Madame X (1937) - Turner Classic Movies

Brief Synopsis

When she kills a blackmailer, a woman is defended by the son she abandoned years earlier.

Cast & Crew

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Sam Wood

Gladys George

Jacqueline Fleuriot [also known as Madame X]

John Beal

Raymond Fleuriot

Warren William

Bernard Fleuriot

Reginald Owen

William Henry

Hugh Fariman, Jr.

Photos & Videos

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Madame X (1937) -- (Movie Clip) Ever Been A Hostess?

Madame X (1937) -- (Movie Clip) Not So Sudden With Wives

Madame X (1937) -- (Movie Clip) I Was A French Lady

Madame X (1937) - (Original Trailer)

Madame X (1937) -- (Movie Clip) Our Next Port Is Glasgow

Film Details

Genre

Drama

Adaptation

Release Date

Oct 1, 1937

Premiere Information

not available

Production Company

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.

Country

United States

Screenplay Information

Based on the play La femme X..... by Alexandre Bisson (Paris, 15 Dec 1908).

Technical Specs

Duration

1h 12m

Sound

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color

Black and White

Theatrical Aspect Ratio

1.37 : 1

Film Length

8 reels

Synopsis

In Paris, Jacqueline Fleuriot regrets her recent affair with Jean Rochin and tells him she is breaking it off, but as she is about to leave his apartment, his jealous girl friend Annette breaks in and shoots him to death while Jacqueline is hiding on the balcony. Because the shots have attracted neighbors, Jacqueline runs away. That same night, her husband Bernard, a famous attorney, comes home to find her out for the evening and their son Raymond ill with a high fever. Bernard knows she is having an affair and confronts her when she returns, forcing her to leave their house at once, without seeing little Raymond, whom she has just learned has become ill. Ten days later, after Raymond has passed the crisis, Jacqueline returns secretly to see Raymond, but Bernard finds her and orders her out again. She only agrees when Bernard threatens to drag the facts of her infidelity through the courts, something which she knows will hurt the child. Weeks later, Maurice Doural, their close friend, convinces Bernard that he has been wrong and they attempt to find her, but she eludes the pursuit. After working as a governess called Miss Pran, Jacqueline sails to America with wealthy Hugh Fariman, Sr., but when they arrive in New York, she finds that he is married and leaves. Haunted by the past and visions of her son, she begins to drink and gradually sells all her jewels and even clothes to get by. In New Orleans, she gets a job singing for Scipio, the owner of a cheap dive, but is fired and again wanders for many years until she meets the cardsharp Lerocle in a South American hotel. Lerocle, who wants Jacqueline to front for him, learns her secret when she rambles about the past while drunk. Meanwhile, Raymond has grown into a young man, become an attorney and is happily engaged to Helene, a wealthy girl. Lerocle travels to France with Jacqueline, who soon realizes that he intends to blackmail Bernard. Desperate to stop Lerocle from hurting Bernard and Raymond, she kills him. By coincidence, Raymond is appointed her attorney, but is unable to learn anything from her, even her name. During her trial, Bernard recognizes her, but before he can say anything, she interrupts and in a veiled way before the court she lets Bernard know that she does not want Raymond to know that she is alive and does not want to be saved. When she realizes that Raymond is her defense attorney, she gently touches his hand as he pleads her case by indicting the unnamed husband whose harsh verdict caused her downfall. While her case is deliberated, Jacqueline collapes and dies, taking her secret with her, but happy in the knowledge that Raymond grew into a fine young man. After her death, Raymond tells his father, "she was a wonderful woman--whoever she was."

Director

Sam Wood

Cast

Gladys George

Jacqueline Fleuriot [also known as Madame X]

John Beal

Raymond Fleuriot

Warren William

Bernard Fleuriot

Reginald Owen

William Henry

Hugh Fariman, Jr.

Henry Daniell

Phillip Reed

Lynne Carver

Emma Dunn

Ruth Hussey

Luis Alberni

George Zucco

Cora Witherspoon

Jonathan Hale

Hugh Fariman, Sr.

