Marked Woman (DVD, 2006)

I really enjoy Bette Davis movies. But up to now, I have only known of "Now Voyager", "Dark Victory", "The Letter", "Jezebel", and a few more. Why have I never heard of "Marked Woman?"

The movie is Excellent! Bette Davis is Mary Stauber, a call girl in a casino; only in the 1930s, they were called hostesses. The movie starts with one of her dates crossing the mob boss, who orders his death. Bette is first called in as a suspect and then as the main witness against the mob boss. Eventually she lies in court to stay out of trouble with the man. When her little sister Betty (Jane Bryan) arrives and figures out what Mary is doing, she wants to be part of it too. That is when the plot really thickens.

The movie is based on the life of Lucky Luciano, who was turned in by a group of prostitutes and gambling employees. The end of the movie is significant because it shows the women walking off into a fog never to be heard of again.

The plot is very good, Bette and her friends dress in fancy clothes, and you never know how it is going to end until it is over. There are even some entertaining songs.

Humphrey Bogart also is a main actor, appearing as the prosecuting attorney, David Graham. The real prosecuting attorney in the case was Thomas E. Dewey, who later became a presidential candidate against Harry S. Truman.

This is a must-see film for any Bette or Humphrey fan!

This movie also was a milestone in the career of Bette Davis. In 1935, she sued Warner Brothers for placing her in minor movies with low pay. She wanted control of the scripts she would play in, a limit to the number of the movies that she would have to star in per year, and a vacation for a number of weeks after a movie was finished. She had to go on strike first and then ended up in court with this lawsuit. Another interesting fact: this lawsuit was tried in England because Bette had promised a British director that she would star in one of his movies, and Warner Brothers tried to stop her. Bette lost. Upon her return to Los Angeles by boat and then by train with her mother, she was ordered to play the call girl in this movie.

Happy Viewing!

Great movie with Bette Davis. How can you go wrong with Bette. If, you love movies from the Golden Era of Movies you can't go wrong with this one.