No Man of Her Own (1950) User Reviews

Committed performance by Stanwyck redeems Cornell Woolrich weeper/noir

[bmacv · 8/10 · 28 July 2002]

For fully half its running time, No Man of her Own shapes up to be the sort of woman's weeper in which Barbara Stanwyck had scored previous triumphs, like Stella Dallas or Always Goodbye. But then it flashes its noir credentials, consisting of its provenance from a William Irish (Cornell Woolrich) story, disingenuous direction by Mitchell Leisen, and an expert performance by Stanwyck. It's about Stanwyck's stealing another woman's identity and whether she can pull it off – or whether she has to.

Knocked up and jilted by her heel of a lover (Lyle Bettger), Stanwyck follows him to New York only to be icily rebuffed and handed a train ticket home. En route, she meets up with young marrieds Phyllis Thaxter and Richard Denning, headed to his home in Illinois to have their first baby. A horrible train wreck kills them both, sparing Stanwyck, the wedding ring Thaxter had given her to hold minutes before the crash, and her own newborn son; `for his sake,' she decides to pass herself off as the bereaved wife, whom Denning's parents have never met.

She's welcomed into the family with open arms, and becomes the doting daughter-in-law. Along the way, she makes a few faux pas (like signing her real name!), but they're ascribed to the trauma she underwent. Taking a particular shine to her is Denning's younger brother (John Lund), who starts squiring the young `widow' around town. But, this being one of Woolrich's grim gardens, there's a canker in the rose, in the form of Bettger, who has tracked her down. He has no interest in her, or in his son, but smells the money she has come into and blackmails her into marrying him. Stanwyck, however, hatches a scheme of her own....

The plot, of course, is nothing if not far-fetched, but succeeds on its own melodramatic terms by unstinting commitment from Leisen (who shows an unexpectedly deft hand at suspense) and Stanwyck – stars of her magnitude could redeem many a vehicle less promising than this (that's why they were stars). There's a nice contrast between the idyllic middle-class life Stanwyck has fallen into and the dark streets of the demimonde where she must rendezvous with Bettger. Special mention, though, must go to Carole Mathews, whose three brief appearances as `the blonde' (Bettger's latest squeeze) turn an ironic little subplot into something like an instrument of the Fates.

Deadly deception

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 26 March 2020]

'No Man of Her Own' is not to be confused with the 1932 film of the same name with Clark Gable and Carole Lombard. Completely different films, as completely different as they could possibly come, in premise and tone. It is adapted from terrific though admittedly melodramatic source material ('I Married a Dead Man' by Cornell Woolrich), and any film that stars the great Barbara Stanwyck always has me sold. Not every film of hers is great but she always rose above her material and was always a bright spot in her lesser work.

Mitchell Lesisen was less consistent for me, but he was a more than competent director and did some good and more films. 'No Man of Her Own' is not one of Stanwyck's very best films, but it is one of her more interesting ones and has a typically wonderful performance from her. It is one of Leisen's more interesting films too and has some of his most inspired direction. Of all the versions of 'I Married a Dead Man', of the ones seen to me 'No Man of Her Own' is the best.

Even with the story being as often outlandish and sometimes in the latter stages confusing as it is.

For my tastes too the ending jarred a bit tonally and wraps things up too neatly. The twist is quite clever though and not predictable.

Still, 'No Man of Her Own' still managed to be very well executed with three particularly good assets that will be mentioned later. The cast are all good, with Jane Cowl moving in her role and Lyle Bettger (apparently in his film debut) is chillingly caddish. John Lund was fine in my view, it is not easy for a leading man to hold their own against such a great actress and Lund does pale in comparison. He still does a good job in his conflicted and not as interesting role. The script adapts the source material thoughtfully without being too wordy, melodrama doesn't get too excessive, and despite being outlandish and muddled the story has a lot of suspense when things start to unravel. The music is haunting.

