FERNANDO’s CORNER ~ posted January 29th, 2018
I watched yet another Paramount Pre-Code flick directed by Stuart Walker ~ (I had watched previously “The Misleading Lady” [1932]) ~ “White Woman” (1933) an exotic melodrama set in Malaya, in which Carole Lombard plays a notorious woman who is rejected by decent society people, because her husband is deemed to have committed suicide due to her supposed infidelity/ies….
Carole looks stunning in the jungle dressed up as a goddess, especially when she sings in a native joint, which is the only way she’s found to make a living…. Enter Charles Laughton, who plays the “King of The River.” He owns of several plantations, lusts after Carole’s character and convinces her to marry him and live with him deep in the jungle, where he reigns. Carole’s character falls in love with one of Laughton’s workers (the aristocratic and suave David Von Elst, played by Kent Taylor) and, well…I’ll tell you no more 😉
This film is quite amusing and beautiful to look at, but it’s quite melodramatic and Charles Laughton gives a florid performance, chewing up the whole scenery. Charles Bickford is fine as the rugged overseer who Laughton hires, but Lombard and Kent Taylor give weak performances IMO. Still, worth watching.
Go to Fernando’s Corner to see his other Paramount entries.
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