The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)
I’ve wondered if Paramount hadn’t taken a bit of a risk with this title, since it makes it sound like a melodramatic love story. The fact is that the picture is one of the best examples of classic down and dirty noir. The film is epic in nature, the tale beginning in 1928, and concluding in 1946. It stars Van Heflin,Barbara Stanwyck,Lizbeth Scott(in her second film role),Judith Anderson,and Kirk Douglas(in his first). Directed by Lewis Milestone(Casablanca), and photographed by the veteran Victor Milner(The Lady Eve).
Martha Ivers (Janis Wilson, Stanwyck as an adult) is the niece of a wealthy industrialist (Anderson) who has been Martha’s guardian since the demise of her father, a man named Smith. She hates her cold domineering aunt, and tries to run away with a young rogue friend Sam Masterson (Daryl Hickman, Heflin as an adult). The aunt has her captured and brought back telling her that she’ll never be able to escape. Another boy, Walter O’Neil, Jr. (Mickey Kuhn, Douglas as an adult), the son of her tutor, Walter O’Neil, Sr. (Roman Bohnen), is responsible for ratting out Martha’s escape.
Soon Martha attempts another escape with Sam, but Mrs. Ivers overhears them upstairs. During Mrs. Ivers’ walk up the stairway she stumbles upon the pet cat, and starts to beat the cat with her cane. Martha and Walter Jr. appear, whereupon Martha grabs the cane and strikes Mrs. Ivers, who tumbles down the stairs to hear death. Walter Sr. appears but agrees to testify that Mrs. Ivers’ death was an accident as long as he and his son can benefit.
Years later Sam happens by the town on a trip, where he learns that Martha is now the wealthy industrialist, and that she has married Walter Jr. --who has become the town’sdistrict attorney-- in a pact to keep Martha’s involvement in the Ivers death a secret. Sam visits his old home which is now a boarding house, where he meets a girl who is on probation, Toni Marachek (Scott). Sam soon approaches Walter to see if he’ll rectify Toni’s legal problem, but Walter wrongly suspects Sam is blackmailing him.
What follows are several twists and entanglements which lead to a classic memorable noir ending.
The picture was a huge success, and along with Double Indemnity two year prior, it cemented Stanwyck as one of the best femme fatales in film history. In fact she was never again to do a comedy. It was Heflin’s role in this film that made me realize what a great actor he was. Like Stanwyck, he was completely at home in any type of film. In addition this is the picture that put Kirk Douglas on the map. One can recognize the kernels of depth that he exhibited in his many subsequent films. And Lizabeth Scott
was absolutely smoldering in her portrayal of a blithe probationer who gets her man.
The success of Robert Rossen’s complex screenplay insured his future success as a director in such memorable films as All the King’s Men (1949) and The Hustler (1961).
Doc's rating: 9/10
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