The photography is beautifully composed and its shadowy look and doom laden shots provides a lot of atmosphere. Leisen's direction is some of his most inspired, because of the suspense and his use of camera work. Stanwyck gives a fearless firing on all cylinders kind of performance that completely grips and moves in equal measure.

In summary, the story has its issues but it is still a well done film and to be seen for the direction, atmosphere and Stanwyck. 7.5/10

A really solid drama with suspense right until the end

[nomoons11 · 8/10 · 22 January 2013]

Now this one was a total surprise. I had no idea what this one was gonna do but wow....what a story.

A woman who's pregnant by her loser boyfriend begs him to take her back or give her some money. She needs something as she's about to have a baby. He won't talk to her but he slides her a Train ticket to San Fransisco under the door and she takes it. She boards the train and meets a nice couple and the woman happens to be pregnant also. They give her her husbands seat and they become friends on the ride. The train crashes and they declare the wrong person dead and she takes the place of the pregnant dead girl on the train. She only does this cause she has no way of taking care of her baby. Unfortunately her new family is so nice and caring it just guilts her throughout the entire time. After a while, her old boyfriend finds his way back and tries to blackmail her. He'll take the child way and tell her new family she's a fraud. After this, it's a wild ride.

I was really pleased after seeing this one. Lyle Bettger plays one of the nastiest most worthless characters you'll ever see on film. This guy has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Waiting for the end of this film will keep you right on the edge of your seat. You feel nothing but empathy as Stanwycks' character is not a cheat or wannabe fraud but a mother who has to take care of her child somehow. This was her only option.

Take a look at this fine film and start by sitting right on the edge of the couch , cause that's where you'll remain until the end of the film.

Another mistaken identity story...but a good one...

[Doylenf · 9 July 2001]

Leave it to Barbara Stanwyck and John Lund to make this film noir soap opera work on every level. Stanwyck, pregnant and unwed, meets another woman and her husband on a train, a wealthy woman going home to see her family. When the train is wrecked and the woman and husband killed, Stanwyck assumes her identity since the man's parents have never met her nor even seen a photograph of her. The plot gets thicker once Stanwyck assumes the dead woman's identity.

The picture combines the suspense of a film noir with some soap opera touches but Barbara's strong performance makes it all work. John Lund, Jane Cowl, Phyllis Thaxter, Richard Denning and Lyle Bettger are all fine in support. It's all based on a Cornell Woolrich novel called "I Married A Dead Man" with the usual touches of irony found in his work.

It's one of director Mitchell Leisen's better films (he did "To Each His Own", "Hold Back the Dawn", and many other interesting films.) Absorbing and well worth watching. Not a well-known film but it's one of Stanwyck's best.

A Stolen Wife

[jhkp · 7/10 · 10 November 2012]

The story gripped me from the get-go and never let up. I was very impressed, not only with the acting and direction, but also the design, since it just takes you into the world of this woman. The big, Victorian house is almost a character in the film. This world is so welcoming to the heroine, but also to the audience. I felt I would like to live there, myself, and be a part of that family. Also, the wintry Midwestern atmosphere of the final reels is superb.

***SPOILERS***

Richard Denning and Phyllis Thaxter are cast in relatively small roles, for them. Miss Thaxter was a minor star familiar to moviegoers. So the fact that she was cast as a character who dies soon after we are introduced to her, seems calculated for the surprise element. It works. When the Thaxter and Denning characters appear, we don't expect to be seeing the last of them so soon, and it's a shock. Also, the casting of Mr. Denning is good because when we meet his brother, played by John Lund, there's a resemblance, and they're believable as brothers.

Lund plays the part perfectly. An extremely versatile leading man, Lund played so many different types of parts, in so many genres, he was kind of a jack of all trades, really much more of a character actor. He just happened to have the square-jawed look of a leading man. In this film, he and Stanwyck play off each other beautifully.

But Stanwyck dominates the film, and she plays beautifully off the other actors.

