. . . Betty Davis portrays "Mary Dwight." Ms. Dwight (nee Strauber) earns a facial scar in the form of a cross carved into her cheek toward the end of MARKED WOMAN. Though she doesn't take any potshots at a sitting American president as did Manson groupie Lynette Alice "Squeaky" Fromme, Mary does lead her own sister to a watery doom while under the sway of mercenary sex cult leader "Johnny Vanning." Mr. Vanning is so frightening that Richard Nixon--who made headlines by declaring JV wannabe Charles Manson "guilty" immediately upon the latter's arrest--would have babbled, "He is NOT a crook, he is NOT a crook" had Vanning been arrested during his administration. Since MARKED WOMAN takes place in the 1930s, History spares us such a milquetoast Milhouse. But the real question you'll be asking yourself after watching MARKED WOMAN is, "What about Bob?" Mr. Robert Crandall--would be molester of innocent coeds--seems to get off "scot free" (or "Cosby Clear," for Gen X'Ers). Or, maybe you'll be wondering, "What about Ralph?" Why do Vanning's henchmen allow this bozo from the sticks to run up a one-night dinner club debt of $2,184 (or $62,400, adjusted for inflation)? White Castle would not have sold this deadbeat a slider on credit, so why aren't the duped thugs taken for a ride, instead of Ralph? At least MARKED WOMAN can answer questions about how New York City's bordering rivers got so polluted, with their corps of corpses, compliments of folks like Vanning.

Marked Woman is an extremely excellent gangster film by Warner Bros, torn from the headlines of 1935 depicting the sensationalized exploits of the notorious gangster Lucky Luciano who ran a prostitution ring & was finally brought to trial by the celebrated Special Prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey. Thanks to the production code of 1934 the prostitutes had to be toned down for the movie & became clip joint "hostesses".Lucky Luciano's screen counterpart is Johnny Vanning (Eduardo Ciannelli)who takes over a nightclub called the "Club Intime".He tells his henchman (Ben Welden) several times while scoping the club out & looking the dames over, "make a note of it Charlie". Bette Davis is Mary Dwight one of the hostesses & she just electrifies the screen from the first moment & she immediately stands up to the tough gangster & gets his respect when she talks him out of firing hostess Estelle (Mayo Methot), Vanning thought she was getting too old & wants young dames.Vanning closes the club temporarily to allow time to transform the club & rename it "The Club Intimate". When the club reopens for business one of the suckers ( Damien O'Flynn) runs up a bill he can't afford to pay & leaves the club with Mary Dwight. Charlie (Welden) sends a couple of the "boys" after him....pay or die! Later when the police find his body they also find a matchbook in his pocket with Marys address which leads to her arrest & is taken to the Dictrict Attorney's office for questioning. Humphrey Bogart is superb in the Thomas E. Dewey role of the Special Prosecutor David Graham.David Graham (Bogart) is a relentlessly driven crusader of justice determined to put crime boss Johnny Vanning & his henchman in jail & smash organized crime. Graham needs & tries to convince Mary & the other girls to testify against their gangster boss. Graham has a difficult time getting the girls cooperation for they are loyal to Vanning. It's only after Mary's sister Betty turns up (Jane Bryan) & is later killed accidentally by Johnny Vanning at a party does Mary retaliate & runs back to Graham & agrees to testify against Vanning along with the other girls.The chemistry between Bette Davis & Humphrey Bogart is fantastic & the scenes with Davis & Eduardo Ciannelli as the gangster is sizzling hot. Other reviewers haven't given much praise to Bogart's role of the Special Prosecutor & I don't know why but I thought he was very convincing & believable as the crusading D.A. Marked Woman was following the trend of gangster movies shifting the emphasis from the forces of vice & crime over to the forces of justice. To satisfy the new production code, gangsters could no longer be glorified.Beginning in 1935 with James Cagney in G-Men, Cagney was an FBI agent, in 1936 came Bullets or Ballots with Edward G. Robinson playing a policeman posing as a gangster. In 1937 it was Marked Woman with Humphrey Bogart on the side of law & order. A clever Warner Bros trick to move these actors over to the side of law & order & also because Cagney, Robinson & Bogart wanted a break from gangster roles. All 3 actors hated being typecast & would always fight for better roles.Because Cagney & Robinson were stars they could afford to say no & turn down roles they didn't like, Bogart didn't have enough leverage to say no yet so as a result he got stuck with the gangster roles more frequently. In Marked Woman when Bogart is first seen you can see the gangster written all over him but as the movie progresses Bogart grows into his role & really sinks his teeth into the Thomas E.Dewey character breaking the stereotype. Quite a contrast from Duke Mantee in The Petrified Forest.In 1992 I found Marked Woman on VHS & when I watched it I was so blown away by this movie after rewinding the tape I immediately watched it again. I've never done that with any other movie. I couldn't get enough of Davis & Bogart, they really set the screen on fire. Also Eduardo Ciannelli as the gangster is dynamite, frightening & memorable & it's a rare treat to see Bogart as a good guy & hero for a change. Because of that this movie gets a 10 !!

