Madame X (1966) Blu-ray Review: Lana Turner’s Dynasty

Since its origin as a 1908 French play, the Madame X story has been remade more than any other film in history, but Lana Turner’s 1966 version remains the most well known. Bolstered by a surprisingly strong roster of male co-stars and a standout turn by Constance Bennett, the film offers fine performances only restricted by director Ross Hunter’s penchant for superficial posturing and unrealistic melodrama.

Turner stars as Holly Parker, a social climber who bags a rich husband named Clay Anderson (John Forsythe) but quickly learns that she’s sacrificed her individuality for a restrictive life in high society. Trapped in a loveless marriage with a newborn son and a largely absent politician husband, she soon falls under the spell of local lothario Phil Benton (Ricardo Montalban). When her dalliance threatens her marriage and her husband’s political future, she attempts to end it, accidentally causing Phil to tumble down a flight of stairs to his death.

Enter the scheming dowager of the Anderson family, Estelle. Presented with a juicy option to remove her unfavorable daughter-in-law from the family equation while preserving her son’s political rise, she forces Holly to fake her own death and enter permanent exile in Europe to avoid a murder rap. This sends Holly into an even more drastic tailspin as she drinks away the years on the Continent, pining for the son and husband she can never rejoin. When fellow drunk Dan Sullivan (Burgess Meredith) extracts her true life story one boozy night, he sets in motion a string of events that find Holly back in the U.S., on trial for murder, and wholly resigned to her fate. A twist that seals her defense is fairly obvious if highly improbable, but also sets up the final notable co-star, Keir Dullea (2001) as her earnest young attorney. 

While the story is intriguing, the film is a product of its time, with the actors forced to be stiff caricatures rather than compelling human beings. Maybe it’s partly due to the presence of Forsythe, but I couldn’t help feeling like the film was about as phony and bloodless as an episode of Dynasty, all high-class posturing and histrionics without a shred of genuine emotion, at least until Holly hits rock bottom in Europe. It’s only during her interactions with shady old Dan that Turner’s Holly really comes alive, finally revealing the depth and desperation of her character.

The Blu-ray is formatted at 1.85:1 aspect ratio, with DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono sound. Images are well defined, with robust if slightly unnatural Technicolor hues, while sound is clear but unremarkable. No bonus features are included.