A Woman's Vengeance (1948)

"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.

... for example it would be a bummer if "Star Wars" (SPOILER WARNING FOR ANYBODY LIVING ON A DESERT ISLAND THE LAST FORTY YEARS) had been named "My Trouble with Dad who Dresses in Black and uses Black Magic a Tad". Yet there is some mystery until about 2/3 of the way into the film, and at that point it is just very good acting that carries the day.Wealthy Henry Maurier (Charles Boyer) has an invalid wife, Emily (Rachel Kempson). And Emily whines about her condition, whines about her husband wishing she were dead, and apparently, from what Henry says, was not great companionship when she was well. Emily perhaps is picking up on the fact that Henry has an 18 year old mistress, Doris (Ann Blythe), who is getting impatient being just the mistress and being hidden away. The Mauriers also have a family friend, Janet Spence (Jessica Tandy), who is 35 and has remained unmarried all of these years taking care of her invalid dad, although she never sounds as though she thinks he is a burden. Henry finds great intellectual companionship with Janet as they talk over art, music, and literature. Henry has a problem relative in Emily's brother, who is constantly sponging off of Emily, or at least trying to. Henry intercepts him at every opportunity and tears up any checks Emily writes him.One night Henry breaks his own rule and takes Doris out in public, only for Emily's brother to see them together. He blackmails Henry for 500 dollars which he says he will collect the next morning or he will tell Emily all about it. But that is one check he will never collect, because when Henry returns home that night he learns that his wife died of a heart attack earlier in the evening. The maid is blamed for serving Emily red currants rather than the bland diet the doctor prescribed, thus upsetting her delicate system and bringing on the fatal attack.Henry's wealth must be inherited, because he has no patience or prudence. He marries Doris before Emily is cold and takes to redecorating the house to his new wife's liking. The maid, brilliantly played by Mildred Natwick, begins to suspect that maybe Emily was murdered rather than just dying of some random heart attack. Plus she is resenting being blamed for Emily's death. An autopsy is performed and arsenic is found in her system. So, who did it? Everyone thinks Henry did, and the new hot young wife, a mistress while his wife was still living, does not help any. But from the title we know a woman did it. But which one? The maid for being promised things by Emily she knew she would never receive? The new wife for getting tired of waiting for Henry to marry her? Janet for perhaps thinking that Henry cared for her only to be supplanted by someone half her age? Or maybe Emily herself, who may have known more than she was telling and wanted to end her own suffering and point the finger of guilt at Henry at the same time? Well, watch and find out, as Sir Cedric Hardwicke as the doctor cleverly unravels the whole thing like some sexagenarian protagonist from an 80s TV mystery show. This is one of Boyer's most likable roles, even if he is a two faced adulterer here. That says something for his acting (and his roles).

The very annoying Emily (Rachel Kempson) is not in good health. Thankfully, she dies. However, her death is treated suspiciously and number one suspect is husband Henry (Charles Boyer). He doesn't help matters by immediately marrying 18 year old Doris (Ann Blyth) who he has been having an affair with for a few months.This film has a good cast, especially Jessica Tandy as Henry's friend "Janet", Cedric Hardwick as "Dr Libbard" and Mildred Natwick as "Nurse Braddock". Boyer is good but Blyth is very irritating in a Shirley Temple kind of way. The film drags whenever she is on screen.The film has many good scenes, eg, when Janet and Henry are in the house sheltering from a violent storm - the use of German Expressionism in this scene (the use of darkness and lightning) will tell you all you need to know. Similarly, another good scene is when Janet visits Henry the day before his execution (the way the scene is framed will stick in your mind). And the scenes between Janet and Dr Libbard towards the end of the film are crammed with tension. I found that the film also had a particularly good moment of philosophical dialogue when Henry verbalized his acceptance of death to Doris. You will, no doubt, guess who the guilty party is from the beginning but it's still a good film to watch again.

WOMAN'S VENGEANCE, A ('47 UNIV) Dir: Zoltan Korda Critique: Jessica Tandy, fresh from her Broadway role as the original Blanche du Bois in "A Streetcar Named Desire" in the same year gives the greatest performance of her film career, and one of the greatest, measured by any standard in film history, in Aldous Huxley's brilliant, exceptionally intelligent and literate screenplay from his own "The Giaconda Smile." Tandy, who was unfortunately relegated to secondary roles for the rest of her career until she won an academy award near the end of her life for "Driving Miss Daisy" ('89) is a 35 year-old spinster (!) whose love is spurned by charming but callous philanderer, Charles Boyer, brilliant in his role as the object of Tandy's vengeance. The two stars are backed up by an outstanding cast, especially the cerebral Cedric Hardwicke as the kindly, understanding and extremely perceptive doctor who, in a scene of mesmerizing brilliance, ultimately draws out of Tandy the grim truth about the guilt or innocence of Boyer, who is condemned to death for the murder of his wife. Zoltan Korda, of the illustrious film family, directed this (his) masterpiece, with beautiful chiaroscuro photography by Russell Metty and a fine, understated score by Miklos Rozsa.Marc Feldman 2-4-05