The Strange Woman

11/2/2013

Bangor is mine and it owes me a living. The Strange Woman is directed by Edgar G. Ulmer who also co-writes the screenplay with Hunt Stromberg and Herb Matthews from the novel of the same name written by Ben Ames Williams. It stars Hedy Lamarr, George Sanders, Louis Hayward, Gene Lockhart, Hilary Brooke, Rhys Williams and June Storey. Music is by Carmen Dragon and cinematography by Lucien N. Andriot. I don’t want the youngest. I want the richest! Well well, what an intriguing little period noir this is. Story deals with Jenny Hagar (Lamarr), a strong and scheming woman who in 1840s Bangor in Maine, uses men for her own gains whilst exuding a double persona that shunts her into the upper echelons of the town’s standings. But, as we become privy to Jenny’s back story and psychologica

7/7/2022

Ben Williams' original novel offered quite a different take on the gold-digging femme fatale and in this adaptation Hedy Lamarr takes on the title role. Escaping from a fairly brutal marriage to a drunk, she determines to improve her lot in life. She is clever and beautiful so easily attracts the attention of the wealthy, much much older "Isaiah" (Gene Lockhart). She also attracts the attention of his son Louis Hayward and of his company right-hand man "John Evered" (George Sanders). This is a little long; but it is atmospheric, the writing is good - the plot a little more complex than might be expected from this kind of melodrama - as is the cinematography, and Lamarr plays the vulnerable but manipulative "Jenny" a little like Vivien Leigh might have done.