After watching this film, I'm surprised it was released as late as 1937. Given that the main characters are call girls and this fact is central to several plot points, I expected to find it was pre-code. Still, thinking back on it, this fact is made clear without direct references. The most direct notice of the nature of their work is given by the reaction of the little sister when this is made a point in court by the defense attorney.Another point in my casual mis-dating of this film is the quality of the picture. There is a black haze that rounds out the corners, but this may be due to the way the film was stored so many years ago. It gives the movie a sense of being a few years older than it is. Call it character.Bette Davis gave a good performance in this movie, walking the line between under and over-acting, with a very balanced treatment of the main role. She was also prettier than I've ever seen her. Humphrey Bogart had a bit of dash in his appearance as the clean cut assistant District Attorney, spending much of his time arguing the case for the prosecution..It's interesting to look back a the way the trial was handled. There isn't a lot of excess drama in those scenes. They are very direct in their approach to the necessary exposition, treating it almost as quick action which gets to the heart of the story. Besides some last minute badgering of a sobbing witness, there isn't much to compare to the stirring soliloquies of more modern courtroom scenes. Even the way the cameras shot the scene is pretty basic, with only the occasional interesting perspective.The plot is easy to follow, revolving around a minor crime lord, a group of call girls and the ability of the court system to triumph. The ending is satisfying in terms of plot, but this is the biggest clue that this is a reflection of the direction Hollywood went in the mid to late 30s. Good always wins. The ending for the characters is not so certain and this is one of the most dramatic parts of the film as the characters go their separate ways to uncertain destinies.

Set in the "underworld" of Manhattan, Marked Woman has Bette Davis as a woman who has the nerve to defy one of the city's most powerful, yet surely the most unbelievably stupid, gangsters. The women of the story are "hostesses." What is not acknowledged obviously is that they are essentially prostitutes. They work in a gambling house in the city.Davis briefly meets and befriends a young man who confides in her that he is not able to pay off the debt he has amassed, not surprised to find out later that he has been murdered. Interrogated by investigator Humphrey Bogart, Davis and the other women refuse to rat out their retarded employer, Johnny (it's always a Johnny) Vanning. They fear him, and while behind closed doors loathing him are helpless to free themselves from him. Davis's younger sister, a goody-good college girl, comes to visit, oblivious to the risky circumstances she has walked into, and gets recklessly, inexplicably, is drawn very quickly into the world, against the urging of her older sister.Look, whether this is dated or not, it displays some of the very worst acting I have ever seen. Yes, Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart headline the cast, but they are so tacky, almost like they are characters in later movies that love old black and white movie pictures and recite lines from ones they've seen a million trillion times. They are not the only ones. The worst actor is the one who plays the worst character, Johnny Vanning, a hilariously stupid Italian mob boss. He is an actor who cannot act his way out of a paper bag playing a character who cannot think or talk his way out of a paper bag. One of the funniest moments:Johnny runs joints and takes over joints. They all seem to be officially called "joints," even by the city. Never are they ever referred to as anything else. He changes their names to less clever things:One's name is Le Intime. He says, "What does that mean?""It means intimate.""What does that mean?""Affectionate. Being together.""Well why doesn't it say what it means? Charlie. Tell them to change it."He really does not know anything and relies on his henchmen and the people around him, but nobody ever vocalizes this.All of the dialogue is overacted and scripted and corny, the chemistry between all the "hostesses" is trite, and all of my laughter was against the intent of the filmmakers.