Adia Kuznetzoff

Dickie Moore

Edward Keene

Gendarme at villa

Sam Ash

Gendarme at villa

Torben Meyer

Stanley Andrews

Gendarme in court

Gene Reynolds

Raymond Fleuriot, age 12-14

Paul Porcasi

Hotel proprietor

Don Douglas

Helen Freeman

Gene Perry

Robert Middlemass

Prefect of police

Arthur Blake

Edward Gargan

Bill Bradley

Attorney in court

Henry Taylor

Francesco Maran

Gendarme in court room

Clarence Harvey

Fleuriot's clerk

Christina Montt

Major Farrell

Lowden Adams

Harvey Clarke

Joseph E. Bernard

Deck steward on yacht

Charles Waldron

Louis Labey

Doctor in court

Leonard Mudie

Barry Downing

Raymond, age three

Jacques Vanaire

Max Lucke

Ronnie Cosbey

Anita Camargo

Viola Louie

Leila Esparza

Helen Gierre

Art Dupuis

Clerk at newspaper office

Nick Deruiz

Frank Hagney

Chris Frank

Prison official

Belle Mitchell

E. Allyn Warren

Fredrik Vogeding

Gendarme in court for Jacqueline

Hal Le Suer

Mahlon Hamilton

J. H. Peters

Olga Borget

Katherine Sabichi

Ferdinand Schumann-heink

Maitre de Hotel

Crew

Tom Andre

Assistant Director

Walter Donaldson

Chet Forrest

Cedric Gibbons

John Hoffman

Frank E. Hull

Urie Mccleary

Art Director Associate

James Kevin Mcguinness

John Meehan

John Seitz

Douglas Shearer

Recording Director

David Snell

Edwin B. Willis

Art Director Associate

Sam Wood

Bob Wright

Z. Yaconelli

Instructor to Adia Kuznetzoff for Portuguese lyrics

Videos

Madame X (1937) -- (Movie Clip) Not So Sudden With Wives After a lurid opening introducing his wife, (Gladys George, title character), we meet Warren William as Parisian attorney Fleuriot, George Zucco the family doctor, treating their stricken son, in what was already the fourth movie version of Madame X, 1937, directed by Sam Wood.

Madame X (1937) -- (Movie Clip) Our Next Port Is Glasgow Having fled Paris in shame, we discover that Gladys George (title character) is working as a governess on the Riviera, rebuffing advances of a friend of her employers (William Henry), then rightly realizing that her ex-husband is looking for her, in Madame X, 1937.

Madame X (1937) -- (Movie Clip) Ever Been A Hostess? Now in New Orleans, selling her belongings to get by, shamed Parisian Jacqueline (Gladys George, title character) finds a new situation with Nora (Cora Witherspoon) and saloon owner Scipio (Luis Alberni), in Madame X, 1937, co-starring Warren William.

Madame X (1937) -- (Movie Clip) I Was A French Lady Now in Buenos Aires, we meet Lerocle (Henry Daniell), who intervenes when the title character (Gladys George, whom we last saw fleeing New Orleans) is threatened by the proprietor (Paul Porcasi) of their hotel, in MGM's 1937 version of Madame X.

Madame X (1937) - (Original Trailer) MGM rather shooting the moon in this original trailer for the fourth film version of Madame X, 1937, this time starring Gladys George.

Film Details

Genre

Drama

Adaptation

Release Date

Oct 1, 1937

Premiere Information

not available

Production Company

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.

Country

United States

Screenplay Information

Based on the play La femme X..... by Alexandre Bisson (Paris, 15 Dec 1908).

Technical Specs

Duration

1h 12m

Sound

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color

Black and White

Theatrical Aspect Ratio

1.37 : 1

Film Length

8 reels

Articles

Madame X (1937)

September 29, 2004

One woman who would not be up for Mother of the Year is Madame X. Based on the 1910 play by Alexandre Bisson, Madame X (1937) tells the story of Jacqueline Fleuriot, a woman who leaves her husband and young son to run away with another man. She later tries to return to her family, but her husband, Bernard, refuses saying he told their son she was dead. This sends Jacqueline on a downward spiral toward alcoholism. Years later, in order to keep her son from learning the truth about her past, Jacqueline kills a blackmailer. By this time, her son, Raymond, is an adult and has become a lawyer. He is appointed to defend the mysterious Madame X not knowing she is his mother.

Alexander Bisson's sentimental tearjerker was made into a movie six times between 1915 and 1966. In 1937 some already saw the story as outdated. Variety stated, "Time has dulled the poignancy of Jacqueline Fleuriot's sin, suffering, grief, and sacrifice." By the 1960s, moral values had changed dramatically and the story needed to be considerably reworked. Writer Jean Holloway was given the task of updating the story for actress Lana Turner. Holloway found the job difficult, "In studying the original play, I discovered that all I could really use from it was the basic premise the woman loving her husband and child, making a mistake, and sacrificing herself to protect them."

Madame X director Sam Wood got his start as an assistant to Cecil B. DeMille in 1915, but by the 1920s he was directing Gloria Swanson films for Paramount. In the 1930s Wood illustrated his versatility directing both the Marx Brothers comedy A Night at the Opera (1935) and the drama Goodbye Mr. Chips (1939), for which he received an Academy Award nomination.

