SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

monikgwtw "Madame X" is one of the best movies I have ever seen. I would recommend it to every movie goer, not just Lana's fans. She manages to portray to perfection a very, very complex character, and she certainly deserved an Oscar. I liked in particular her scenes with another fine actor, John Van Dreelen, who shared with Lana some very nice, romantic moments. The actor actually said in an interview that his chemistry with Lana was as good on-screen as it was off-screen, and this does a lot of good to the film. I also bought the magnificent book "Madame X", by Michael Avallone, which was published in 1966. I recommend it to everyone, because it was adapted after the original screenplay of Jean Holloway. Thanks to the book, I managed to discover the scenes that were cut from the film, such as the scene where Holly is trying to get a job at an expensive French shop, and also a scene where Christian, the pianist (Van Dreelen), is giving her a hint that they should marry, because the whole press was discussing about them during his concert tour. So, in order to avoid gossip and scandal, he thought they ought to marry. This was his first proposal to her, while they were driving an automobile - and that is why in one of the sequences with them in the car, Lana's character seems preoccupied about something. The novel reveals that she was very much in love with this artist, who became her God or guardian angel, but whom she had to leave, so that neither he, nor her first husband (played by John Forsythe) would find out who and where she really is. A great book and a great film! I bought the original DVD from France and it was an excellent purchase. The music is also superb, and the soundtrack was released separately in 1967. I only wish there were kept more scenes from "Madame X", because the film is much too short to understand the complexity of the plot. Still, I highly recommend it, even if it is a very sad film, a real tear-jerker.

treeline1 Lana Turner stars as Holly Parker, a shop clerk who marries a wealthy man (John Forsythe) with political goals. She loves him, but his long absences drive her into the arms of a slimy playboy (Ricardo Montalban) and her mother-in-law knows all about it.This was the third Ross Hunter-Lana Turner movie and like the others, it features a glamorous woman in a designer wardrobe who lives in a palatial estate, has her heart broken, it's all delivered with much sudsy melodrama. This film has even more to offer: The star allows herself to appear old and pathetically, even grotesquely ugly and gives a genuinely heart-tugging performance. The script is quite good with lots of dramatic twists and turns and an ending that left me sobbing.Lana Turner is good in the role of outsider-turned-socialite and Forsythe and Montalban are, too. Keir Dullea is well-cast as an attorney and Burgess Meredith excels as a loathsome criminal. The story is poignant and should ring true to all parents and children. Recommended.

AlanSKaufman Life is tough, then you die. That old saying forms the foundation of the film Madame X whose popularity suffers because we don't like sad features. Yet this overwhelming tale will haunt you forever.The original 1966 trailer, the packaging on the 2008 DVD, and the opening credits give away a supposedly major surprise at the concluding portion of this swiftly moving melodrama. We learn that Lana Turner's character Holly will stand trial for murdering a man, and her lawyer is none other than the grown son she was forced to abandon when he was a young child. She becomes Madame X to hide from the sins of her past.There is a reason for this early revelation to the viewers. Holly initially doesn't know his adult identity and he is unaware of hers. Learning who he is, she is understandably shocked. Since we already know the truth, we are able to fully focus on her mental state instead of withdrawing into our own inner feelings.The trial was filmed during the heart of the civil rights battle. Despite Holly and the deceased and the jurors all being white, her attorney employs an argument favored during that time - jury nullification, meaning that a person should be acquitted even though technically breaking the law, if a higher purpose is served. He justifies her killing the man not in self defense, because the man was blackmailing her and threatening the welfare of her son. This is analogous to a battered housewife killing her tormentor while he sleeps, not legal, but nevertheless legitimate in the eyes of many citizens.We never learn the verdict because Holly dies before it is delivered. We the viewer are again free to fully focus on her death as she, in the arms of her son, comes to grips with what had happened in her life. Her last prerogative is to remain Madame X so he will not inherit her sins. In his heart, he knows she is his mother.You cry buckets of tears, not precisely for this fictional character, rather "in the name of the best within us" as Ayn Rand described in her novel Atlas Shrugged. There, Cherryl Taggart, a shop girl struggling to do the right thing, got in over her head and drowned herself. Holly was also a shop girl struggling to do the right thing, got in over her head and drank herself to death.In addition to Turner, fine performances are rendered by John Forsythe, Constance Bennett, Ricardo Montalban, Burgess Meredith, and Keir Dullea. Madame X offers exquisite theme music, delivers much food for thought, and can provide you a catharsis more valuable than numerous psychiatric sessions.You'll be grateful for this fabulous film.

dbdumonteil The timing was not very good for "Madame X".It was the sixties and melodrama was not as popular as it was in the previous decade when Douglas Sirk dominated the genre.David Lowell Rich seems to have studied Sirk's works ; by and large ,he is a good student.The Sirkesque cast and credits ,the huge desirable mansion where a distraught Turner runs after that fateful night ,the final trial -which is guaranteed to send the impressionable tearing through two entire boxes of Kleenex;Keir Dullea's speech for the defense when he praises the love a mother feels for her child and Turner herself crying "forgive me ,child, forgive me" make it the most tear-jerker trial in the whole history of cinema.The well known story of Madame X (it's a remake) is some kind of adult fairy tale :there's the Prince Charming (John Forsythe), the marvelous child ,the cruel mother ("you're nothing but a shop girl!Should have stayed on the other side of the counter "): too bad Constance Benett's part is so underwritten;she is obviously an over possessive mother ,she seems to be in love with her son.Just see her look just after she's left the room after her first meeting with her new daughter-in-law.Overnight,the princess turns into "Cinderella" , "Donkey Skin" or "SnowWhite"Lana Turner ,whose performance in "Imitation of life" (1959) was particularly good ,was certainly an underrated actress.Her best scenes are those when she plays opposite Constance Bennett then Keir Dullea.Like this ?Try these....If you are American.... Only Yesterday John Stahl 1933If you are Italian.... Vedi Napoli e poi muori Riccardo Freda 1952If you are English.... Waterloo bridge Mervyn Le Roy 1939If you are French..... L'Entraineuse Albert Valentin 1938