lugonian THAT CERTAIN WOMAN (Warner Brothers, 1937), Written and Directed by Edmund Goulding, stars the youthful blonde Bette Davis in a melodramatic remake to Edmund Goulding's own directed edition to THE TRESPASSER (United Artists, 1929) starring Gloria Swanson and Robert Ames. With a few alterations about the character, now a gangster's widow, and the name change from Marion to Mary (plus opening and closing changes from the original), much of the plot remains the same. Though Davis would NOT be awarded an Academy Award nomination as did Swanson for her performance, it did pave the way for others, and better melodramatic productions for Davis' resume during her acclaimed peak years (1937-1946).Mary Donnell (Bette Davis) is a gangster's widow who comes to the cemetery to visit the tomb of her deceased husband, Al Haines (1899- 1929), who was gunned down at the 1929 Valentine's Day massacre. Accompanied by her best friend, Amy (Mary Phillips), Mary is photographed by Virgil Whittaker (Hugh O'Connell), a reporter out to get a good story on her four years after the incident. Mary works for a law firm of Rogers, Alden and French, with Lloyd Rogers (Ian Hunter), as her employer. Although a married man, he secretly loves Mary, unaware that she's in a relationship with his good friend and millionaire playboy, Jack Merrick (Henry Fonda), whom she has known for three years, now back from Europe. After their wedding, Jack and Mary honeymoon at the Lake Hotel, only to be interrupted by the arrival of Jack's father (Donald Crisp) and a couple of detectives (Sidney Toler and Tim Henning) who have traced them there. As much as Merrick disapproves of the marriage and the girl's notorious background (like getting married at 16), Mary sees Jack doesn't have enough fight in him to stand up to his father, causing her to walk out on him and have Merrick annul their marriage. During the course of four years, Mary has become a mother to Jack's son (Dwane Day), while Jack has married his childhood sweetheart and debutante, Flip Carson (Anita Louise), whose honeymoon is met with a serious automobile accident that permanently cripples his young wife. As Amy becomes a full-time babysitter to little Jackie, Mary resumes her job working for Mr. Rogers. News spread about Mary's reputation when the seriously ill Rogers comes to and dies in Mary's apartment with his wife (Katharine Alexander) at present. Rogers' last will and testimony leaves Mary and her son $50,000, causing the media to question about Jackie, the "mystery" child. The mystery is cleared upon Jack's return to be told by Mary that the 4-year-old boy happens to be his son. Problems arise when Merrick Sr. returns to the scene to have Mary's son taken away for her being an unfit mother. Others featured in the cast are: Minor Watson (Clark Tilden); Ben Weldon (Harry Aqueilli); Norman Willis (Fred); Frank Faylen and Willard Parker (Newspaper Reporters), among others.Very leisurely paced during its 94 minutes, THAT CERTAIN WOMAN would be the start of what could be categorized as formula Bette Davis material. Under Goulding's direction, Davis is honored with enough close-ups to indicate the movie very much belongs to her. Even with these close-ups, Davis shows how beautiful she can actually be, ranging from short hair-cut bob to long hair shoulder spread. Davis works very well with Henry Fonda (who was better cast here than Robert Ames was in THE TRESPASSER), and would work with Fonda once more the classic Civil War era story, JEZEBEL (1938), the film that would win Davis her second Academy Award as Best Actress. With Anita Louise's character discussed much in the story, and her name listed third in the casting credits, her character of Flip appears 72 minutes into the story, with no more than ten minutes on screen. She, too, gives a sympathetic performance as the crippled girl, while Donald Crisp gives a forceful performance as Fonda's strict father. The lighter moments belong to Hugh O'Connell as the photographer close friend of Mary who helps her through the rough spots. In spite of its slow-pacing that could bore first-time viewers, THAT CERTAIN WOMAN did have plenty of reruns through much of the 1970s and early 1980s on broadcast television late shows to become familiar Bette Davis material.Formerly distributed to video cassette, THAT CERTAIN WOMAN, which commonly plays on Turner Classic Movies along with similar Davis movie titles as FRONT PAGE WOMAN (1935) and MARKED WOMAN (1937), would be more of interest to fans to that certain woman herself, Bette Davis (or Henry Fonda perhaps) more than the Edmund Goulding directorial effort itself. (**1/2)

