I Loved a Woman

Young Edward G. Robinson is discovering the art and culture of Greece and finding himself, when he gets a telegram from home. Heir to a beef- packing business, he reads his father has just died. He rushes home but didn't have much plans or a business mind to take over, when he meets Genevieve Tobin, who is an heir to a competitor. In fact, there are several meat-packing companies, but they don't all use pure beef in their product/business. Edward's father did and their business was number one in the industry, in this film was takes place in 1892, just before Teddy Roosevelt becomes President. In fact, Teddy and Eddie meet and become enemies of sorts. But, I'm ahead of myself. Getting married to Genevieve Tobin, and using only prime beef, Eddie does take over, but the business does not do so well, just adequate and others become more successful. Meanwhile, a young aspiring opera singer (Kay Francis) looking for a backer comes to him, asking for capital as an investment. When he hears her sing and she knows his favorite song, "Home on the Range," he obviously falls for her. But what he didn't realize was that she was what she was. She did form a fond attachment for him, but never claimed to love only him. She was a very cavalier lover. When he is inspired by her gusto to live life fully and go for the gold, he becomes ruthless in getting contracts for his business and in cutting costs, not always using premium beef, like everyone else. But in his getting fat deals, his food affects more people, more important people. So when the fit hits the shan, he is the scapegoat. Meanwhile, Genevieve learns about Kay and she lives for the day to show Edward up. This is a very well-made film that does not overdo its dramatics. In fact, this played out very well and was very realistic. While not a very important film or that great a film in the long run, it really delivers with great performances by all. This was not a turkey by no means, as Edward felt he was being thrown into them by the movie studio all the time. They were uninspired and repetitive to him, as he was a stage actor by heart. He never understood the appeal of "Little Caesar," despite the fact it made him an overnight movie star. Playing a gangster was not all that it was hyped up to be, but this film he felt at least was "about something," as he said in his autobiography. And, he had fond memories of Kay Francis. If you see this on TCM one day, watch and enjoy Edward G. Robinson, one of Hollywood's most versatile actors, who earned an Honorary Oscar for his performances of men in all walks of life.

In his acclaimed and enjoyable autobiography All My Yesterdays published in 1973 (the year he died), Edward G. Robinson explained in considerable detail the process that produced the interesting but disjointed movie I Loved a Woman (ILAW). Basically, the prevailing Studio System that was then an integral part of Hollywood movie-making allowed for several people (of varying ability and differing agendas) to modify a novel or play as it became the final screenplay that when shot was the film we finally saw in the theater. Each "contributor"to this process may have worked independently of all the others, and the result was somewhat like "putting Bandaids on boils" rather than attempting to produce the best cure for the condition. As Robinson further explained it, he as an actor/artist also took an interest in fashioning the final script, and often frustrating battles ensued over just how much of his input (if any) would be acceptable. No wonder that ILAW seems like a film that some think is too long and others too short---or that some believe contains incomplete or confusing characterizations while others are bothered by the abrupt/inconsistent aspects of the dramatic narrative.

Nonetheless, ILAW is entertaining and absorbing with its often rambling tale of a Chicago robber baron loosely modeled after real life meat-packer Samuel Insull. And while the romantic scenes between Robinson and his leading ladies Kay Francis and Genevieve Tobin may lack appropriate chemistry or credibility, it cannot be denied that in ILAW Robinson delivered a robust and commanding performance. He was a powerful actor in this early pre-code effort, and certainly gave us every indication that he would evolve into the superb character actor that became his future destiny.

As for veteran director Alfred E. Green, he would go on to direct The Jolson Story, The Fabulous Dorseys and The Eddie Cantor Story among many other films.

ILAW is little known today. That is too bad, because it provides an excellent time capsule that captured three accomplished actors as they were moving into their peak career period, as well as just how the Warner Brothers Studio System actually worked in practice. Next time TCM shows ILAW, check it out!

Seldom seen even on TCM are a series of Edward G. Robinson (E.G.R.) films made at WARNER BROTHERS (W.B.) from 1931 too 1934, with loan-outs to other Major Studios. Many featured themes of rags to riches to rags, with I LOVED A WOMEN (1934) as one such effort.

E.G.R, John Mansfield Hayden, scion of wealthy Chicago Meat-Packer returns from Greece to take over the business after his Father dies. Not really cut out for it he marries competitors daughter Martha Lane (Genevieve Tobin). Then meets his muse in aspiring opera singer Laura McDonald (Kay Francis). Now with confidence he builds a 'Empire of Meat' and if it means selling a defective product to the U.S. Army, so be it. In the end he is betrayed by his own ambition and lover. Living in exile in Greece (with his ill gotten gains) he escapes indictment, but his mind goes to the point he has no grasp of reality or his former love.

This story is right out of one of Socialist Upton Sinclair's muck-raking novels. THE JUNGLE (1906) being a prime example of the type. E.G.R. gives it his usual effort and is quite convincing as a turn of Century (19th/20th) 'Robber Baron'! Giving a performance the equal of Warren William, who usually filled that slot at the W.B. of the ruthless 'Business Tycoon'. Fine supporting cast backs him up and film runs in a crisp 90" so will not tax the modern audience. Watch it and be entertained.

This film bit off more than it could chew. At first, the thirty-year time span seemed pioneering for 1933, but as it lumbers on everything becomes routine and boring.

It's still worth it to see Robinson, Francis, and the other actors as they appeared in 1933.

The plot was not perfect and needed some paring down, and the ending left something to be desired, but this is a film you should see.

I love pre-code films, often even when they're less than great. They're usually so fast-paced, packing more plot and ideas into one hour than today's movies do in two and a half, that one is willing to overlook inconsistencies and implausibilities in the script, if such occur.

But when they reach an hour and a half, they sometimes bog down and become as dull as the inane films the Production Code later foisted on us.

This film is a good example. The history of Edward G. Robinson's transformation from a young idealist inheriting his father's meat-packing business to a ruthless capitalist defies credulity both for his naivete and the ease of his rise to the top when he discards his scruples. The characters are mostly one-dimensional stereotypes. The character of his opera star mistress, a somewhat miscast Kay Francis, who eggs him on with Nietzschean pep talks about dominating the world, sounds like Ayn Rand on steroids.

All this is fine for the first hour or so, when the rapid succession of events keeps you guessing what will happen next and too busy to think about the logic of it all. The last half hour or so, about his well-deserved downfall, goes by much more slowly and grinds to an undramatic ending.

Still worth a look for pre-code fans for Robinson, Francis and other fine actors, but don't put it at the top of your list.