The Great Mans Lady

Posted by Martina Birk on Monday, September 9, 2024

Paramount has given this drama the usual production accoutrements that go with 'A' pictures, but the disturbance to the film's continuity through the use of the trite flashback technique, plus a tedious story of the pioneering west, tend to slow the picture to a walk.

Paramount has given this drama the usual production accoutrements that go with ‘A’ pictures, but the disturbance to the film’s continuity through the use of the trite flashback technique, plus a tedious story of the pioneering west, tend to slow the picture to a walk.

It’s a conglomerate of the familiar story of a woman’s inspiration to a man and his ultimate achievement from a pioneer in the west to a seat in the US Senate. It is a story of intense drama, yet it leaves one strangely unmoved.

Opening of the picture shows Barbara Stanwyck as a centenarian being interviewed by reporters upon the unveiling of a statue of the late Senator Ethan Hoyt.

Brian Donlevy, as a gambler, contributes a steady performance in the triangle, but the writing [from a story by Adela Rogers St John and Seena Owen, based on a short story by Vina Delmar] generally gives him the worst of it.

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The Great Man’s Lady

  • Production: Paramount. Director William A. Wellman; Producer William A. Wellman; Screenplay W.L. River; Camera William C. Mellor; Editor Thomas Scott; Music Victor Young
  • Crew: (B&W) Extract of a review from 1942. Running time: 90 MIN.
  • With: Barbara Stanwyck Joel McCrea Brian Donlevy Thurston Hall Lloyd Corrigan

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