The Sin of Madelon Claudet

1931
Passed
1h 15m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Helen Hayes in The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931)

Out of jail for a crime she did not commit, Madelon turns to prostitution and thievery to send her illegitimate son to medical school.Out of jail for a crime she did not commit, Madelon turns to prostitution and thievery to send her illegitimate son to medical school.Out of jail for a crime she did not commit, Madelon turns to prostitution and thievery to send her illegitimate son to medical school.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

1.2K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 1 Oscar
- 3 wins total

Photos28

+ 21

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The Front Page

Storyline

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Trivia
According to 'When the Lion Roars', Irving Thalberg and his producers were previewing films one night, and he asked to see this one. Told it was hopeless, he asked to put it on anyway. After watching it, he remarked that it wasn't bad; the main thing to do was change the last seven minutes. Retakes were done, and Helen Hayes went on to win the Oscar for the part.

Goofs
When Madelon is at the theater bar having a drink with a patron, the bartender gives the man his change of 42 French francs, and she takes the money while threatening to make a scene in front of his wife. But after the man lets her take the Francs, he angrily asks her if she also wants the pennies. Since they are in France, the correct word would have been centimes.

Quotes
Madelon Claudet: You know, it's the queerest thing. When I was a little girl, Father Matthew used to say to us children, "You pay for everything - everything in this life." And last night when we were dancing, I thought of him, and I laughed to myself and said, "What an old fool you are, Father Matthew..." But he was right. And I'm paying.

Connections
Featured in Some of the Best (1944)

Soundtracks
Waltz No. 15 in A-flat major Op. 39
(1865) (uncredited)
Written by Johannes Brahms
Played during the opening credits and at the end

User reviews32

Review

Featured review

6/10

more fine work from Helen Hayes

The consummate Helen Hayes distinguishes this "fallen woman" film which would be only okay without her. The story resembles MADAME X, especially in the relationship between disgraced mother and clueless son. Starting as a farm girl in Normandy smitten with an American student (Neil Hamilton), Hayes progresses (or declines) to washerwoman, unwed mother, mistress to a wealthy crook (Lewis Stone), convict, high-class prostitute, streetwalker, aged derelict. She gets to play the spectrum of human emotions and vary her appearance from homely-wholesome to high glamour to harridan, from supreme confidence to abject humility. And she does it all with flying colors. Just as a study in good acting, this is worth a look. If anyone deserved an Oscar that year, it was she. And she got it.

The representations of prostitution are blatant, but no more so than in many other films of this period before the 1934 censorship clamp-down.