Madame X
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''Madame X'' (original title ''La Femme X'') is a 1908
play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...
by French playwright
Alexandre Bisson Alexandre Bisson (9 April 1848 – 27 January 1912) was a French playwright, vaudeville creator, and novelist. Born in Briouze, Orne in Lower Normandy, he was successful in his native France as well as in the United States. Remembered as a sig ...
(1848–1912). It was novelized in English and adapted for the American stage; it was also adapted for the screen sixteen times over sixty-five years, including versions in Tagalog, Greek, Arabic, Greek, and Spanish as well as English. The play has been cited as an example of the literary tradition of portraying the mother figure as being "excessively punished for slight deviation from her maternal role". Kaplan, E. Ann (2013).
Motherhood and Representation: The Mother in Popular Culture and Melodrama
'. Abingdon, Oxfordshire, UK: Routledge. . p. 77.


Plot

The protagonist is a woman who has been thrown out into the street without any money by her jealous husband, when he discovers she has been carrying on an affair. She is not even allowed to see their young son. She sinks into depravity. Twenty years later, she has become the mistress of a criminal. When he finds out that her husband is now the attorney general, her lover decides to blackmail him. Desperate to shield her son from her disgrace, she shoots and kills her lover. By chance, the lawyer assigned to her turns out to be her own son, on his first case. He is puzzled and frustrated when she refuses to defend herself in court, or even to provide her name (which forces the tribunal to identify her as "Madame X"). During the trial, her husband shows up in support of his son. When the defendant sees that her husband recognizes her and is about to speak out, she makes an impassioned plea, not for mercy but for understanding of what drove her to murder. As she had intended, the hidden message silences her husband. When she faints from the strain, she is carried into a private chamber. There, she kisses her still-unaware son and dies.


Adaptations

* ''Madame X'', 1910 play, translated to English by John Raphael * '' Madame X: A Story of Mother Love'', 1910 novelization by J.W. McConaughy * ''Madame X'', 1916 film starring
Dorothy Donnelly Dorothy Agnes Donnelly (January 28, 1876 - January 3, 1928) was an actress, playwright, librettist, producer, and director. After a decade-long acting career that included several notable roles on Broadway, she turned to writing plays, musicals ...
* ''Madame X'', 1920 film starring
Pauline Frederick Pauline Frederick (born Pauline Beatrice Libbey; August 12, 1883 – September 19, 1938) was an American stage and film actress. Early life Frederick was born Pauline Beatrice Libbey (later changed to Libby) in Boston in 1883 (some sources stat ...
* ''Madame X'', 1929 film starring
Ruth Chatterton Ruth Chatterton (December 24, 1892 – November 24, 1961) was an American stage, film, and television actress, aviator and novelist. She was at her most popular in the early to mid-1930s, and in the same era gained prominence as an aviator, ...

''La Mujer X''
1931 Spanish language remake of the 1929 MGM film, from the same studio. * ''Madame X'', 1937 film starring
Gladys George Gladys George (born Gladys Clare Evans; September 13, 1904 – December 8, 1954) was an American actress of stage and screen. Though nominated for an Academy Award for her leading role in '' Valiant Is the Word for Carrie'' (1936), she spent most ...
* ''
The Trial of Madame X ''The Trial of Madame X'', also known as ''Jacqueline'', is a 1948 British drama film written and directed by Paul England and starring England and Mara Russell-Tavernan. It was written by England based (uncredited) on the 1908 play ''Madame X' ...
'', 1948 film starring
Mara Russell-Tavernan Mara or MARA may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Mara (''Doctor Who''), an evil being in two ''Doctor Who'' serials * Mara (She-Ra), fictional characters from the ''She-Ra and the Princesses of Power'' and ''The New Advent ...
* ''Madame X'', 1952 Filipino film starring
Alicia Vergel Erlinda Gaerlan Asturias-Aguilar (June 7, 1927 – May 20, 1992), popularity known as Alicia Vergel, was a Filipino actress, film producer, entrepreneur and politician. She was known for playing fiesty, strong-willed characters and was famous fo ...
* ''Madame X'', 1954 Greek film * ''Madame X'', 1955 Mexican film
''Meçhul Kadın''
'The Unknown Woman'' 1955 Turkish film * ''
The Unknown Woman ''The Unknown Woman'' (, ; also known as ''The Other Woman'') is a 2006 Italian psychological thriller mystery film, directed by Giuseppe Tornatore that depicts a woman alone in a foreign country, haunted by a horrible past. Although it was select ...
'', 1959 Egyptian film * ''Sino Ka, Madame X?'', 1966 Filipino film starring
Amalia Fuentes Amalia Amador Muhlach (born August 27, 1940 – October 5, 2019); commonly known as Amalia Fuentes (), was a Filipino actress and filmmaker whose career spanned six decades. She was the Queen of Philippine Movies in the 1960s and one of the to ...

''A Ré Misteriosa''
1966 Brazilian telenovela. * ''Madame X'', 1966 film starring
Lana Turner Julia Jean "Lana" Turner ( ; February 8, 1921June 29, 1995) was an American actress. Over a career spanning nearly five decades, she achieved fame as both a pin-up model and a film actress, as well as for her highly publicized personal life. ...
* ''Madame X'', 1966 novelization by
Michael Avallone Michael Angelo Avallone (October 27, 1924 – February 26, 1999) was an American author of mystery, secret agent fiction, and novelizations of television and films. His lifetime output was over 223 works (although he boasted over 1,000), publis ...
of the 1966 film’s screenplay * ''Life is Wasted, My Son'', 1978 Egyptian remake of ''The Unknown Woman'' * ''Madame X'', 1981 television film starring
Tuesday Weld Tuesday Weld (born Susan Ker Weld; August 27, 1943) is a retired American actress. She began acting as a child and progressed to mature roles in the late 1950s. She won a Golden Globe Award, Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Female Newcome ...


References


External links

* English translation, used in a 1909 British stage production. * {{Internet Archive, madamexastorymo00bissgoog, Madame X 1910 English language prose adaptation 1908 plays French plays adapted into films