann's heart condition as a reason why Ann shouldn't be alone while he's working. John obviously has never stood up to her, and Ann realizes there's a problem right away. The question is, will poor Ann make it to the wedding? Despite protestations of innocence, Katharine seems determined to break them up.

The big problem with this film is that before each scene, I knew exactly, right down to the dialogue, what was going to happen next. As far as the twist at the end, I knew that too, and did not consider it any twist.

This movie was edited poorly as well, since there is a reference to something dangerous in the house that never is mentioned again. Obviously a scene or scenes were cut.

The acting was fine, with Ian Fleming as Katharine's wise brother giving very good support.

A Woman Possessed is a British film directed by Max Varnel and starring Margaretta Scott (Katherine Winthrop, the mom), Francis Matthews (John Winthrop, the young doctor), and Kay Callard (Ann, the fiancée).

The film tells the story of John, a young doctor who returns home from America with Ann his new fiancée. But bad news. Ann is met awith intense, chilly disapproval from the doctor's wealthy and extremely possessive mother. Mummy, you see, lost her husband in a car accident when the doctor was age 4, and sees the son as sort of a replacement. The mother does everything she can to break up the couple, including sabotaging the health of the fiancée who has a chronic heart condition and interfering in her son's plans for a medical practice.

The film is a classic example of the "evil mother-in-law" genre, and Margaretta Scott gives a soap-opera worthy performance as the cold, scheming Katharine Winthrop. Scott plays the role like Agnes Moorehead on Xanax.

The film is also notable for its twist ending, which is a tad out of the blue with not much set up, but was still satisfying nonetheless. I just wished that bit had been fleshed out a bit more.

Overall, A Woman Possessed is a workmanlike and moderately suspenseful film that is sure to entertain if you like the genre.

However, the film has its flaws. In a birthday scene, mom-in-law gives a surprise gift to the fiancé. Any dim-wit could see what the gift would be for 20 minutes. There's mention of a weak, near collapsed porch that needs to be avoided, but that plot point is oddly dropped. And Ann has to be the dumbest woman alive in 1958 Britain. Like. "Girl, get outta there!" Mom-in-law is a nightmare, the maid is creepy, and your beta-male potential hubby is utterly clueless, under his mother's spell. The film could also use about 10 minutes more run time; it's only 68 minutes. The ending seemed rushed, like, "Oh we are out of budget. Better wrap this up!"

Despite these flaws, A Woman Possessed is still an enjoyable film that is worth watching for its suspenseful plot and Margaretta Scott's performance.