Gallant Lady
"BECAUSE SHE PLAYED WITH FIRE, HER CHILD, WHOM SHE SO LOVED, MUST NEVER KNOW SHE WAS HIS MOTHER...!"
Unwed mother gives up baby for adoption and hopes to get it back when the adoptive mother dies.
Top Cast
-
Ann Harding
Sally Wyndham
-
Clive Brook
Dan Pritchard
-
Otto Kruger
Phillip Lawrence
-
Tullio Carminati
Count Mario Carniri
-
Dickie Moore
Deedy Lawrence
-
Janet Beecher
Maria Sherwood
-
Betty Lawford
Cynthia Haddon
-
Adrienne D'Ambricourt
Nanette - Deedy's Nurse (uncredited)
Overview
Unwed mother gives up baby for adoption and hopes to get it back when the adoptive mother dies.
Rating
7.3
/ 10
3 Reviews 0 Popular
1 Reviews
-
CinemaSerf6 Feb 16, 2024Ann Harding is on good form here in this drama about a mother trying to reclaim her son. Tragically unwed and broke, and with the help of the dipso ex-con doctor "Dan" (Clive Brooks), she had to put her young lad "Deedy" (Dickie Moore) up for adoption. Many years later when she learns that the adoptive mother has passed away, she is much more successful and senses that now might be the time to try and ingratiate herself with "Phillip" (Otto Kruger) and the young boy - and see if she can't get more firmly established in both of their lives. She won't have an easy ride, though, but gets off to a decent start as they meet on the Queen Mary travelling to Europe. On that trip, she also meets "Count Carniri" (Tullio Carminati) who takes a shine to her and might just prove a fly in her ointment when it comes to getting her son back. Faced with choices that may not be her first, she makes some decisions that might reunite her with her child, but at what price her own happiness? The plot is standard melodrama stuff, but Harding really does stand out with one of her more convincing performances. The scenes with the young lad work well, are quite emotional and do support the almost addictive maternal feeling that underpins most of this story. Brooks is also quite effective as the drunken physician, but there's just a bit too much dialogue and the support elements (except the young Moore) don't really make much impact. It stays the right side of sentimentality once we are up and running, and there's some feisty humour here too.
Recommendations
After her adoptive mother dies, Hortense, a successful black optometrist, seeks out her birth mother. She's shocked when her research leads her to Cynthia, a working class white woman.
Secrets & Lies
7.6 1996
David's comfortable world is turned upside down when his birth mother Melissa unexpectedly reaches out, longing to meet the eighteen year old son she's only held once.
Lifemark
7.4 2022
A retelling of L.M. Montgomery's story of Anne Shirley, an orphan who is accidentally sent to a couple looking to adopt a boy instead.
Anne of Green Gables
7.2 2016
A woman searches for her adult son, who was taken away from her decades ago when she was forced to live in a convent.
Philomena
7.3 2013
Back from a tour of duty, Kelli struggles to find her place in her family and the rust-belt town she no longer recognizes.
Return
6.4 2011
In revolutionary Iran, as fundamentalists tighten their grip on society, a professor secretly gathers seven of her most dedicated female students to read and discuss forbidden classics of Western literature, including Lolita and Pride and Prejudice. Based on the bestselling memoir by Azar Nafisi. A film by Eran Riklis starring Golshifteh Farahani (Paterson), Zar Amir (Holy Spider), and Mina Kavani (No Bears).
Reading Lolita in Tehran
7.3 2024
John, a 35-year-old window cleaner, has dedicated his life to bringing up his 4-year-old son, Michael, after the child's mother left them soon after giving birth. When John is given only a few months left to live, he attempts to find a new, perfect family for Michael, determined to shield him from the terrible reality of the situation.
Nowhere Special
7.2 2020
When Tragedy Strikes three Families, their Destiny forces them on a coverging path and mercy as the challenges of their fate could also resurrect their beliefs
A Question of Faith
7.5 2017
Jamie Fitzpatrick and Nona Alberts are two women from opposites sides of the social and economic track, but they have one thing in common: a mission to fix their community's broken school and ensure a bright future for their children. The two women refuse to let any obstacles stand in their way as they battle a bureaucracy that's hopelessly mired in traditional thinking, and they seek to re-energize a faculty that has lost its passion for teaching.
Won't Back Down
6.1 2012
A troubled young woman becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl's dead mother.
The Truth About Emanuel
6.0 2013