Reviews and notes
The first film Bette Davis made for the studio after her much-publicized courtcase in England was
MARKED WOMAN, whose screenplay (by Robert Rossen and Abem Finkel) was the best she had had since
Of Human Bondage (1934) and
The Petrified Forest (1936).
Grateful that Jack Warner was not vindictively withholding good quality material from her because of the trouble she had recently caused him, Miss Davis tore into the role of night-club hostess (a euphemism for prostitute) with all the passion at her considerable command.
Based on the trial of New York racketeer Lucky Luciano who was sent to prison on the evidence of prostitutes, it was ably directed by Lloyd Bacon. with a cast that included Humphrey Bogart,. Eduardo Ciannelli, Lola Lane, Isabel Jewell, Rosalind Marquis and Mayo Methot, and featured songs by Busby Berkeley's favourite composers, Harry Warren and AI Dubin. Songs: My Silver Dollar Man and Mr And Mrs Doakes.
-Clive Hirschhorn, The Warner Bros. Story, 1979.
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