"Woman in the Dark" was too much like "Straight is the Way" (1934) and it was too contrived. For reference, in "Straight is the Way," Franchot Tone played an ex-con who had to mind his P's and Q's to keep from going back to prison, except trouble found him. The main progenitor of the trouble was a woman (played by Gladys George).
In "Woman in the Dark," John Bradley (Ralph Bellamy) is an ex-con who served time for manslaughter. He had punched a man who fell and hit his head and died. He was advised to keep his anger in check and stay out of fights if he wanted to avoid being a recidivist.
He traveled back to Denton, N. Y., a small city where he could largely stay away from problems. But, as expected, problems found him.
The first problem was the sheriff's daughter Helen Grant (Nell O'Day). She was a bothersome young woman who had a crush on John. Just her being there was a problem for him because the sheriff was sure to be on his butt if he knew his daughter was with him.
The second problem was Louise Loring (Fay Wray). She stumbled to his doorstep in the middle of a storm bringing her drama with her. Her drama came in the form of Tony Robson (Melvyn Douglas), a rich playboy of nebulous means but considerable influence. He wanted Louise back and he would play dirty to get her back.
Louise was not quite a prostitute, but far from a wife--to borrow from the clean version of the rap song "Dopeman" by NWA. Louise was pretty much bought and paid for by Robson so she had to be his woman. She didn't want to be, but he tricked her into taking large sums of money from him which meant that she was indebted to him.
Now Louise was in John's home trying to flee Robson. It couldn't have been a worse situation for John. He had openly stated that women were nothing but trouble. His first prison stint was due to Helen and his chivalry. He had a jaded outlook on women--which was a sure sign that he was going to fall in love with one.
When Tony Robson and his underling, Conroy (Reed Brown Jr.), came to John's place (the second time), Conroy shot Louise's dog which was trying to protect her. The dog was merely barking, it hadn't lunged at anyone.
I think we can all agree that a warrantless dog killer is a bad guy. Well, John slugged Conroy as payment for his deed.
This is where it got a little too contrived.
Conroy, after being punched by John, fell and hit his head on the brick fireplace. My thoughts were, "You can't be serious. AGAIN!" First of all, deaths in that manner were common in the 30's. I know I've seen at least a few other movies in which a guy was punched, fell, hit his head and died. I can only think of "The Life of Jimmy Dolan" (1933), but I know I've seen it in other movies as well.
Second of all, what are the chances that John would kill TWO people by punching them? It was too coincidental.
In this case Conroy didn't die, but the next time we saw him he was bandaged up and near death. John's newest nemesis, Robson (the guy who wanted Louise), swore a warrant out for John Bradley's arrest to get rid of him. So, just like that, after being home only a day or two, John was a fugitive. How he was going to be cleared of this crime was all that was pending.
Everything ended neatly enough. John and Louise became romantically involved although we were spared the oaths of undying love after one night of knowing each other. Louise then did what she had to do to absolve John of any wrongdoing (including going back to Robson which caused the classic misunderstanding scene). That led everyone back to Robson's place where they found a conscious Conroy who told the cops that it was Robson who'd tried to kill him, not John. Even with the happy ending, I didn't find the movie compelling enough to care. Fay Wray just didn't do it for me, and nor did Ralph Bellamy for that matter. This movie lacked any life or pizzazz. Everyone went through the motions and said their lines then the movie ended.
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In "Woman in the Dark," John Bradley (Ralph Bellamy) is an ex-con who served time for manslaughter. He had punched a man who fell and hit his head and died. He was advised to keep his anger in check and stay out of fights if he wanted to avoid being a recidivist.
He traveled back to Denton, N. Y., a small city where he could largely stay away from problems. But, as expected, problems found him.
The first problem was the sheriff's daughter Helen Grant (Nell O'Day). She was a bothersome young woman who had a crush on John. Just her being there was a problem for him because the sheriff was sure to be on his butt if he knew his daughter was with him.
The second problem was Louise Loring (Fay Wray). She stumbled to his doorstep in the middle of a storm bringing her drama with her. Her drama came in the form of Tony Robson (Melvyn Douglas), a rich playboy of nebulous means but considerable influence. He wanted Louise back and he would play dirty to get her back.
Louise was not quite a prostitute, but far from a wife--to borrow from the clean version of the rap song "Dopeman" by NWA. Louise was pretty much bought and paid for by Robson so she had to be his woman. She didn't want to be, but he tricked her into taking large sums of money from him which meant that she was indebted to him.
Now Louise was in John's home trying to flee Robson. It couldn't have been a worse situation for John. He had openly stated that women were nothing but trouble. His first prison stint was due to Helen and his chivalry. He had a jaded outlook on women--which was a sure sign that he was going to fall in love with one.
When Tony Robson and his underling, Conroy (Reed Brown Jr.), came to John's place (the second time), Conroy shot Louise's dog which was trying to protect her. The dog was merely barking, it hadn't lunged at anyone.
I think we can all agree that a warrantless dog killer is a bad guy. Well, John slugged Conroy as payment for his deed.
This is where it got a little too contrived.
Conroy, after being punched by John, fell and hit his head on the brick fireplace. My thoughts were, "You can't be serious. AGAIN!" First of all, deaths in that manner were common in the 30's. I know I've seen at least a few other movies in which a guy was punched, fell, hit his head and died. I can only think of "The Life of Jimmy Dolan" (1933), but I know I've seen it in other movies as well.
Second of all, what are the chances that John would kill TWO people by punching them? It was too coincidental.
In this case Conroy didn't die, but the next time we saw him he was bandaged up and near death. John's newest nemesis, Robson (the guy who wanted Louise), swore a warrant out for John Bradley's arrest to get rid of him. So, just like that, after being home only a day or two, John was a fugitive. How he was going to be cleared of this crime was all that was pending.
Everything ended neatly enough. John and Louise became romantically involved although we were spared the oaths of undying love after one night of knowing each other. Louise then did what she had to do to absolve John of any wrongdoing (including going back to Robson which caused the classic misunderstanding scene). That led everyone back to Robson's place where they found a conscious Conroy who told the cops that it was Robson who'd tried to kill him, not John. Even with the happy ending, I didn't find the movie compelling enough to care. Fay Wray just didn't do it for me, and nor did Ralph Bellamy for that matter. This movie lacked any life or pizzazz. Everyone went through the motions and said their lines then the movie ended.
Free on YouTube.