The movie is effective and thorough in a sleazy way, though with a peculiar scent of silliness and the awkwardness of an untruthful standpoint, an educational and cautionary movie, like others from that age
; Stevenson, the director, knew his trade and here he leads us through a few milieus and uses a few quirks (as in the tracking of Hedy's new place of residence, or, earlier, when she's shown returning to her office, or when her idyll is shot from on high). It has a 2nd rate cast: Hedy Lamarr plays the nymphomaniac (and presumably abused daughter), O'Keefe: the researcher, Loder: the jeweler and seducer, Carnovsky: the psychiatrist and 1st rescuer, Lundigan: the murderer, Margaret Hamilton: the landlady, Cavanagh plays a small part as a shark; Dumbrille has a bit part. The musty dialogs and much of the acting are severely phony, but the direction, the sets, the camera-work, the wardrobe, the players' physiognomies themselves boost the feel (some by their sheer ugliness, the oldsters especially), which is a foul feel.
This is an enjoyable drama, with a very B spirit (i.e., silliness) and, alas, acting, but a better look. We are shown offices, a mansion, a restaurant, a lodging house, a laboratory . The prologue with the motorcycle cops hints at the irresponsibility of leaving adventurous women do as they wish.
Some shameless lines would seem scandalous even nowadays, and it's a sleaze feast. By then, making love could still mean flirting; but Loder asks Hedy about being wet, she asks him to show her his jewels .
Much is made of the medicine, two characters are physicians.
The trashy thoroughness shows in the fact that what could of been phony comes across as apposite and plausible. O'Keefe was a mediocre actor, and where the script hackneys and blunders the lines, it shows, but his acting matches his role: a dedicated scientist and country physician. Hedy overacts whenever presumably required, but achieves effectiveness: she looks insincere, etc.. Margaret Hamilton and Carnovsky play decently. The male characters are domineering and despotic, paternal types.
What is Madeleine's secret? Her moral feebleness, or its cause? Loder's sleaziness embodies the woman's depravity as shown in her taste. The topic of the script is as lurid as the title, cautionary exploitation, by turns hypocritical and sleazy; but in a spirit of equality, a few male characters are given a share of meanness. Like most teenagers have probably already guessed, Madeleine's _undivulged secret is twofold, not merely nymphomania, her addiction to sex, but also the undisclosed cause of this addiction, perhaps her living with her father (as shown by the grasp the sleazy oldster Loder has on her), but this explanation is only implicit, glimpsed. There are all sorts of circumstantial, suggested explanations for her behavior and symptoms of her alleged malady: she's Hungarian, she paints, things which make a woman seem untrustworthy . This lady is more dishonorable, than dishonored, she's not only addicted to sex, but has perverted tastes.
At Loder's mansion, Hedy finds a portrait painted by her abusive father . The nymphomaniac's penance is interrupted, the researcher avoids the mistake made by the cops at the beginning and doesn't leave her to do as she wishes (thus exposing herself to other temptations).
This is an enjoyable drama, with a very B spirit (i.e., silliness) and, alas, acting, but a better look. We are shown offices, a mansion, a restaurant, a lodging house, a laboratory . The prologue with the motorcycle cops hints at the irresponsibility of leaving adventurous women do as they wish.
Some shameless lines would seem scandalous even nowadays, and it's a sleaze feast. By then, making love could still mean flirting; but Loder asks Hedy about being wet, she asks him to show her his jewels .
Much is made of the medicine, two characters are physicians.
The trashy thoroughness shows in the fact that what could of been phony comes across as apposite and plausible. O'Keefe was a mediocre actor, and where the script hackneys and blunders the lines, it shows, but his acting matches his role: a dedicated scientist and country physician. Hedy overacts whenever presumably required, but achieves effectiveness: she looks insincere, etc.. Margaret Hamilton and Carnovsky play decently. The male characters are domineering and despotic, paternal types.
What is Madeleine's secret? Her moral feebleness, or its cause? Loder's sleaziness embodies the woman's depravity as shown in her taste. The topic of the script is as lurid as the title, cautionary exploitation, by turns hypocritical and sleazy; but in a spirit of equality, a few male characters are given a share of meanness. Like most teenagers have probably already guessed, Madeleine's _undivulged secret is twofold, not merely nymphomania, her addiction to sex, but also the undisclosed cause of this addiction, perhaps her living with her father (as shown by the grasp the sleazy oldster Loder has on her), but this explanation is only implicit, glimpsed. There are all sorts of circumstantial, suggested explanations for her behavior and symptoms of her alleged malady: she's Hungarian, she paints, things which make a woman seem untrustworthy . This lady is more dishonorable, than dishonored, she's not only addicted to sex, but has perverted tastes.
At Loder's mansion, Hedy finds a portrait painted by her abusive father . The nymphomaniac's penance is interrupted, the researcher avoids the mistake made by the cops at the beginning and doesn't leave her to do as she wishes (thus exposing herself to other temptations).