This MADAME X-type melodrama constitutes a record in Oscar history, in that it marks the longest period between wins for any person: Best Actress recipient Helen Hayes would be bestowed her second statuette, a Best Supporting Actress one for AIRPORT, 38 years later! Incidentally, this being an MGM picture, it becomes evident from checking the honoured actors during the first dozen ceremonies (till the end of the decade) that the studio made good its famous logo "more stars than there are in heaven" by copping as many as 12 Academy Awards!
That said, the title under review itself is hardly highly-regarded – though it is reasonably stylish and well-served by a surprisingly strong cast (in alphabetical order: Alan Hale, Neil Hamilton, Jean Hersholt, Karen Morley, Lewis Stone, Charles Winninger, Robert Young, etc.) for a 75-minute film. Hayes herself rises above the decidedly clichéd material with a performance that does not feel dated even today. The episodic narrative involves a woman impregnated and left by her artist boyfriend Hamilton, then marries wealthy but elderly Stone – who is subsequently revealed to be a crook! The woman is herself incriminated and sent to prison; when her term expires, she is unable to find work and actually gives her kid (who grows up to be esteemed doctor Young) the impression that his mother died! Before long, she goes downhill – becoming a streetwalker (easily the most laughable section of the film!) and, convincingly made-up, aging prematurely. Eventually, she breaks into her son's house; rather than report her, he takes pity on the woman and starts taking care of her (without ever discovering her true identity!). Incidentally, the plot assumes a flashback structure – in which Young's wife, Morley, is about to leave him because of his over-dedication to duty but is persuaded to stay by social worker Hersholt, who recounts Hayes' sacrifice for her motherly love of the same man.
For the record, director Selwyn only directed eight films (I also own his SKYSCRAPER SOULS {1932} and TURN BACK THE CLOCK {1933}) and, in fact, was more renowned as a playwright; besides, the similarly-gifted Charles MacArthur – Hayes' just-as-celebrated husband – served as "dialogue continuity" here!
That said, the title under review itself is hardly highly-regarded – though it is reasonably stylish and well-served by a surprisingly strong cast (in alphabetical order: Alan Hale, Neil Hamilton, Jean Hersholt, Karen Morley, Lewis Stone, Charles Winninger, Robert Young, etc.) for a 75-minute film. Hayes herself rises above the decidedly clichéd material with a performance that does not feel dated even today. The episodic narrative involves a woman impregnated and left by her artist boyfriend Hamilton, then marries wealthy but elderly Stone – who is subsequently revealed to be a crook! The woman is herself incriminated and sent to prison; when her term expires, she is unable to find work and actually gives her kid (who grows up to be esteemed doctor Young) the impression that his mother died! Before long, she goes downhill – becoming a streetwalker (easily the most laughable section of the film!) and, convincingly made-up, aging prematurely. Eventually, she breaks into her son's house; rather than report her, he takes pity on the woman and starts taking care of her (without ever discovering her true identity!). Incidentally, the plot assumes a flashback structure – in which Young's wife, Morley, is about to leave him because of his over-dedication to duty but is persuaded to stay by social worker Hersholt, who recounts Hayes' sacrifice for her motherly love of the same man.
For the record, director Selwyn only directed eight films (I also own his SKYSCRAPER SOULS {1932} and TURN BACK THE CLOCK {1933}) and, in fact, was more renowned as a playwright; besides, the similarly-gifted Charles MacArthur – Hayes' just-as-celebrated husband – served as "dialogue continuity" here!