Marked Woman

Synopsis: In this roman-a-clef for the infamous Lucky Luciano Trial, Mary Dwight and four roommates work as hostesses at the Club Intime, a "clip joint" that offers gambling, liquor, and female companionship to the "big spender" clientèle. When ruthless thug and pimp Johnny Vanning takes over all the clubs in town, the girls are forced to follow Vanning's rules and kick back on their "tips" in exchange for protection. Although she is not a hardened old hand like Gabby and Estella, Mary knows enough to sidestep Vanning's amorous advances. Unfortunately the more naive Mary Lou is impressed by Vanning's oily veneer of materialism and accepts invitations to "entertain" at the gangster's private parties. Mary's naive younger sister Betty arrives from college just when Mary and her roommates are arrested as material witnesses in the murder of one of the casino's non-paying customers. Vanning's corrupt lawyer frees the others but pressures Mary to commit perjury in order to discredit crusading District
Production: MGM Home Entertainment
  1 win & 1 nomination.
 
IMDB:
7.4
Rotten Tomatoes:
100%
APPROVED
Year:
1937
96 min
198 Views


Oh, that's the cocktail bar, huh?

What's in there?

It's a private dining room.

From now on, it's the gambling room.

- Make a note of that, Charlie.

- Right.

Take him out for a walk.

It's too stuffy in here.

That, it's crummy. Change it.

But, Mr. Vanning, it's French.

I had it specially designed.

It's still crummy. None of the classy

spots use that kind of stuff anymore.

I want the kind that sticks up

in the ceiling.

- Indirect lighting.

- That's what I want.

- Hello, Gabby. Still around?

- Yeah.

Emmy Lou is the name, Mr. Vanning.

All right, now. This is it.

I'm taking over this joint.

From now on,

you're working for me, understand?

Most of you have been around long enough

to know how I operate.

If you don't,

read the papers and find out.

Up to now, this night club racket's

been run on a penny-ante basis.

That's out.

From now on, I'm organizing it.

When I organize anything,

I make it pay big money, or else.

Now, this town is full of big shots

from the sticks.

They keep pouring in by the carload,

looking for one thing:

The kind of time they can go home

and brag about.

And torch songs with soft lights

aren't going to satisfy them.

We know the action they want,

and we are going to give it...

...from tiddlywinks to roulette.

But they're going to pay for it plenty,

understand?

In other words, a clip joint.

Yeah, and run on a high-class basis.

Your job is to soften them up

so they can be taken.

There's only one way to work

on chumps:
Our way.

With no holds barred.

High-class?

- You don't like it, huh?

- It all depends.

How much is there in it for us?

About 50 times what you're getting now.

But you don't get it for nothing.

Every week, you're going to kick back

part of what you make to me.

That goes for protection, hush money,

lawyer's fee, bail bonds, anything else...

...to square the rap

in case the law steps in.

That's one thing

you won't have to worry about.

Anybody that sticks with me

gets taken care of.

Maybe you like this setup,

maybe you don't...

...but you're going to take it.

I got every nightclub in town...

...and every girl working in

every nightclub, sewed up.

You're going to work the way I tell you,

or you don't work at all.

You got that straight?

All right, the place will be closed

until we get it fixed like I want it.

And cut a peephole in the door. The chumps

go for that "hard to get in" angle.

Come on, let's get out of here.

- Wait till I get my pay.

- Hurry up. We'll be outside.

Hey, you. Yeah, you.

Kind of old ain't you?

I need young dames here,

the kind men go for in a hurry.

- But I've been here a long time...

- That's the trouble.

You won't do. You're through.

You said you took care

of people who were loyal to you.

- She never worked for me.

- But she has for Beler.

And she's always been on the level.

How do you know what she can do?

Why kick her out

just because you're taking over?

Sure, she's okay, Vanning.

Why don't you give her a break

and let her prove it?

- You know, she can't wreck the place.

- Yeah?

- Okay.

