This Was A Woman
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''This Was a Woman'' is a 1948 British
crime film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...
directed by
Tim Whelan Tim Whelan (November 2, 1893 – August 12, 1957) was an American film director, writer, producer and actor, best remembered for his writing credits on Harold Lloyd and Harry Langdon comedies, and for directing mostly British films, such as ''Th ...
and starring
Sonia Dresdel Sonia Dresdel (5 May 1909 – 18 January 1976) was an English actress, whose career ran between the 1940s and 1970s. Life She was born Lois Obee in Hornsea, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, and was educated at Aberdeen High School for Girls ...
,
Walter Fitzgerald Walter Fitzgerald Bond (18 May 1896 – 20 December 1976) was an English character actor. Early life Born in Stoke, Plymouth, Fitzgerald was a former stockbroker before he began his theatrical training at RADA. He joined the British Army durin ...
and Emrys Jones. It was made at the
Riverside Studios Riverside Studios is an arts centre on the north bank of the River Thames in Hammersmith, London, England. The venue plays host to contemporary performance, film, visual art exhibitions and television production. Having opened in May 1976, th ...
with sets designed by the
art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...
s Ivan King and
Andrew Mazzei Andrew Mazzei (1887–1975) was a French-born British art director who designed the sets for more than sixty films during his career. Mazzei began his career in the late 1920s during the silent era including on the futuristic ''High Treason''. By ...
. Based on a successful play by former film actress
Joan Morgan Joan Morgan (1 February 1905 – 22 July 2004) was an English film actress, screenwriter and novelist. Born in Forest Hill, London, she was the daughter of film director Sidney Morgan and his wife, Evelyn. Joan Morgan died at age 99 in Henley-o ...
, its plot concerns an outwardly respectable family dominated by a murderous matriarch.


Plot

Sylvia Russell is a woman who likes to get her own way. With a huge ambition to exercise power, she has had to be content with manipulating and demoralising her sweet natured husband and controlling the lives of her children, all while presenting the appearance of a devoted wife and mother. When her daughter Fenella announces that she is going to marry Val, Sylvia is furious at this sign of independence and while pretending to welcome Val into the family, does everything she can to undermine the marriage, eventually splitting the couple up. Her son, although not really understanding why, chooses never to bring his girlfriend to the house; is he beginning to comprehend his mother's true character? When Austin, her husband's old friend, returns to England after many successful years abroad with the same company, Sylvia sees a chance to further her ambitions. She feels sure that she can achieve the power she craves with the right person at her side. And then her husband falls ill...


Cast


Music

In several scenes, White plays several other compositions, having from the age of ten initially viewing a future career as a concert pianist. One piece was a concerto written especially for White to play by Russian-born composer
Mischa Spoliansky Mischa Spoliansky (28 December 1898 – 28 June 1985) was a Russian-born composer who made his name writing cabaret and revue songs in the Weimar Republic of the 1920s and early 1930s. He was forced to emigrate to London in 1933 when Hitler ro ...
(1898–1985).


References


Bibliography

* Michael F. Keaney. ''British Film Noir Guide''. McFarland, 2008.


External links

* 1948 films British crime drama films 1948 crime drama films Films shot at Riverside Studios Films directed by Tim Whelan British films based on plays 20th Century Fox films Films set in London Seafaring films Films about murder British black-and-white films 1940s English-language films 1940s British films Films scored by Mischa Spoliansky English-language crime drama films {{1940s-UK-film-stub