Noir-vember: A Woman's Vengeance (1948)

Written by Aldous Huxley, A Woman's Vengeance is one of many little noir movies that you can watch and enjoy, and then pretty much guarantee that you'll forget about for the rest of your life. It's slight fun, although the 96-minute runtime still somehow includes a resolution that feels surprisingly silly and rushed.

Charles Boyer is the charming Henry Maurier, husband to the sickly Emily (Rachel Kempson). When he's not being absolutely lovely and friendly to Janet Spence (Jessica Tandy), Henry enjoys spending his time with the young and beautiful Doris Mead (Ann Blyth), which obviously gets him viewed with a raised eyebrow or two, at the very least. It also puts him very much in the frame when his wife suddenly dies. Henry is a bit of a cad, perhaps, but is he a murderer?

Making use of a very good, and relatively small, central cast, A Woman's Vengeance is one of a handful of features directed by Zoltan Korda, someone with a short, but seemingly solid, filmography. He directed about twenty films in all, but those included The Four Feathers (1939) and one of the first live-action films to be based on The Jungle Book (1942). He may not be one of the big names in the history of cinema, but he's certainly worth remembering. He does well here, keeping things surprisingly light and jovial on the way to a third act that then starts to tighten the noose around the neck of our main character.

Boyer is a delight in his role, so unrelentingly smooth that you can see why he gains such a strong connection with a number of women in his life. Tandy has to be more stiff and uptight, which she does well, but the best moments show how she is affected whenever she ends up given attention by a man she clearly adores. Blyth is perfect in her role, young and wide-eyed without being too crude or childish, and Kempson does well with her small amount of screentime. Others onscreen include Cedrick Hardwicke and Mildred Matwick (both superb as very different medical professionals), Cecil Humphreys, and Hugh French.

Huxley is probably the biggest asset here though, adapting his own short story, "The Gioconda Smile", into something that delivers a good amount of melodrama and exploration of the human psyche. This may be a bit light on the twists and betrayals that populate so many other, better, film noirs, but the first two acts are like watching a house of cards being built up that you know will be made to fall in the final scenes. It's just a real shame that those final scenes don't work as well as they should, making use of a couple of very obvious tricks that I'm surprised would have impressed viewers even back in 1948. Still, I had a good enough time with the rest of the film. I'll just pretend that it had a better ending.

6/10

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The Devils (1971)

If you've seen The Devils a long time ago and wondered why I would include it alongside the many other horror movies I have chosen to watch at this time of year then I would suggest to you that it's time you revisited The Devils. This is a horror film, and it's as powerful and wild to watch today as I'm sure it was when first released in 1971. In fact, having heard all about it for many years, both the content and the power of it, I was worried about it feeling a bit dated and diluted nowadays. Trust me, this is one that remains a test for hardy viewers.

What you need to know is that Oliver Reed portrays Urbain Grandier, a holy man who has his own particular way of living a holy life. He doesn't deny himself some pleasures of the flesh, but he does try to ensure that those around him are safe and spiritually-nourished. Vanessa Redgrave is Sister Jeanne, a woman who becomes obsessed with Grandier, believing that he can be her saviour. It's not long until frustration and resentment lead to some accusations that allow some powerful figures to cut Grandier down to size.

While Ken Russell isn't a director I will always respond positively to, it's undeniable that he has directed a number of features throughout his career that different people could refer to as masterpieces. This one would be my choice, and I know I am far from alone with that opinion. Based on a play by John Whiting, itself based on a novel, "The Devils Of Loudun", by Aldous Huxley, Russell fearlessly looks at religious hypocrisy and the kind of ridiculous show trials that could be used to get rid of anyone deemed to be a threat. It could all be laughable, and there are some fleeting moments of amusement here, if it wasn't all so cold-hearted and deadly.

Reed is as brilliant as he needs to be in his role, embodying his character with the gravitas and brooding presence of, well, peak Oliver Reed. Redgrave also does very good work, as do Gemma Jones, Georgina Hale, and the many others portraying women who feel themselves getting a bit flustered and faint in Reed's presence. Dudley Sutton and Brian Murphy are familiar faces in supporting roles, but the other key player to mention is Michael Gothard, playing one of the most cretinous and punchable villains I have seen in any film of any genre.

It's a shame that we STILL cannot see the full and uncut version of this (the controversial content has ensured that Warner Bros. keep doing their best to control what version is available), but it's a testament to the film, and to Russell, that what we have is already such an incredibly powerful work, full of astonishing imagery and moments that convey absolutely horrendous pain and trauma. Part of me never wants to watch this again, but another part of me thinks that I could watch it every day for the rest of my life and never get sick of appreciating the blend of the beautiful and the grotesque.

I implore others to avoid making the same mistake that I did. Watch this as soon as you possibly can, and see it in the best possible quality. It's a masterpiece. And to the devil with those who say otherwise. 

10/10

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