• Rating:
• Genre: Drama
• Movie Type: Melodrama
• Themes: Extramarital Affairs
• Director: George Cukor
• Main Cast: Joan Crawford, Melvyn Douglas, Conrad Veidt, Osa Massen, Reginald Owen
• Release Year: 1941
• Country: US
• Run Time: 107 minutes

Plot

A remake of the Swedish film of the same name (see entry 55092), MGM's A Woman's Face was reshaped into one of Joan Crawford's best vehicles. Told in flashback from the vantage point of a murder trial, the story concerns a female criminal whose face is disfigured by a hideous scar. The plastic-surgery removal of this disfigurement has profound repercussions, both positive and tragically negative. The film's multitude of subplots converge when Conrad Veidt, Joan's lover and onetime partner in crime, is murdered. Melvyn Douglas costars as the beneficent cosmetic surgeon who becomes Joan's lover, while Osa Massen appears as Douglas' vituperative wife. Making his American screen debut in the role of Veidt's father is Albert Basserman, who spoke no English and had to learn his lines phonetically. Both A Woman's Face and its Swedish predecessor were based on Il Etait Une Fois, a play by Francis de Croiset. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast

• Joan Crawford - Anna Holm
• Melvyn Douglas - Dr. Gustav Segert
• Conrad Veidt - Torsten Barring
• Osa Massen - Vera Segert
• Reginald Owen - Bernard Dalvik

Albert Basserman - Consul Magnus Barring; Richard Nichols - Lars Erik; Charles Quigley - Eric; Gwili Andre - Gusta; Clifford Brooke - Wickman; George Zucco - Defense Attorney; Henry Kolker - Judge; Robert Warwick - Associate Judge; Gilbert Emery - Associate Judge; Henry Daniell - Public Prosecutor; Sarah Padden - Police Matron; William Farnum - Court Attendant; Veda Buckland; Rex Evans - Notary; Robert C. Fischer [act] - Court Attendant; Connie Gilchrist - Christine Dalvik; Gary Gray; Lillian Kemble-Cooper - Nurse; Manart Kippen - Olaf; Alexander Leftwich; Marjorie Main - Emma Kristiansdotter; Donald Meek - Herman Rundvik; Lionel Pape - Einer; George Pauncefort - Guest; Catherine Proctor - Mrs. Segerblum; Mary Ellen Popel - Party Girl; Cecil Stewart - Pianist; Doris Day - Girl at Party

Credit

Adrian - Costume Designer; George Cukor - Director; Bronislau Kaper - Composer (Music Score); Robert Planck - Cinematographer; Victor Saville - Producer; Donald Ogden Stewart - Screenwriter; Frank Sullivan - Editor; Elliot Paul - Screenwriter; Wade B. Rubottom - Art Director; Francois DeCroisset - Play Author

Similar Movies

Johnny Handsome; A Face to Kill For