A Woman Rebels *** (1936, Katharine Hepburn, Herbert Marshall, Donald Crisp, Elizabeth Allan) – Classic Movie Review 3,937

RKO’s intriguing, meticulous 1936 soap opera film A Woman Rebels is spurred by a typically spirited, charming performance by Katharine Hepburn as a rebellious Victorian English woman who flouts convention by having a child out of wedlock.

Director Mark Sandrich’s intriguing, meticulous and carefully made 1936 RKO soap opera film A Woman Rebels is spurred by a typically spirited, charming performance by Katharine Hepburn as Pamela Thistlewaite, the rebellious Victorian English woman who flouts convention by having a child out of wedlock as she battles for women’s rights in the late 1800s.

While Hepburn’s fiery, rebel, feminist persona is extremely attractive and relevant today, many Thirties audiences rejected it as strident and off-putting. The film did not do well and around this time Hepburn was then labelled as ‘box-office poison’. Indeed, though the film is more than 80 years old, its feminist message is still surprisingly valid.

There is strong star character actor support for the star from Herbert Marshall as suave Thomas Lane, Donald Crisp as stern Judge Byron Thistlewaite, Elizabeth Allan, Doris Dudley, David Manners, Lucile Watson as Betty Bumble, and Van Heflin in his début as Lord Gerald Waring Gaythorne.

The screenplay by Anthony Veiller and Ernst Vajda is based on Netta Syrett’s 1930 novel Portrait of a Rebel.

The budget was $574,000 but the box office was only around the same amount at $583,000, resulting in a heavy a loss of $222,000 for her studio RKO. It was Hepburn’s third box office flop film in a row, so Hepburn became one of the stars named ‘box-office poison’ in the infamous 1938 advertisement by Harry Brandt, president of the Independent Theatre Owners of America.

Her 1935 film Sylvia Scarlett (1935) lost a whopping $363,000, beginning the downturn in Hepburn’s career that caused her to be branded ‘box-office poison’. Then Mary of Scotland (1936) was her second flop in a row, causing RKO a loss of $165,000. She eventually recovered with her move to MGM in the late 1930s after a two-year screen absence for her comeback in The Philadelphia Story in 1940.

Hepburn appeared in 44 feature films during her 66-year career following her her film debut in A Bill of Divorcement in 1932. Her contemporary and frequent co-star Cary Grant, on the other hand, appeared in 72 movies.

The cast are Katharine Hepburn as Pamela Thistlewaite, Herbert Marshall as Thomas Lane, Elizabeth Allan as Flora Anne Thistlewaite, Donald Crisp as Judge Byron Thistlewaite, Doris Dudley as Young Flora, David Manners as Lieutenant Alan Craig Freeland, Lucile Watson as Betty Bumble, Van Heflin as Lord Gerald Waring Gaythorne, Marilyn Knowlden as Flora (age nine), Connie Emerald as Lady Gaythorne, Barnett Parker as Lady Gaythorne’s Lawyer, Leonard Carey as Lord Gaythorne’s Butler, Elspeth Dudgeon as Lord Gaythorne’s Maid, Eily Malyon as Miss Piper, Doris Lloyd as Mrs Seaton, Molly Lamont as Young Mother, Lillian Kemble-Cooper as Lady Rinlake.

A Woman Rebels is directed by Mark Sandrich, runs 88 minutes, is made and released by RKO Pictures, is written by Ernest Vajda Anthony Veiller, based on the 1930 novel Portrait of a Rebel by Netta Syrett, is shot by Robert De Grasse, is produced by Pandro S Berman, and is scored by Roy Webb.

Release date: November 6, 1936.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 3,937

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com