Unlimitedia Sick Product of a Sick System

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

gridoon2018 People sure knew how to throw a party in those days! "Madam Satan" may be the only bedroom farce / musical / disaster movie ever made. It's also one of those movies which justify Cecil B. DeMille's reputation as an envelope-pushing grand entertainer. The costumes & props must be seen to be believed - there is even a futuristic element to them. Three out of the four leads give modern performances; only Reginald Denny is a little bland. The film also has its share of saucy lines & situations. The one aspect which hasn't dated well is the singing - maybe because of the early sound recording, much of it comes across as indecipherable screeching. Loyal fans of "Married With Children" will remember an episode with almost the exact same plot! *** out of 4.

JohnHowardReid SYNOPSIS: A variant on Ferenc Molnar's 1924 play, "The Guardsman", this is DeMille's only musical and one of the few films he produced which failed to make a substantial profit. In fact, this one made a loss. Despite this initial set-back, M-G-M had such intrinsic faith in the story idea, that it was filmed again as The Guardsman (1931), The Chocolate Soldier (1941), and Two-Faced Woman (1941) — yes, twice in the same year!COMMENT: Despite a few bright comebacks from Roland Young, the first half of this movie — particularly everything that's set in the Brooks' demesne — is pretty terrible. Once the ultra-fetching Lillian Roth comes on, audience interest does perk up somewhat; but it's not until the zeppelin scenes that the movie really reaches its DeMillean stride. The director is at his peak of richly campy bad taste, with dozens of svelte extras parading around in Adrian costumes that have to be seen to be believed. The music hots up commensurately and it all ends in typical DeMille fashion with a spectacular break-up of the zeppelin and the parachuting of hundreds of weirdly-dressed masqueraders to earth.Once on board the zeppelin, the picture picks up not only pictorially, but in all departments. True, Kay Johnson overdoes the Mae West impersonating Mae West in Every Day's a Holiday impersonation (actually it's the other way around, as the West picture wasn't made until 1938), complete with thick French accent and giddy (rather than sexy)mannerisms, but the other players loosen up considerably, even including stiff-as-a-board Reginald Denny. The lovely Lillian Roth seems even more desirable, whilst Roland Young is in his element with wonderfully dead-pan delivery of such devilishly witty lines as "You can't take a married man to hell."It's the zep scenes too that are so thickly encrusted with cultishly 1930s songs and musical numbers, including LeRoy Prinz's fantastically-staged Electricity number — see the guy had talent after all, despite all that Jimmy Cagney and I said to the contrary. He just lost that visual inventiveness somewhere along the way in his journey from M-G-M to Paramount to Warner Bros. We also loved Lillian Roth's "Lowdown". In her first rendition, she's joined by the talented Edward Prinz as well as composer Jack King.Abetting the glamorously bizarre Adrian costumes are the typically super-lavish DeMille sets, designed here by the creative duo of Cedric Gibbons and art deco specialist Mitchell Leisen, surely the last word in flapper-era elegance.Contrary to its slow and uncertain, bored and boring, mistimed and mistreated start, the end of the picture is a triumph of clever plotting and playing, with Roland Young hobbling to a wonderful exit for a most pleasing fade-out. This picture is definitely one for the books — scaling from the unbelievably bad to the dazzlingly enjoyable, its initial script/acting/directing rags miraculously transformed to ditto riches.

