One of the most iconic faces from the Golden Age of Hollywood went to the British courts over abroken contract in 1937. Desperate to escape the confines of a restrictive deal she felt was keeping her playing the same, unchallenging roles,Bette Davisviolated her exclusivity clause with Warner Bros. Pictures. She signed onto not one, buttwoprojects with a different studio. After securing anAcademy Award nomination for Best Actressfollowing her performance as Mildred Rogers inOf Human Bondage,but failing to take home the win, Davis felt the quality of her roles declined. Ultimately, Davis lost her lawsuit and remained under contract with Warner Bros. One would never know, though, as the first role she was given upon resuming her work with the company was the indomitable Mary Dwight, or Mary Strauber, inLloyd Bacon’s 1937Marked Woman. The standout performance among a star-studded cast, Davis imbues Mary with all the heart and grit necessary to shine in this dark crime noir.
‘Marked Woman’ is A Genre-Bending Masterpiece
Released a few years before noir properly took off,Marked Womanis the precursor to one of the most visually recognizable cinematic genres.Pulling from courtroom dramas, crime thrillers, and, of course, noir,Marked Womanis amoody, atmospheric interrogationofunlikely morality and justice.The film kicks off withEduardo Ciannelli,as criminal king Johnny Vanning, purchasing the club where Mary and her friends work. As Vanning pushes the girls to help secure better revenue for the club, scenes at first seem to be ripped fromThe Great Gatsby, with everyone singing, dancing, and enjoying general revelry. Things quickly turn dark when Mary spends the evening with a man who knowingly cashes a dummy check at the club. She warns him to leave town to save his skin, but he’s “disappeared” by Vanning’s men, and Mary is left to take the fall. Eager to save herself, avenge the man she was unable to save, and return to her college-aged sister, Mary takes the stand for District Attorney Graham, played by titan offilm noir, Humphrey Bogart. When Mary lies and is discredited on the stand, it seems like all of New York City is against her: the criminal underworldandthe justice system.
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“I detest cheap sentiment.”
Set in the seedy gangland of 1930s New York,Marked Womanestablishes and escalates an atmosphere of danger.Nothing is black and whitein the world ofMarked Woman.Mary and her friends, Gabby (Lola Lane), Emmy Lou (Isabel Jewell), Florrie (Rosalind Marquis), and Estelle (Mayo Methot), are thinly-veiled sex workers, coyly referring to themselves as hostesses. What at first feels like the film playfully winking at the audience around the Hays Code ultimately proves far darker. The justice system is unkind to women working outside the law. Left to cope with men like Vanning on their own, the girlshaveto be strong to survive. This evocative backdrop constantly reminds the audience of the peril Mary is in.
Vanning is a formidable antagonist to Mary’s heroine. Speaking in a measured trans-Atlantic accent, Vanning never comes in guns blazing, opting to stroll around with an entourage. A more subtly frightening figure, Vanning has the power to disappear characters with the snap of his fingers. The obvious villain of the film,Marked Womanstill doesn’t take the easy way out by portraying a kingpin as the only antagonistic force for Mary to overcome. District Attorney Graham and the police are as much of a hurdle for Mary to vault as her wicked boss. Portrayed as ambitious and eager, Graham can be read as seeking the advancement of his career over the pursuit of justice. There isno pure moral beacon for Maryto follow, only her own imperfect compass.
Bette Davis’ Mary is the Ultimate Movie Heroine
If what Bette Davis wanted out of her lawsuit was the opportunity tostar in meatier roles, then she absolutely got it in Bacon’s brilliantly written Mary.One tough cookie,Mary is as morally grayas the film she’s living inside, but ultimately the most just of all the characters. Working as a hostess to support herself and put her beloved sister through college, Mary is acutely aware of how her job disadvantages her. No one is on her side, a fact Mary rages against to the DA. One of the most affecting scenes is when she barges into Graham’s office after having sat in jail for two days and laments, “People like us, we don’t count. We’re nobodies. Set-ups to be kicked about by everyone.” Mary’s monologue rings painfully true. Despite having no advocate, Mary steps up to the plate again and again to defend those in even less advantageous positions than her. AsMarked Womanebbs and flows through its various genres and conventions,throwing darker realities at Mary, Davis keeps Mary steel-spined and sharp, yet always compassionate.
Davis' portrayal of Mary is representative of all the best parts ofMarked Woman. With her complex morals, unrelenting drive for justice, and propensity towards barbed comments,Mary at times feels more reminiscent of the detectives that her co-star, Bogart, would go on to play duringthe height of detective noir. Mary does not match up with the fainting heroines or femme fatales that would come to populate noir cinema. The film belongs to Mary, andthanks to Davis' performanceas both charming and resilient, the audience is eager to spend every minute ofMarked Woman’s runtime trying to work Mary out.
Despite being a critical and commercial success,Marked Womanhas faded into obscurity in the years following its release. Not quite a detective noir, and not one of the movies powerhouses Davis and Bogart are known for,Marked Womanis often overlooked. And yet, in retrospect,Marked Womansignals the incoming wave of crime noir. With all the drama, suspense, and intrigue native to the genre,Marked Womanis worth a watch.
Marked Woman
