Madame X
About Madame X
Louis Floriot throws his wife Jacqueline into the street for an affair and bars her from their young son. Twenty years later she shoots the cardsharp Laroque to stop him blackmailing Louis. The court appoints her son Raymond, who does not know her, as her lawyer, and she refuses to defend herself. When Louis is about to name her she pleads in a way that silences him, kisses Raymond, and dies.
Cast & crew
More about Madame X
Lionel Barrymore directed the adaptation of Alexandre Bisson's 1908 play for MGM, released on 17 August 1929. Wikipedia gives 95 minutes. Ruth Chatterton plays Jacqueline, Lewis Stone plays Louis, and Raymond Hackett plays the son.
Themes
Preservation
A print is on Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- Wikipedia says Barrymore and Chatterton were considered for Academy Awards before the Academy used a fixed list of nominees, so those mentions are not official nominations.
- Ullrich Haupt plays Laroque. Eugenie Besserer plays the servant Rose. Sidney Toler plays Dr. Merivel.
- The son in the film is about four. Some plot blurbs say three.
Scenes
- Jacqueline shoots Laroque rather than let him blackmail Louis.
- She sees her son rise for the defense and stays silent.
- She kisses him in the side room and dies.
Influenced by
- Alexandre Bisson's play Madame X (1908)
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Madame X.webm)