A warm film and, at the same time, filled with suspense. In many ways, it's unique. For the far-fetched but nonetheless gripping plot, the good dialogue, the fantastic acting, the superb black and white cinematography, the perfect set design (at which Paramount excelled), and Mitchell Leisen's good, committed direction, this is a film you should absolutely check out.

"I Married a Dead Man"!!

[kidboots · 8/10 · 28 July 2012]

Many readers of William Irish's "I Married a Dead Man" (what a more confronting title than the wishy washy "No Man of Her Own") must have experienced a case of deja vu because the plot was almost identical to a Cornel Woolrich novelette from two years before, "Call Me Patrice". William Irish was a pseudonym Woolrich used - initially when his stories were flooding the market in the early 1940s but by the early 1950s he had got into the habit of re-working old stories and passing them off as new. Publishers were not impressed but under the Irish name many were hoodwinked. "I Married a Dead Man" was a more tension filled story than "Patrice" which had first appeared in "Todays Woman".

The movie did start off in a very "film noirish" kind of way - "the summer nights are pleasant in Caulfield...the house we live in is so pleasant in Caulfield... but not for us" - then the police arrive but for whom - Helen Ferguson (Stanwyck) or Bill Harkness (John Lund)??? but then it descends into a heavy mother love story with some noirish elements thrown in for good measure.

Helen Ferguson is an unmarried soon to be mother who is given a train ticket to San Francisco by louse Stephen Morley (Lyle Bettger) when she visits him at his apartment. On the train she is befriended by a young married couple (Richard Denning and Phyllis Thaxter) who take pity on her. The wife, Patrice, is in the same condition that she is in and when, in a freak train accident, the young couple are killed, Helen awakes to find herself in hospital, receiving the best care that money can buy. Just before the accident Patrice had asked Helen to hold her ring and now everyone thinks that Helen is Patrice - and for the sake of the baby she is not going to put them wise!!

Fortunately for Helen, the family didn't know very much about Patrice so she is able to pull it off but older brother, Bill, has his doubts. By the time rat-fink Stephen re-enters the movie (with the intention to blackmail) the scene is set for a thrilling finale topped off with a tense police interview. I thought the film ended in a more believable way than the novel, with a minor character being exposed as the killer.

Barbara Stanwyck had just made "The File on Thelma Jordan" - a noirish crime movie top heavy with dark romance and this one proved similar. Phyllis Thaxter was good as the kind hearted Patrice and Jane Cowl was probably the best player as Mrs. Harkness who takes Helen at face value but is secretly battling a heart condition. Cowl had been a beautiful stage actress who, in 1917, was one of the first stars signed to Goldwyn Pictures.

Suppress your cynicism and just enjoy!

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 16 January 2013]

Usually, film noir concerns a man in above his head either because of some crime, some dame, or both. Here, it is reversed. A pregnant woman (Barbara Stanwyck) is rejected by the father (Lyle Bettger) with a one way ticket out of town and ends up in the state of confusion where her identity is switched with that of another pregnant woman whose wedding ring happened to be on her finger after being killed in a train crash. Believed to be the widow of their dead son, she is taken in by them and treated as the daughter they never had. When the brother-in-law John Lund arrives, he notices some inconsistencies but slowly begins to fall in love with her. Of course, blackmail ensues, followed by murder, and with mother-in-law Jane Cowl ailing, Stanwyck fears her secrets will kill the woman who has come to love her like a daughter.

Suspending disbelief is a must for this enjoyable thriller, combo soap opera and film noir. The woman's touch is more prevalent here than normal. Stanwyck seems a bit older than the character is, so that's the first thing to suspend, then of course the situation aboard the train, and the arrival of the former lover just as Stanwyck is settling into her new life. Too many things happen that could cause Stanwyck to be exposed, but somehow, it is all overshadowed. That you end up liking this in spite of so many implausibilities is a credit to the writing, direction and acting. Add in a much altered remake ("Mrs. Winterbourne") with Rikki Lake in the Stanwyck role (now that is a trivia question in itself!) and you've got a lot to talk about with other film buffs.

