Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows Shop News Showtimes

Madame X

Released Aug 17, 1929 1h 35m Drama List
Tomatometer 2 Reviews 25% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Jacqueline (Ruth Chatterton) leaves her rich but cold husband, and he forbids her from seeing their young son. She then takes up with no-good gambler Laroque (Ullrich Haupt), who forces her to join in his crimes. Years later, Laroque is killed, Jacqueline is put to trial for his murder and her lawyer is her son, Raymond (Raymond Hackett), who doesn't recognize her. Jacqueline, in an effort to hide her shameful identity from her son, abstains from speaking in court, which could spell her doom.

Critics Reviews

View All (2) Critics Reviews
Walter Brown Hartford Courant Miss Chatterton gives a really magnificent performance m the talkie made from the famous melodrama of the year gone by proving her excellence in an Intensely emotional role. May 27, 2021 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Ruth Chatterton got Best Actress nomination and Lionel Barrymore a directing nod for the first talkie version of the old sentimental play about an all-suffering mother. Rated: B- Apr 26, 2012 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (10) audience reviews
Louisa E Urgh. I couldn't get into the plot. Too implausible and some sections were way too long and not critical to the story. I couldn't agree with the theme that it was the cheated husband's fault for her downfall. Sorry but she made her choice. I liked Lewis Stone's performance but the others were the usual over-acting of the time. The dialogue was almost ridiculous at times and the whole thing was shot like a play, which I guess it would have been. The only praise-worthy part for me was the way they developed the characters over time visually, with good hair and wardrobe choices. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 05/08/23 Full Review Audience Member The story had been filmed before by Goldwyn before the MGM merger. Barrymore avoided the song and dance formula treating it as a dramatic play. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 02/08/23 Full Review steve d Well done all things considered. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member I tried to watch this several times, but couldn't make it past the first ten minutes. The sound quality is bad, so it is difficult to understand what is being said without closed captioning (which was not available on TCM). The acting is extremely melodramatic, which makes the dialog even more difficult to understand in the sing-song mid-Atlantic accent that was expected of theatrical actors at the time. So - my rating is based on the first ten minutes, where I caught about 10% of the dialog and had no idea what was going on other than the fact that everyone seemed quite distraught. It made me put my hand to my forehead and audibly sigh with despair and overt facial expression. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/12/23 Full Review Audience Member Stiff and creaky original version of the much remade weeper. Chatterton is too theatrical in her role to buy in her later scenes of dissipation. Watch the more enjoyable Lana Turner version instead. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member "Ruth Chatterton got Best Actress nomination and Lionel Barrymore a directing nod for the first talkie version of the old sentimental play about an all-suffering mother." Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Madame X

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis Jacqueline (Ruth Chatterton) leaves her rich but cold husband, and he forbids her from seeing their young son. She then takes up with no-good gambler Laroque (Ullrich Haupt), who forces her to join in his crimes. Years later, Laroque is killed, Jacqueline is put to trial for his murder and her lawyer is her son, Raymond (Raymond Hackett), who doesn't recognize her. Jacqueline, in an effort to hide her shameful identity from her son, abstains from speaking in court, which could spell her doom.
Director
Lionel Barrymore
Distributor
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Production Co
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Aug 17, 1929, Original
Runtime
1h 35m