Monday, September 30, 2013

The Devil Is a Woman (1935)


IMDb plot summary: Film told in flashbacks of an older man's obsession for a woman who can belong to no-one but can frustrate everyone.
Directed by Josef von Sternberg. Starring Marlene Dietrich, Lionel Atwill, and Edward Everett Horton.

If I never have to see Marlene Dietrich roll her eyes and sigh dramatically to manipulate someone into doing what she wants, I shall be quite content. I hate everyone in this movie, from the obnoxiously coy and manipulative Dietrich to the men who apparently decided they owned her and could do whatever they wanted with her. I'm sure I was supposed to side with one and support their attempts to undercut the other's ruining their life, but I just hated everyone all round. It's a melodramatic mess of a story with unlikable characters and a long winding plot that doesn't really go anywhere. Not a fan. 1 star.

Flickchart: #1739 out of 1961, below Dumbo and above Band of Outsiders.

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