The Strange Woman (1946)

Posted by Markham

Though perhaps far from a masterpiece, and with that it being a 19th century costume drama it’s debatable whether it is noir or not, The Strange Woman is a film unfairly neglected in the filmography of Edgar G. Ulmer. It also is the least talked about of the ‘trilogy’ of femme fatale 'heroine' pictures made in 1946, the other two being the famous Gilda and the infamous Decoy, all telling tales from the eyes of the spider woman herself. Though the film does drag in more than a few spots, it is one of the most fascinating femme fatale vehicles if only for the history behind it (there’s too much to tell of the behind the scenes, the commentary in the recent Edgar G. Ulmer boxset is a highly recommended to listen to) and the topics discussed within the film.

The cinematography is filled with stark black and white contrast, but it does suggest more of a Victorian Gothic style than that of a “film noir” one, all the more to evoke the atmosphere of a 19th century seaport town. That being said, while 'noir' does pass ones mind, it is far from being 'pure' noir to its setting. However, this is important to see that, like Robert Siodmak’s The Spiral Staircase, Ulmer does bring the noir mentality to this different type of thriller. In perhaps the films finest technical achievements he films perhaps the best seduction scene of the era (well, at least my favorite), as Lamarr slowly dims the lights in the living room until Louis Hayward can only see her, and in an upfront matter seduces him into murdering his father.



And for what could be a glossy costume drama, instead we see the town inhabitants are just as screwed up (well, not quite) as Jenny, there’s a libidinous sailor, prostitutes, an alcoholic father, a large group of reckless lumberjacks, and an ‘uncle’ with a hint of pedophilic lust for Jenny. If there’s anything of noir in this, it’s only for the fact that it explores the sexuality of one of the most complex femme fatales of the era.

It is surprising to see that a 1946 vehicle for such a glamorous star such as Hedy Lamarr to find such dark sexual overtones, including sadomasochism, so openly discussed. Not five minutes after Lamarr’s entrance do we see her smile when her father whips her (and even suggested is an incestual streak the two share, as he says to her "I’m going to give you a beating you WON’T enjoy"), followed by enticing Isaiah with her scars (though unlike Yvonne DeCarlo in Criss Cross and Gloria Grahame in Human Desire, she uses her beatings not to portray herself victim, but to only add promise of a kinky relationship). Add another 5 minutes to this scene and she’s writing an incredibly predatory, sexually teasing letter to her 'son' Ephraim. If noir looks at the darkness of the human soul, this is one of the darkest journeys into human sexuality (and supposedly the novel is far racier than this picture, taking the elements suggested to a more extreme measure). You’ll never see anything like this in an (almost) "A" picture from that era... nor will you see Kay Pierce fill in Veda’s shoes as Young Jenny, B-femme fatale Hillary Brooke take on a 'good girl' role, or George Sanders play a burly lumberjack. (And in addition, the rest of the supporting cast shines, especially Louis Hayward as Jenny’s pushover playtoy and Gene Lockhart as his father who will stop at nothing to keep Jenny to himself).

As for Lamarr, she, for once acts in a film, and does a credible job, and definitely shines when exploring the darker aspects of her character. You have to give her credit for being so daring, in such a raw manner you’d never find a former MGM goddess to act like. Ulmer fortunately refuses to give this character a typical Freudian explanation found so often in pictures of this time, and instead allows the duality between her saintly philanthropic good deeds and her sadomasochistic nature to not be answered, only to add mystery to this femme fatale, who truly is a 'strange woman.' Imagine what this man could have done with higher production values, this film gives us a good insight to the possibility of what his career would have been like had he been under contract to RKO.