Film Noir elements are subtle but explode with Bettger and Stanwyck's elopement scene, her visit to the other side of the tracks to confront him, and of course, the conclusion where everything comes out.

Barbara Stanwyck, John Lund - What more could you want

[iamkendavis · 9/10 · 11 November 2005]

I love this film. I first saw it when I was 10 and always remembered the story and feel of it. This is wonderful noir, with the kind of plot that keeps one enthralled until the final frame.

All the performers deliver: Stanwyck moves from a tragic character with little hope, through loss, the turmoil of deceit to happiness. This was a strong performance for her; John Lund perfectly portrays a man in conflict. Jane Cowl and Catherine Craig are almost a perfect sparing pair as the mother and the maid, their sarcasm to each other provides the humour scattered through the film.

The atmosphere and mood of the latter part of this film is perfectly captured in black and white. It makes you realize the role shooting a film in black and white played in this genre.

If you have not seen this film, do yourself a favour AND SEE IT.

Good film noir

[preppy-3 · 7/10 · 15 October 2013]

Barbara Stanwyck plays Helen Ferguson--pregnant and penniless deserted by her ex Steve (Lyle Bettger). On a train she meets Patrice Harkness (Phyllis Thaxter) and her husband Hugh (Richard Denning). Patrice is also pregnant and going to see Hugh's parents who have never seen her before. Then the train crashes. Patrice and Hugh are killed and everybody mistakes Helen for Patrice. She goes along with it for her child. Then her ex shows up in town with blackmail on his mind.

Based on the excellent novel "I Married A Dead Man" by Cornell Woolrich. Now the plot is more than a little ridiculous but this movie (like the novel) is so beautifully done you don't notice. It's shot in beautiful black and white (which fits the mood) and has good acting--especially by Stanwyck. Technically she's too old for the role (she was 45 when she played this) but she's so good that you overlook it. She has a GREAT scene when she realizes what she has to do to get rid of Steve. The look on her face was perfect! When I first saw this in a revival theatre the audience laughed and applauded when that scene came on. The movie looks great with beautiful settings. Also fun to see Thaxter and Denning early in their careers. A very good unsung film noir. Recommended.

Do NOT see the 1996 redo movie called "Mrs. Winterbourne". They turn it into an (unfunny) comedy!

Identity it's a crisis can't you see!

[hitchcockthelegend · 8/10 · 9 February 2020]

No Man of Her Own is directed by Mitchell Leisen and adapted to screenplay by Sally Benson and Catherine Turney from the novel "I Married a Dead Man" written by William Irish (Cornell Woolrich. It stars Barbara Stanwyck, John Lund, Jane Cowl, Henry O'Neill, Phyllis Thaxter, Richard Denning and Lyle Bettger.

Callously jilted by the man who has made her pregnant, Helen Ferguson (Stanwyck) survives a train crash and is mistaken for another woman, Patrice Harkness (Thaxter), who was killed in the crash. The woman, who she had befriended on the train, was also pregnant and recently married to a man who also died in the crash (Denning as Hugh Harkness). The rich Harkness in-laws, having never met Patrice, take who they think is Patrice into their home and even though Helen is tormented by her deceit, she spies an opportunity to give her child a grand life. But will she be found out? Will her past come to light with dire consequences?.

Film noir styles meets melodramatic verve in what is still a riveting picture, even if the implausibility of it all is hard to swallow. Stanwyck gives it the whole shebang, carrying the film on her shoulders as she hits all the right emotive beats of a double characterisation that brings guilt, shame and conflict of interests. Lund is sadly bland as the Harkness sibling love interest, but the rest of the cast do sterling work, notably Cowl as the Harkness matriarch. Cowl would pass away the year of the film's release.

From a film noir perspective it's disappointing that the filmic finale is different to that of Woolrich's novel. However, the story of a destitute unmarried woman thrown a bone by the vagaries of fate is in true noir fashions - as is the turn of events when things go dark in the last third as the past comes knocking at the door of settled bliss in the form of Bettger's oily Stephen Morley. A love story, a survivalist story, one of blackmail, deceit and murder, lots going on in a hugely enjoyable entertainment. 8/10

A little silly, but enjoyable.

