In 1940, Looking for a new film project, George Cukor came across a 1938 Swedish film in which Ingrid Bergman portrayed a woman whose scarred face embitters her into a life of crime.
Intrigued by the character, Cukor mentioned the idea to Joan Crawford, who immediately became interested in playing it. When Crawford first met with Louis B. Myer about A Woman’s Face, his reaction was, “Do you want the public to see you ugly” But sensing her persistence, this time round, fully supported by Cukor, the powerful chief finally said, “Go ahead, if you want to destroy your career.”
Grade: B- (*** out of *****)
Crawford applied herself uncompromisingly to the role of Anna Holm in A Woman’s Face. While Jack Dawn devised a horrific make-up for the right side of her face, Cukor infused the actress with the psychology of a disfigured woman. He suggested that Crawford rely on the scar as a prop, the way some actors used artificial noses.
Cukor then rehearsed Crawford mercilessly, impatiently waiting for her to assume the hopeless fatigue that such disfigurement would engender. Whenever he felt Crawford was lapsing into her customary glamour routine, he would imitate Lon Chaney’s hunchback of Notre Dame from behind the camera. It was a strange, funny strategy, but it made his point.
The Swedish setting was inexplicably retained in the American screen version. The first part of the film is interesting, a character study of a scarred woman who takes her bitterness out on the world. But in the second, the story changed gears, describing her spiritual transformation after a plastic surgeon (Melvin Douglas) heals her face. This surgery “suddenly” turns her into a good person who wants to live down her past and become–of all professions–a governess.
Cukor was embarrassed by the second part of the film, because it turned the movie into a conventional melodrama. In the first, Anna Holm is a real character, but as soon as she regains her looks, she becomes the typical Joan Crawford star. The viewers could actually watch touches of the movie queen gradually sneak in–artificial eyelashes, lifted breasts, padded shoulders.
Gay Image
The first sequence of the film contains the most risqué that Cukor ever got past the censors in showing a gay theme on the screen. The decadent ambiance of a restaurant, serving as a front for the gang, is established with a shot of two lesbians dancing together.
Cukor always paid attention to the manner in which women made their entrance–grand entree–in his movies. It was a theatrical convention carried over from his stage career. In A Woman’s Face, the camera cuts to a dark stairway with Crawford coming down. She steps slowly into the light, but the camera holds back from her face for a moment. Then, suddenly the viewers see Crawford’s scarred face.
Cukor was concerned about the courtroom scene in which Anna tells her life story. He felt that the text was so dramatic and so there was no need for Crawford to do any acting or show any self pity. Wishing to steer clear of melodrama, Cukor instructed her to play the scene it as if she were reading from the telephone book. When this ploy didn’t work, Cukor said, “Just speak the lines as if you’re saying the multiplication table.” Crawford tried, but Cukor was not pleased. “No, no, no,” he said, “it’s still got emotion. I want no emotion at all, just say it.” It took many takes, but Cukor finally got the dreary monotone he was seeking.
Opening on May 16, 1941, A Woman’s Face received mixed reviews and failed at the box-office. But for Cukor, the major reward was coaxing out of Crawford one of her best dramatic performances, at a time when her status at MGM was insecure (she would be fired in two years).
Crawford’s scar makeup was credited to Jack Dawn, who had worked on such films as The Wizard of Oz (1939) and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941).
Cast
Joan Crawford as Anna Holm (alias Ingrid Paulsen)
Melvyn Douglas as Dr. Gustaf Segert
Conrad Veidt as Torsten Barring
Osa Massen as Vera Segert
Reginald Owen as Bernard Dalvik
Albert Bassermann as Consul Magnus Barring
Marjorie Main as Emma Kristiansdotter
Donald Meek as Herman Rundvik
Connie Gilchrist as Christina Dalvik
Richard Nichols as Lars-Erik Barring
Charles Quigley as Eric
Gwili Andre as Gusta
Clifford Brooke as Wickman
George Zucco as Defense Attorney
Henry Kolker as Judge
Robert Warwick as Associate Judge
Gilbert Emery as Associate Judge
Henry Daniell as Public Prosecutor
Sarah Padden as Police Matron
William Farnum as Court Attendant
Credits:
Directed by George Cukor
Produced by Victor Saville
Screenplay by Donald Ogden Stewart & Elliot Paul, based on Il était une fois, 1932 play by Francis de Croisset
Cinematography Robert Planck
Edited by Frank Sullivan
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date May 23, 1941
Running time 105 minutes
Budget $1,343,000
Box office $1,907,000
