This is an amazingly dull film that just never seemed to gel for me. Despite a very, very promising initial scene, the film never seemed to capitalize on this or establish much momentum. Perhaps some of this was the leading lady's fault, Mady Christians, as her Austrian accent came and went throughout the film. More of the problem seems to be that the writing was poor--with uninvolving characters and plot.
The film begins with an extremely melodramatic but exciting scene. An abusive husband returns home--announcing he's leaving his pregnant wife and taking his oldest son. When she tries to reason with him, the brute attacks her and she shoots him dead in self defense. While she had LOTS of provocation, she chose to throw the body in the swamp. Then, in an odd twist, she learns that this jerk had just shot the sheriff (but he didn't shoot the deputy) and the injured sheriff came looking for him. So, he's wanted for attempted murder and he just attacked his wife. So why, then, did she not bother to tell the sheriff that she shot him and did the world a favor?! Why not resolve this plot element? And, most importantly, why was this plot element all but forgotten by the next scene.
In a bizarre bit or writing, apparently Christian decides that being nice to her kids will make them weak and irresponsible. So, she becomes tough and a bit emotionally abusive...but she also works her butt off for the kids. Suddenly, years pass and the poor family has somehow made it thanks to Christian's hard work--though, oddly, some of the kids seemed to never age. Now, the story becomes a bit of a soap opera with lots of truly boring subplots--a daughter who wants to grow up too fast and run off with her boyfriend (Robert Taylor), this boyfriend subsequently injuring Christian's son, Christian finding a boyfriend (Charles Bickford) and a variety of other plots. Had the viewer actually cared about these people, then this soap would have been more interesting. But, as it is, the plot elements come but seem to have no impact. And, incidentally, the story just bored me to tears--even if it did feature one of Robert Taylor's earliest screen roles. With a title like "A Wicked Woman", you'd sure expect something wicked or exciting! Too bad.
The film begins with an extremely melodramatic but exciting scene. An abusive husband returns home--announcing he's leaving his pregnant wife and taking his oldest son. When she tries to reason with him, the brute attacks her and she shoots him dead in self defense. While she had LOTS of provocation, she chose to throw the body in the swamp. Then, in an odd twist, she learns that this jerk had just shot the sheriff (but he didn't shoot the deputy) and the injured sheriff came looking for him. So, he's wanted for attempted murder and he just attacked his wife. So why, then, did she not bother to tell the sheriff that she shot him and did the world a favor?! Why not resolve this plot element? And, most importantly, why was this plot element all but forgotten by the next scene.
In a bizarre bit or writing, apparently Christian decides that being nice to her kids will make them weak and irresponsible. So, she becomes tough and a bit emotionally abusive...but she also works her butt off for the kids. Suddenly, years pass and the poor family has somehow made it thanks to Christian's hard work--though, oddly, some of the kids seemed to never age. Now, the story becomes a bit of a soap opera with lots of truly boring subplots--a daughter who wants to grow up too fast and run off with her boyfriend (Robert Taylor), this boyfriend subsequently injuring Christian's son, Christian finding a boyfriend (Charles Bickford) and a variety of other plots. Had the viewer actually cared about these people, then this soap would have been more interesting. But, as it is, the plot elements come but seem to have no impact. And, incidentally, the story just bored me to tears--even if it did feature one of Robert Taylor's earliest screen roles. With a title like "A Wicked Woman", you'd sure expect something wicked or exciting! Too bad.