Director: Sam Wood
Producer: James Kevin McGuinness
Screenplay: John Meehan, based on play by Alexandre Bisson.
Cinematography: John F. Seitz
Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons, Urie McCleary, Edwin B. Willis
Music: David Snell
Cast: Gladys George (Jacqueline Fleuriot), John Beal (Raymond Fleuriot), Warren William (Bernard Fleuriot), Reginald Owen (Maurice Dourel), William Henry (Hugh Fairman, Jr.), Henry Daniell (LeRocle), Ruth Hussey (Annette).
BW-72m.

by Deborah Looney

Madame X (1937)

Madame X (1937)

One woman who would not be up for Mother of the Year is Madame X. Based on the 1910 play by Alexandre Bisson, Madame X (1937) tells the story of Jacqueline Fleuriot, a woman who leaves her husband and young son to run away with another man. She later tries to return to her family, but her husband, Bernard, refuses saying he told their son she was dead. This sends Jacqueline on a downward spiral toward alcoholism. Years later, in order to keep her son from learning the truth about her past, Jacqueline kills a blackmailer. By this time, her son, Raymond, is an adult and has become a lawyer. He is appointed to defend the mysterious Madame X not knowing she is his mother. Alexander Bisson's sentimental tearjerker was made into a movie six times between 1915 and 1966. In 1937 some already saw the story as outdated. Variety stated, "Time has dulled the poignancy of Jacqueline Fleuriot's sin, suffering, grief, and sacrifice." By the 1960s, moral values had changed dramatically and the story needed to be considerably reworked. Writer Jean Holloway was given the task of updating the story for actress Lana Turner. Holloway found the job difficult, "In studying the original play, I discovered that all I could really use from it was the basic premise the woman loving her husband and child, making a mistake, and sacrificing herself to protect them." Madame X director Sam Wood got his start as an assistant to Cecil B. DeMille in 1915, but by the 1920s he was directing Gloria Swanson films for Paramount. In the 1930s Wood illustrated his versatility directing both the Marx Brothers comedy A Night at the Opera (1935) and the drama Goodbye Mr. Chips (1939), for which he received an Academy Award nomination. Director: Sam Wood Producer: James Kevin McGuinness Screenplay: John Meehan, based on play by Alexandre Bisson. Cinematography: John F. Seitz Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons, Urie McCleary, Edwin B. Willis Music: David Snell Cast: Gladys George (Jacqueline Fleuriot), John Beal (Raymond Fleuriot), Warren William (Bernard Fleuriot), Reginald Owen (Maurice Dourel), William Henry (Hugh Fairman, Jr.), Henry Daniell (LeRocle), Ruth Hussey (Annette). BW-72m. by Deborah Looney

Quotes

Trivia

The play originally opened in Paris, France, on 15 December 1908. An English translation of the play by John Raphael opened in New York City, New York, USA on 2 January 1910 and had 125 performances.

Notes

Alexander Bisson's play, which was translated into English by John Raphael, first appeared in New York on February 2, 1910. According to news items in Hollywood Reporter on 12 and February 13, 1937, Frank Borzage had just left Warner Bros. to work for M-G-M, and Madame X was to be his first directing assignment at his new studio. According to a June 1, 1937 news item in Hollywood Reporter, Twentieth Century-Fox star Tyrone Power was wanted by M-G-M to play the role of "Raymond Fleuriot." By terms of the proposed deal, Fox was to loan Power to M-G-M in exchange for borrowing M-G-M star Jean Harlow for Fox's production of In Old Chicago. Harlow died on June 7, 1937, thus the exchange became impossible and John Beal was cast in the role of Raymond.
       A July 3, 1937 Hollywood Reporter news item noted that Sam Wood was replacing Czechoslovakian director Gustav Machaty on the film. Machaty, who apparently replaced Borzage as the picture's intended director some time in the spring, did not direct his first American feature film until 1939's Within the Law (see below), although he worked in various capacities on The Good Earth and possibly other M-G-M films in 1937 and 1938.
       According to a Hollywood Reporter news item, Ruth Hussey was to be billed as Ruth March, a stage name recently selected by M-G-M for her, but this was not the case. Although Hussey's screen debut was in a bit role in M-G-M's Big City released in September 1937, Madame X marked her first onscreen billing and the first picture made under contract to M-G-M, a studio for which she worked into the early 1940s.
       Madame X has been filmed many times, the most prominent versions of which were the 1920 Goldwyn film directed by Frank Lloyd, starring Pauline Frederick (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1911-20; F1.2710), the 1929 M-G-M version directed by Lionel Barrymore, starring Ruth Chatterton (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1921-30; F2.3328), and the 1966 Universal film, directed by David Lowell Rich and starring Lana Turner (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1961-70; F6.2978).

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