Portrait in Black/Madame X

"Portrait in Black" (1960)
San Francisco cargo ship czar, Matthew Cabot (Lloyd Nolan- Peyton Place as Dr Swain) finds himself bedfast and slowly dying as his beautiful and ultra-glamorous wife Sheila (Lana Turner) becomes more and more desperate to rid herself of a husband, due to his illness, can no longer satisfy her needs! Enter suave and sophisticated Dr. David Rivera (Anthony Quinn), who is overseeing Mr. Cabot's care, as well as his wife's desires! "Portrait in Black" is one of those delicious over-the-top glamour-soap-opera's that you just can't help indulging yourself in! Co-starring `60's teen queen, Sandra Dee as Lana and Lloyd's daughter, and handsome John Saxon as Sandra's boyfriend, the cast is pleasant to watch as this romantic drama soon becomes a clever murder mystery! You know from the moment that the movie begins, with it's glossy and glamorous color that it's a Ross Hunter production! Every detail in this film shouts "Ross Hunter glamour!" From Lana's gorgeous Oriental inspired wardrobe to the beautifully decorated homes, it's Mr. Hunter all the way! With classic romantic dramas such as, "Back Street," "Midnight Lace," and this film's double feature "Madame X," to his credit, Ross excelled with this kind of material and made some really entertaining features!

Madame X (1966)
Aristocratic heiress Estelle Anderson (Constance Bennett) is more than a little disappointed with her son, Clayton Anderson's (John Forsythe) choice for a bride in common girl-next-door Holly Parker (Lana Turner, looking no where near common!) so the wheels begin to be placed in motion to get rid of her! Successful rising political star, Clayton Anderson is rising to the top of the politcal arena and the toil of his success is beginning to weigh heavily on his marriage. Despairing of the lonliness of her husband's long absences, Holly finds comfort in playboy, Phil Benton, (Ricardo Montalban) who falls deeply in love with her! Holly's mother-in-law discovers the adultrous relationship and begins to plan a way to rid herself of Holly once and for all! Holly and Clayton's young son, Clayton Jr., is in the middle of the battle and is soon without a mother as Estelle cunningly blackmails Holly into disappaearing from all of their lives forever! Burgess Meredith also stars as a down on his luck con artist that tries to use Holly's past to blackmail her! Keir Dullea stars as the young adult Clayton Jr in the later scenes who has become a successful lawyer, and unknowingly represents and defends his own mother! The courtroom scene near the end of the movie is one that will have you reaching for a hankie! A Ross Hunter glamour flick all the way! With gorgeous homes, beautiful fashions, and over-the-top dramatics! A first `class' production all the way!

I highly recommend adding this great double feature of "Portrait in Black" and "Madame X" to any dvd collector's library! Never was there a more entertaining glamour queen, than Lana Turner, and she makes the roles in these films so believable and so much fun to watch! I only wish the films could have been made available on single disc dvd editions with some nice commentaries and "behind the scenes" information and entertaining stories or gossip! I've long awaited both of these films appearance on dvd, and am glad to finally have them! Now, how about adding Lana's "By Love Possessed,"(1961) "Love Has Many Faces," (1965) and "Who's Got The Action?" (1962) to dvd?!

Madame X is Lana Turners large production leading lady swan song and it is finally on DVD. I saw this movie as a double feature back in 1967 with of all things Disney's Jungle Book! I remember that after the film ended the audience was weeping so that they didn't turn up the house lights. I was all of 3 years old and I remember that clearly! Years later I so the movie again and I wept at the ending too. It totally manipulates the viewer but it is worth it. A Ross Hunter production at its best. Gloss, glamour and Lana!
Portrait in Black is in the same league with all of the same gloss and glamour but doen't have as rich and juciy of a story as Madame X. Now if we can only get Back Street on DVD. My VHS copy is almost worn out.

Portrait in Black on DVD at last! Finally we can see this textbook lush Ross Hunter soaper in its correct widescreen format. It's about flippin' time!!! A Universal home video VHS of this film that was released about twelve years ago has been out of production for several years now. It had excellent picture and sound quality, but it was not, of course, presented in the correct widescreen (VHS tapes never are). Can't wait for this.

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