Marked Woman is a 1937 American crime drama film directed by Lloyd Bacon and starring Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart, with featured performances by Lola Lane, Isabel Jewell, Rosalind Marquis, Mayo Methot, Jane Bryan, Eduardo Ciannelli and Allen Jenkins. Set in the underworld of Manhattan, Marked Woman tells the story of a woman who dares to stand up to one of the city's most powerful gangsters.

The film was a major success for Warner Bros. Pictures and one of Davis' most important early pictures. She had recently filed a lawsuit against the studio, partly because of the inferior quality of roles that she was expected to play. Although she lost the lawsuit, she garnered considerable press coverage, and Marked Woman was her first film upon returning to Hollywood. She was reported to be pleased with the script and the dramatic possibilities that it afforded her. Jack L. Warner was said to be equally pleased by the public's reaction in favor of Davis, which he predicted would increase the appeal and profitability of her films.

Costars Humphrey Bogart and Mayo Methot met on the set of Marked Woman and were married in 1938.

  • Alan Davis as Henchman
  • Allen Mathews as Henchman
  • Guy Usher as Detective Ferguson
  • Gordon Hart as Judge at 1st trial
  • Pierre Watkin as Judge at 2nd trial
  • Herman Marks as Joe
  • Ralph Dunn as Court Clerk at 1st trial

; Cast notes

  • Eduardo Ciannelli bears a physical resemblance to Lucky Luciano.
  • Hymie Marks, who played the bit part of a gangster named Joe in the film, attracted the attention of executive producer Hal B. Wallis, who felt that he did not look menacing enough, despite the fact that Marks was a former gangster and henchman of Lucky Luciano and had been specifically cast by director Lloyd Bacon because of this connection.
  • Warner Bros. had originally cast Jane Wyman as Florrie.

Production

Because the Motion Picture Production Code prohibited plots involving brothels or prostitution, the prostitutes in the original Liberty series were changed to nightclub hostesses in the screenplay. Vanning's racket became illegal gambling rather than running a prostitution ring, and the crime became a murder. at the Warner Bros. studios in Burbank under the working title The Men Behind. Director Michael Curtiz substituted for Lloyd Bacon while Bacon was on his honeymoon.

The film is ranked on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes at 100% based on reviews by five critics and with an average ranking of 6.5/10.

Awards and honors

Bette Davis won the Venice Film Festival's Volpi Cup for Best Actress in 1937. Director Lloyd Bacon was nominated for the 1937 Mussolini Cup.

Notes

  • Marked Woman at AllMovie
  • LIFE 19 Apr 1937 - Movie of the Week Marked Woman