[David-240 · 7/10 · 15 December 1999]

Top notch performances from Barbara Stanwyck and Jane Cowl make this film worthwhile. The plot's a bit silly - but these two extraordinary actors make it all seem utterly convincing. Moody cinematography and strong direction help too. Interesting to see the same story turn up a few years ago as "Mrs Winterbourne" with Ricki Lake and Shirley MacLaine in the Stanwyck and Cowl roles respectively. A less serious treatment, but also less successful.

Lifetime TV Meets Film Noir...

[josephbrando · 9/10 · 18 December 2010]

...and I say that with the highest form of flattery. This nail-biter is tightly directed, moves along at a nice swift pace and never drags for even a moment. Barbara Stanwyck gives one of the finest performances I have seen by her and the rest of the cast is all around excellent as well. After Helen Ferguson is left pregnant and penniless by her jerkoff of a boyfriend (the dreamy and steamy Lyle Bettger), a series of events leaves her mistaken for the widow of a rich man. The family takes her in and the brother of her alleged widow (played by handsome John Lund) falls in love with her and everything is hunky-dory - that is, until the jerkoff ex-boyfriend comes back and starts all kinds of trouble. The cherry on top of the whipped cream here is a lovely and sympathetic performance by Jane Cowl as the mother-in-law. A classic soapy film noir!

No Man of Her Own review

[JoeytheBrit · 7/10 · 24 June 2020]

Barbara Stanwyck might be a little too old for the part of a single mother who assumes the identity of a young woman who dies in a train crash in order for a chance at a better life, but she's worth watching in anything, and this is a solid drama with noir undertones from Mitchell Leisen, a director more commonly associated with lighter material. Lyle Bettger makes a strong impression in his screen debut as her scheming ex.

I couldn't finish it

[xan-the-crawford-fan · 2/10 · 8 September 2021]

Not to be confused with the 1932 Lombard/Gable film of the same name, this No Man Of Her Own is tepid, tired, dull, ludicrous and (in my opinion) disappointingly acted. The 1932 NMOHO is no classic itself, buf compared to this film, it's like My Man Godfrey meets Gone With The Wind.

Barbara Stanwyck is completely the wrong choice for this role. She looked good for her 43 years, and could have passed for mid-thirties, but her deep, velvety voice that only aged smokers have gives her away. She's far too much of a tough cookie to play such a simpering, pathetic character as Helen Ferguson, and it shows.

She is also given a role that reduces her to over-overacting, somewhat like those actresses who were pushed into the psycho-biddy films in the 1960s were forced to succumb to. I was worried that her eyes might fall out of her head, she was moving them around so much, and not in a good way. As well, I do have to agree that she looks very uncomfortable lugging that big-headed baby around.

The rest of the actors were even worse than Stanwyck- they were all either wooden or almost as over-the-top as she. I don't mind a little implausible plot here and there, but this whole film was too implausible for me to stomach without a bitter taste lingering.

Pregnant and unwed Stanwyck is shooed away by her a-hole boyfriend with a train ticket. She goes on the train and meets a friendly young couple who treat her like a friend, but then the train crashes and Stanwyck (her baby too) is the one of the only survivors- she wakes in the hospital. But, however, the people at the hospital think that she's the woman who died. Wouldn't you take someone's fingerprints? Check their bags for I. D.? People don't just ASSUME that you're someone else, especially when you go to the hospital! You can get in trouble with the law for pretending to be someone else!

She goes home to her "family" (who, apparently, have never met her despite her son telling them all about his wife...guess he never sent any pictures), who don't suspect a thing, and attribute her not knowing anything about who she's supposed to be to the train crash. The other brother (of the guy "she" is supposed to have been married to) fallsnin love with her, and she with him, but then one night her bad-news boyfriend shows up demanding to see the kid who he had previously not cared about? What? At this point, I just turned it off.

