A Woman Rebels Reviews

A modestly budgeted movie that, it was hoped, would bring Hepburn back from a few disasters she'd had earlier. It didn't, and the film lost about a quarter of a million dollars. Once again, Hepburn is a strong, rebellious type. She's living in the prudish Victorian society and the film covers about 25 years of that repressed era as she becomes an early fighter for female equality. Her father is Crisp, a stern disciplinarian under whose parentage Hepburn feels stifled. He's a judge and in that capacity judges his own daughter. She lashes out by having an affair and conceiving a child--without benefit of clergy or a justice of the peace--through the auspices of Heflin. Meanwhile, Marshall has been her long-time suitor waiting in the wings for the right moment to marry her. He decides this may be her most vulnerable moment, but she fools him and stays single. Marshall sticks close by and familiarity finally breeds affection so she marries him. Hepburn's daughter is played by Dudley, daughter of a Broadway star of the era, Bide Dudley. Marshall is a bit stiff but the role calls for him to be a good deal less than flamboyant and he carries that off. The movie was originally titled "Portrait of a Rebel" but that was altered for reasons known only to the studio. Both Heflin and Dudley were making their screen debuts after having been discovered by Hepburn in the stage play "End of Summer" by Ina Claire. Dudley's career did not take off and Heflin's did as he began to appear in larger roles, won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in JOHNNY EAGER, and continued his excellent work until his death in 1971.