A Woman's Face (1941)

Directed by

George Cukor

Genre

drama film, film noir, romance film, crime film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 47m

Rated

NR

Rating

6.8 of 10 from 74 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A facially disfigured woman works as a blackmailer and hates everyone because of her looks. After surgery fixes her face, she struggles between a fresh start and her criminal life. The story unfolds through flashbacks during a trial.

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What happens

A Woman's Face is a 1941 American drama film noir directed by George Cukor and starring Joan Crawford, Melvyn Douglas and Conrad Veidt. It tells the story of Anna Holm, a facially disfigured blackmailer, who, because of her appearance, despises everyone she encounters. When a plastic surgeon corrects this disfigurement, Anna becomes torn between the hope of starting a new life and a return to her dark past. Most of the film is told in flashbacks as witnesses in a courtroom give their testimonies. The screenplay was written by Donald Ogden Stewart and Elliot Paul, based on the play Il était une fois... by Francis de Croisset. Another version of the story, a Swedish production, was filmed in 1938 as En kvinnas ansikte, starring Ingrid Bergman. Advertising for the film appears in a photograph by Robert Frank. One of the images of Crawford used in the advertising later was included in the album artwork for The Rolling Stones album Exile on Main St. (1972). (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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