A young, unfaithful wife and mother is thrown out by her cold, unforgiving husband, the Attorney General of France. She is barred from ever seeing her three year old son again despite her earnest attempts to make amends. For many years the mother seeks refuge overseas and in Absinthe. In the end, her son, a young and promising lawyer unknowingly defends her in court. Ruth Chatterton gives a marvelous performance in this early talkie in her portrayal of Madame X.
Acting
Chatterton's physical transformation is devastating.
Direction
Barrymore wrings maximum pathos from minimal sound.
Costume
From Parisian glamour to absinthe-soaked decay.
Director
Lionel Barrymore
Ruth Chatterton
Jacqueline Floriot
Lewis Stone
Louis Floriot
Raymond Hackett
Raymond Floriot
Sidney Toler
Dr. Merivel
Carroll Nye
Darrell, a Naval Officer
Eugenie Besserer
Rose, Floriot's Servant
Claude King
Valmorin, the Prosecutor
Richard Carle
Perissard
Mitchell Lewis
Colonel Hanby
Holmes Herbert
Noel
Henry Armetta
Hotel Owner (uncredited)
Jack Chefe
Nightclub Waiter (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was Lionel Barrymore's only directing credit at MGM; he returned to acting full-time after finding directing 'exhausting.'
The 'fallen woman' genre peaked in Pre-Code Hollywood before the Hays Code forced moral redemption on female sinners—making this version's bleakness impossible just four years later.
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