mark.waltz Bette goes down Kay Francis territory in this 30's women's film, not getting a break from the men in her life (which are many), yet finding sympathy in the oddest places-her men's wives.She is the widow of a gangster and is being followed around by a reporter out for a scoop on "Where are yesterday's gangsters?". Now working for a highly respectable lawyer (Ian Hunter), she runs into an old beau (Henry Fonda) whose tyrant father (Donald Crisp) dominates his life and instantly sets out to keep Fonda and Davis apart. When they elope, Crisp confronts the two on their honeymoon, and Davis decides to leave behind the man she loves, apparently realizing she's married to a wimp. Guess what happens nine months later. Yep, Davis is now a single mother, and has managed to keep Fonda from finding out about their son. Hunter, who is a loveless marriage with Katharine Alexander, makes Davis his mistress, something his wife doesn't seem to mind. But when tragedy strikes and the two women are snapped together in a photo, the scandal sheet makes it appear like a slugfest. Fonda turns up, having married a sweet society lady (Margaret Lindsay), but she was crippled in a car accident while on their honeymoon, so he is desperate to get Davis back. Papa Crisp makes another threat against Davis, so she must take drastic steps to ensure that he does not destroy her life again.It is ironic that Davis's married name from her first husband is Mary Haines, the same name as the cheated on wife in the then hit Broadway play "The Women", filmed two years later by MGM. Like MGM's Norma Shearer (Mary in the movie version of "The Women"), Davis was queen of her studio (Warner Brothers), having just taken over that title from the reigning queen of mother love sob stories (Kay Francis). The problem in the movie is that it is so unbelievable that a seemingly tough mob widow would not stand up to the threats of the nasty father, played by the normally likable Donald Crisp. I found his dialogue to be so inane that I cringed every time he came on screen. All of the men are one dimensional-Crisp is totally nasty, Fonda is a wimp, and Hunter is so extremely noble he appears to be the male Ann Harding. There are nice scenes between Davis and the two women in her lover's lives, and Dwane Day gives a cute performance as Davis's four year old son. Mary Philips is also memorable as Davis's devoted companion.Warner Brothers had their share of mother love stories, most notably several with Kay Francis, including one of my all time favorites, the same year's "Confession". Those ones are better recommended than this one. Davis would fare better two years later as an unwed mother in the excellent "The Old Maid".

Harold_Robbins This is a superior and under-rated "woman's picture" that really has all the elements of the classic weeper: star-crossed lovers, twists of fate, and self-sacrifice. It also has a sterling performance from Bette Davis which gives a strong indication of why she would soon be a superstar and regarded as the screen's best actress: Her belief in a character could suffuse it with passion and poignancy and transcend the shallowness of the accompanying story. She's supported by an excellent cast - Henry Fonda (in a basically thankless role), the ever-reliable Donald Crisp (her showdown scene with him oddly foreshadows similar scenes with Gladys Cooper in NOW, VOYAGER), Mary Phillips (in a role that in a later version would obviously have gone to Thelma Ritter), who was, at the time, Mrs. Humphrey Bogart (in the same year's MARKED WOMAN Davis would appear with Mayo Methot, the next Mrs. B., and Ian Hunter. Edmund Goulding, who excelled at this kind of thing, wrote and directed it - he would later direct Davis in two other notable soapers, DARK VICTORY (one of her most celebrated performances, as Judith Traherne), and THE GREAT LIE (for which Mary Astor won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar). It's all served up in the best Warner Bros. tradition, but doesn't seem to be as well-remembered as other such films of the era, such as MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION, STELLA DALLAS, or MY FOOLISH HEART.

jrhpax First, I love Bette Davis. This movie is among the worst she ever made. Bette Davis wonderful at playing modern women, especially outspoken, bitchy or evil women. She showed little talent for playing mealy-mouthed, self-sacrificing women. I think most of her fans will be appalled by this film, especially by the ending, which will leave most modern audiences speechless. Thank God that the following year, Bette co-starred with Henry Fonda in a classic, "Jezebel," and got her career back on track.