lugonian MADAM Satan (MGM, 1930), directed by Cecil B. DeMille, marked the famed director's second of three features under the MGM banner, and one of his most unusual, or in the most common terms, bizarre. In spite of it not becoming a box office success in its initial release, MADAM Satan needs to be seen a few times in order to get the full concept of the continuity. Once getting through some dull stretches taking place during its initial 50 minutes, the movie delivers during its final portion to this 115 minute production with its one of the most oddest costume parties and inane production numbers ever captured on film. The plot, which could very well be THE GUARDSMAN (1931, with Alfred Lunt and Lynne Fontanne) or THE CHOCOLATE SOLDIER (1941, with Nelson Eddy and Rise Stevens, which in turn is based on "The Guardsman") in reverse, focuses on Angela (Kay Johnson), a boring but cultured New York City society woman married to the prominent but fun loving Bob Brooks (Reginald Denny). Her casual evening at home stirs some excitement after reading in a newspaper that she, along with Bob and his best friend, Jim Wade (Roland Young) were taken to night court for speeding. Wanting to learn more about what her husband has been doing, and who the woman masquerading as her husband's wife is, Angela's suspicions are soon realized when she finds a calling card in Bob's pocket signed by a Trixie. Feeling her marriage dissolved because of Bob's lack of interest in her, Angela decides to follow the advice of Martha, her maid (Elsa Peterson) to go out and recapture her own husband by fascinating him. During Jim Wade's elaborate costume party, which takes place in a gigantic airship, Angela enters the social scene disguised as the masked woman who calls herself "Madam Satan." Categorized as a musical, the production numbers set during the masquerade party are of more interest than the songs that accompany them. With the music and lyrics credited to Clifford Grey, Herbert Stothart, Elsie Janis and Jack Grey, the songs featured include: "Live and Love Today" (sung by Elsa Peterson); "Low Down" (sung by Lillian Roth); "We're Going Somewhere" (sung by party guests as they enter dirigible); "The Cat Walk" (performed by guests); "Ballet Electrique" (performed by Theodore Kosloff as Electricity, surrounded by costumed dancers in an electrical ballet stimulating everything from spark plugs to lightning bolts); "What Am I Bid?/Auction Number" (recited by Roland Young); "Madame" (sung by Kay Johnson); "All I Know is You Are in My Arms" (sung and danced by Reginald Denny and Kay Johnson); "Low Down" (reprise by Lillian Roth, later sung by Kay Johnson); and "Madame" (reprise by Kay Johnson).Not the usual Cecil B. DeMillion dollar spectacle for which he is most famous, but like his better known Biblical epics, this modern-day story has enough costumes to go around, especially the ones worn at the masquerade party. After repeated viewing, MADAM Satan comes across like a typical Norma Shearer and Robert Montgomery drawing room comedy or something directed by George Cukor. At other times it leaves to the imagination of an Ernst Lubitsch sex comedy, but nearly fails on all counts. What saves this from becoming a total disaster is the oddball costume party. Without seeing his name on the credits, it would be hard to imagine MADAM Satan directed by DeMille, best known for religious epics, but it should be known that DeMille did specialized in this sort of comedy in the silent era with those starring Gloria Swanson, some years before director Ernst Lubitsch set the standard. MADAM Satan might have succeeded had the story been shortened and vocalizing dubbed for Kay Johnson. Because Johnson at times resembles or plays like a slightly mature Irene Dunne, a movie like MADAM SATIN would have called for the likeness of Dunne, both actress and singer, then under contract to RKO Radio. Lillian Roth's performance as the fun-loving other woman does spark some life into her character, which is no different from the roles she performed at her home lot of Paramount at the time. On the whole, the one who comes off best and memorably in MADAM Satan is Roland Young as Jim, who assumes some of the film's witty one liners (Tyler Brooke: "I've never repented a sin," Young: "I've never repeated one,") and funnier actions. First to try to pass off Trixie (Roth) as his wife to Angela, who knows her husband's friend is only making the pretense to cover up for her husband's infidelity. The pretense reaches an amusing climax when Jim has to undress and get in bed with "his wife," with Angela's constant intrusions. Following the airship disaster where all the party guests must parachute from the dirigible, all landing around Central Park ranging from inside a convertible with another couple smooching in the front seat to the reservoir. As for Young's character, he lands on a tree branch inside a lion's cage in the zoo. Below he watches the lions roaring up at him. He then observes a sign that reads when the next feeding time is for the lions will be. He then slowly looks at his watch. Regardless of slow pacing, the redeeming quality goes to Young, who even has the final closing rather than the leading players. MADAM Satan was distributed on video cassette in the 1990s, and can be seen occasionally during the late night hours on Turner Classic Movies. Movies dealing with wives putting their unsuspecting husbands to the test are usually fun to see, but while MADAM Satan might be categorized as one of the weakest of the lot, it does propose some redeeming qualities that make this one of the most unusual production by either or both DeMille and MGM. (**)

rsyung I found Madam Satan a rather strange hybrid of melodrama and musical, with elements of sex farce thrown in for good measure. It is divided into two distinct halves: the first takes place at the home of Bob and Angela, and at Trixie's flat. Then, it's aboard a moored Zeppelin for the second half for the party and the bulk of the musical numbers. A few witty ripostes here and there, some occasionally charming musical numbers, but overall a rather tepid affair. I just don't think Reginald Denny and Kay Johnson have the onscreen charisma to do this story justice. Roland Young is always amusing with his befuddled manner, in a sort of warm up to his Topper movies, but with Denny and Johnson to play against, he becomes the most interesting character by default. But the film is interesting in its moralizing about straying husbands and a wife's duty to spice up the marriage, considering DeMille's own unsatisfactory marriage and philandering ways. Setting the second half aboard a Zeppelin with its sinking ship analogies probably seemed very modern at the time, and it is interesting to note that even six years before the Hindenburg disaster, a Hollywood movie exploits the inherent danger to such a mode of transportation. Perhaps with a really sparkling script by a master screenwriter such as Robert Riskin, and more luminous leads, this could have been a major delight instead of a trifle.