Bette Davis

MARKED WOMAN

Warner Bros., 1937.  Directed by Lloyd Bacon.  Camera:  George Barnes.  With Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, Lola Lane, Isabel Jewell, Rosalind Marquis, Mayo Methot, Jane Bryan, Allen Jenkins, Eduardo Ciannelli, John Litel, Ben Weldon, Damian O'Flynn, Henry O'Neill, Raymond Hatton, Carlos San Martin, William B. Davidson, Kenneth Harlan, Robert Strange, James Robbins, Arthur Aylesworth, John Sheehan, Sam Wren, Edwin Stanley, Alan Davis, Allen Matthews, John Harron, Al Herman, Frank Faylen, Alphonse Martell, Harlan Briggs, Philip G. Sleeman, Guy Usher, Milton Kibbee, Gordon Hart, Jimmy Aye, Dan Van Charles, Ralph Dunn, Wilfred Lucas, Jeffrey Sayre, Jack Norton, Mark Strong, Wendell Niles, Carlyle Moore, Jr., Harry Hollingsworth, Mary Doyle, Lyle Moraine, Billy Wayne, Max Hoffman, Jr., Emmett Vogan, Jack Mower, Pierre Watkin, Herman Marks, Lew Harvey, Charles "Chic" Bruno,  George E. Stone, Norman Willis, Teddy Hart.

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Racketeer Johnny Vanning takes over the Club Intime where Mary Dwight and her roommates, Gabby Marvin, Emmy Lou Egan, Florrie Liggett and Estelle Porter are working as hostesses.  Mary accuses Vanning of creating a clip joint, but the women are intimidated by his tactics and go along with his new policies.  When Vanning's henchman, Charlie Delaney, kills Ralph Krawfurd for not paying his gambling debts, Mary is implicated and arrested.

Prosecutor David Graham, believing he has convinced Mary to testify against the gangsters, puts her on the stand only to have her double-cross him, and Vanning is acquitted.  During the trial, Mary's younger sister Betty, who is unexpectedly visiting from college, realizes the truth about Mary's secret life.

Disillusioned and bitter, Betty remains in New York and accompanies Emmy Lou to one of Vanning's parties.  There Betty is approached by Bob Crandall and, when she resists his advances, Vanning strikes her and she falls down a staircase to her death.  Mary threatens to expose Vanning but, when his henchmen brutally beat her and use a knife on her face, she and the other women agree to testify for the state.  Emmy Lou, who is being held by Vanning because she witnessed Betty's death, escapes her guards and joins her friends in court.

With Mary's testimony, Graham finally wins his case against the racketeer.  Although he is attracted to Mary's courage and offers to help her, she knows any further involvement with him is hopeless.  As the women walk off into the foggy night, Graham remains behind to address the press.

Notes
The film's pre-release title was The Men Behind.  A news item in HR notes that Michael Curtiz substituted for Lloyd Bacon while he was on his honeymoon.  The film is loosely based on the story of gangster Lucky Luciano (Charles Lucania), who was convicted in 1936 of running a prostitution racket.  District Attorney Thomas A. Dewey turned the investigation into one of the most sensational trials of the decade, with almost one hundred women turning state's evidence. His success led to his successful campaign for the governorship of New York.

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The studio purchased the rights to a Liberty magazine series on Luciano, but censorship problems forced some changes, including a switch in the women's profession from prostitutes to "nightclub hostesses."

This was Bette Davis's first film after her famous court case against Warner Bros.  After she won an Academy Award for her performance in Dangerous, Davis felt that she was entitled to certain privileges, such as an increased salary, more vacation time, the right to do one outside picture a year and more say in which parts she played.  When the studio refused to write a new contract, Davis turned down a role in God's Country and the Woman, and left for England, where she had been offered work by producer Ludovic Toeplitz.  Warner Bros. sued her for breach of contract and Davis lost the case.

Warner Bros. records indicate that Jane Wyman was originally cast as "Florrie."  According to Warner Bros. files, Wallis felt that bit player Hymie Marks, formerly a gangster and henchman of Lucky Luciano, did not look menacing enough for the role he played in the film.  Although the Call Bureau Cast Service lists Wendell Niles in the role of the news commentator, Warner Bros. studio records credit Ken Niles with the role.  It was on this picture that Humphrey Bogart met Mayo Methot, whom he later married.

Modern sources credit James Gibbons and Robert Burks with special effects. The film was reissued with Dust Be My Destiny in 1947.

Songs include:  "My Silver Dollar Man," words and music by Harry Warren and Al Dubin; and "Mr. and Mrs. Doakes," words and music by M. K. Jerome and Jack Scholl.

American Film Institute Catalog

Poster artwork courtesy of Dieter and Rikke.  Additional photos courtesy of Rikke.