I'm now going to scan the reviews on this page to see what ending I missed (most of the reviews here didn't like it, so I'm not missing much.) Watch the 1932 movie with the same title instead- Gable and Lombard are the right ages for their roles, even if that one is also a bit implausible.

Sorry, Babs, I tried.

I married a dead man.

[dbdumonteil · 28 December 2007]

First thing to bear in mind is:avoid at all cost the two remakes:the French one,made by Robin Davis ("J'ai Epousé Une Ombre" ) and Richard Benjamin's Irish-heroine-turned -My-fair-lady "Mrs Winterbourne" which hits rock bottom.

Mitchell Leisen's version is the only one which renders William Irish 's(aka Cornell Woolrich aka George Hopley)bleak desperate atmosphere.Hear the words at the beginning;they are those of the writer ,this voice which endlessly repeats "not for us" "not for us" .The same words return at the end of the novel.But it was perhaps too harsh for the audience ,and the script writers substituted a happy end for Irish's tragedy (most of his novels do not take the easy way out).Anyway this ending makes sense for the culprit tells so to the heart breaker in one of the first scenes.

Apart from the conclusion,the film is faithful to the novel.Helen /Patrice (Barbara Stanwick) is not an impostor ,she is a victim from the very start .The actress makes us feel her guilt ,not only with voice over but also with her tense looks .The scene of the fountain pen in the gift shop is a classic one and is included in the other versions.

Like this?try these

"Phantom lady" (Robert Siodmak,1944)

"obsession "(Jean Delannoy,1954,from Irish's short story "no moon,no stars")

"La Sirène Du Mississipi" (François Truffaut,1968, from Irish's novel "Waltz into darkness" )

And ,shall I have to mention it?

"Rear Window" (Hitchcock,1954,from Irish's eponymous short story)

Into this Idyllic Life

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 8 December 2014]

Although Barbara Stanwyck delivers a fine performance in No Man Of Her Own, a rather convenient and cheesy ending mars this film from becoming a real classic for her.

Unlike so many of her films where she is a role model for feminism Stanwyck in No Man Of Her Own is a troubled and weak woman who has been made pregnant and dumped by her two timing no good rat of a boyfriend Lyle Bettger. He gives her a one way ticket to the West Coast as a farewell.

Despondent Stanwyck takes the train and is befriended by a young married couple Richard Denning and Phyllis Thaxter who is also pregnant. Both are killed in a train wreck and Stanwyck badly injured. Her baby is delivered by Caesarian section and Stanwyck decides that she would take Thaxter's identity and go to Denning's home town which is where they were heading and where no one had met Thaxter before.

It works even though Denning's brother John Lund is suspicious. He likes Barbara Stanwyck well enough though. His parents Henry O'Neill and Jane Cowl are accepting and of her and their 'grandson'.

Into this idyllic life comes Bettger looking for a little blackmail. At Paramount in the early Fifties Lyle Bettger played a lovely variety of edgy psychopaths. Note his work in Union Station and The Greatest Show On Earth. Now we can add No Man Of Her Own to his career list of despicable villains.

I won't say more, but if it were done today without the Code, a more realistic ending would have been found. That does not take away from fine performances by Barbara Stanwyck and the rest of the cast, most especially Lyle Bettger.

NOT a remake of 'No Man of Her Own' with Gable & Lombard

[old_movies · 9/10 · 23 January 2009]

Really great movie. Barbara Stanwyck is tremendous and the movie is both a great love story and suspenseful. Also very ahead of its time since Barbara Stanwyck's character is pregnant without being married and we are all routing for someone to kill Lyle's character. Jotix100 wrote in an earlier comment that this movie is a remake of an earlier movie with Clark Gable and Carole Lombard also named 'No Man of Her Own' but it isn't. The Gable/Lombard film of the same name has a completely different plot line. What is amazing is I haven't read anyone comparing this movie to 'While You Were Sleeping', which has the same storyline, but nobody dies and it is a comedy. I've been trying to find a video or DVD of the Stanwyck 'No Man of Her Own' without success. Anybody have any ideas??