- Thanks, Mr. Vanning.

- Pretty smart girl, aren't you?

- I get along.

How about coming up to my place

for a drink? I'd like to know you better.

- No, thanks.

- Why not?

Well, you've told me I was working for you.

So I work for you.

That's as far as it goes.

Anyway, I'm sort of afraid

of your social set.

- Afraid?

- Yes.

I might get to learn too much about you,

like Audrey Fleming did.

Remember?

If I'd wanted to end up in the river...

...I'd have taken a jump

off Brooklyn Bridge five years ago.

- You're not afraid to talk anyway.

- We're among friends.

And I think we'll get along a lot better

if we understand each other.

- I think I'll be a big help to your business.

- Maybe you will at that.

Good night.

- Smart girl.

- Maybe too smart.

- Thanks, Mary. You were swell.

- Forget it, Estelle.

- Good night, Mr. Vanning.

- Good night.

- What's her name?

- Emmy Lou.

Make a note of it.

Here you are, girls.

Wait a minute, let's walk.

We'll need some fresh air after that one.

That sign, what's it mean?

- Well, come on. What does it mean?

- Intimate.

- What does that mean?

- You know, intimate.

Personal. Get together. Like this:

Oh, well, why don't it say

what it means?

- Change it.

- To what?

- What was that you said?

- Intimate.

- Intimate. Make a note of it.

- Right.

Good morning.

I don't really look old, do I?

What does he expect a girl

to look like at 6 in the morning...

...after dragging heavyweight

salesmen around a dance floor?

Like a debutante?

If he saw me when I'd come to work

and my makeup was fresh...

Oh, let's skip it, Estelle, and go to bed.

We're all fagged out.

Well, let him fire me.

What do I care?

I don't want any part

of his clip joints anyway.

And if you do, you're crazy.

He might as well put a gun in our hands

and send us out on stickups.

Well, what are you going to do?

You heard what he said.

It's Vanning or nothing.

Well, this isn't the only way

to make a living.

- Do you know a better one?

- Well, I can always go back into vaudeville.

Oh, stop kidding yourself, Estelle.

Your dancing days are over.

You'd need counterweights

to keep your arches from falling.

Well, then I'll get a job in a factory,

behind a counter, anyplace.

- At 12 and a half a week?

- That's enough for me.

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Robert Rossen

Robert Rossen (March 16, 1908 – February 18, 1966) was an American screenwriter, film director, and producer whose film career spanned almost three decades. His 1949 film All the King's Men won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress, while Rossen was nominated for an Oscar as Best Director. He won the Golden Globe for Best Director and the film won the Golden Globe Award for Best Picture. In 1961 he directed The Hustler, which was nominated for nine Oscars and won two. After directing and writing for the stage in New York, Rossen moved to Hollywood in 1937. There he worked as a screenwriter for Warner Bros. until 1941, and then interrupted his career to serve until 1944 as the chairman of the Hollywood Writers Mobilization, a body to organize writers for the effort in World War II. In 1945 he joined a picket line against Warner Bros. After making one film for Hal Wallis's newly formed production company, Rossen made one for Columbia Pictures, another for Wallis and most of his later films for his own companies, usually in collaboration with Columbia. Rossen was a member of the American Communist Party from 1937 to about 1947, and believed the Party was "dedicated to social causes of the sort that we as poor Jews from New York were interested in."He ended all relations with the Party in 1949. Rossen was twice called before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), in 1951 and in 1953. He exercised his Fifth Amendment rights at his first appearance, refusing to state whether he had ever been a Communist. As a result, he found himself blacklisted by Hollywood studios as well as unable to renew his passport. At his second appearance he named 57 people as current or former Communists and his blacklisting ended. In order to repair finances he produced his next film, Mambo, in Italy in 1954. While The Hustler in 1961 was a great success, conflicts on the set of Lilith so disillusioned him that it was his last film. more…

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    "Marked Woman" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/marked_woman_13397>.

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