The Strange Love of Martha Ivers(1946)

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers was originally a product of Paramount, but had since been abandoned and slipped into the public domain, so until recently it was available only from publishers like Alpha Video and various collections. Luckily, that has changed as you'll see below.

The movie belongs to the very special genre of film noir; films made during the 1940s and 50s that have become known for certain similar characteristics like cynical viewpoint; black and white; day for night shooting; urban settings; interior locations; questionable motives; dark protagonists; crime; and a new type of character: the femme fatale - a woman who usually induces the protagonist to get himself killed or thrown in jail by promising - but giving up nothing. These films set themselves apart as special because of the great use of limited resources and very few movies since have lived up to the promise created by the early crime dramas.

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers stars Barbara Stanwyck as the title character, a strong bitc$%y woman who owns the town of Iverstown, and Van Heflin as her childhood boyfriend who returns to town after an absence of 17 or 18 years.

The movie starts out with a long prologue showing Martha's childhood spent with the Van Heflin character and a bookish, spectacles-wearing boy whose father serves as Martha’s tutor. She lives in the house of her stepmother Mrs. Ivers (Judith Anderson) who is a stern, humorless old harridan and Martha spends most of her time planning escape or running away. On one stormy night the lights go out and Mrs. Ivers meets with an unfortunate accident. The interesting wrinkle is, the bookish boy sees what happens and his story is believed. Fast forward 17 years and the boy is all grown up into Kirk Douglas in his first screen role.

Kirk is very dynamic in his performance and plays quite differently than the he-man persona he would soon adopt for his signature style. Here he plays a weak, whiny drunk who is pushed into achievement by his wife, Martha Ivers. He is the town prosecutor now, thanks to her.

Concurrently with this, Van Heflin rolls into town after a long absence and promptly smashes his car up so he takes it to the local garage. While he's waiting he meets Toni Marachek (Lisabeth Scott) who has a few secrets of her own. There are quite a few plot developments to advance the story but this is secondary to the buzz generated by Barbara Stanwyck and Kirk Douglas who really carry the movie. They are at each other like cats and dogs with Stanwyck holding up her end a little too well and Douglas finding solace in his bottle. The ending is suitably dire to fit the noir pattern.

Directed by Lewis Milestone (All Quiet on the Western Front) and shot by Victor Milner with lush scoring by Miklos Rosza. The combination provides a dark, gothic style movie that drags just a little, but not something a little judicious editing couldn't cure.

Up until recently only available in bargain basement pressings by public domain publishers, now the Paramount DVD is presented in Black and White, in 1.33:1 format, and 116 minutes. The movie is pristine and you will get to see it like the audience did in 1946. Even the off brand public domain versions like those offered by Alpha are not bad, so take a look if you get a chance.

Worth watching.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day