Great entertainment in black-black and little-white movie.

[davidtraversa-1 · 7/10 · 17 August 2011]

There are a total of 15 comments for this film. I read them all. I was quite surprised to notice that most of them reveal the whole plot in every detail and no censorship was applied to spoilers. So, I don't have any need to explain anything because everything has been explained.

I found the viewing of this film quite absorbing, and there is something for this kind of script to be said: No matter how contrived, how silly, how impossibly unreal its situations are, we swallow the whole of it with the cellophane wrapping included. Why is it so? How did they make it? I don't know, but they had some sort of magic wand to wave in front of our eyes and Bingo! we were hypnotized.

Fully hypnotized. I was on the edge of my chair practically from the beginning to the end of the film, panting to see what was the next bad incident to happen to our Dear Barbara... You have to set your mind back to the 40s or 50s, when female characters on movies were supposed to be pregnant and up to delivery time they showed an 18 inches waistline (quite an accomplishment I'll say). There was also the age problem: Barbara's character is a naive girl made pregnant by a Oh so Bad Guy! and she runs back to him from who knows where to plead with him asking for Pity, for Heaven's Sake..., and our actress is well into her FORTIES... But we swallow that because Barbara is an established super star of that time.

All the situations in the plot are totally unrealistic, all it's actors sublime in their characters, the direction excellent. But when you watch it, there is ONE situation that let's you down completely and it's when she must hide in the waiting car and a police patrol comes by to check this car... Deus is Machina was brought in with a vengeance to solve this scary moment.

But the purpose of this kind of film wasn't to make a documentary of real life, it was simply an entertainment to pass an hour or two of perfectly safe escapism and as such, it's a fantastically entertaining movie.

No Man of Her Own (1950)

[MartinTeller · 8/10 · 3 January 2012]

A case of mistake identity turns into a grand deception as a new mother tries to secure a better life for her child. The premise is similar to THE HOUSE ON TELEGRAPH HILL (minus the concentration camp angle, of course). A bit predictable and a bit far-fetched, but Stanwyck's performance sells it completely, and Leisen shows a dedication to the material, bringing what might have been a rather hokey women's weepie to life. The drama is compelling from start to finish, with measured pacing and excellent camera-work. The situation keeps ratcheting up to a tense climax. Lyle Bettger is pretty great as the slimy antagonist, as is Jane Cowl as the benevolent grand dame of the household (John Lund once again comes off rather bland). If the ending seems a bit too convenient, at least it provides for a really satisfying callback.

Miss Stanwyck Thinks

[boblipton · 7/10 · 8 May 2022]

Unmarried Barbara Stanwyck is pregnant by gangster Lyle Bettger. She's on a train with equally pregnant Phyllis Thaxter and her husband. They're on their way to meet his parents in a small town. Miss Thaxter gives Miss Stanwyck her wedding ring to hold while she goes to the rest room, and then there's a wreck, and everyone is killed except Miss Stanwyck. Dazed, she's met at the station by Henry O'Neill, Jane Cowl, and their surviving son, John Lund. They think she's their daughter-in-law, so she settles down into the bizarre situation.... until Bettger shows up, with blackmail on his mind.

It's the bizarre situation you'd expect in a movie derived from a Cornell Woolrich novel, but in the hands of director Mitchell Leisen and screenwriters Sally Benson and Catherine Turney, it concentrates more on the characters and their gemutlich setting, clearly the sort of thing that Miss Benson had contributed to Hitchcock's SHADOW OF A DOUBT. But even more impressive is the camera watching Miss Stanwyck think.

Sort of a dark and non-comedic version of "While You Were Sleeping".

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 20 March 2011]

Despite being a terrific film, it sure begins with a terrible narration. Please TOTALLY IGNORE the narration and hold on--this is an amazing film--even if it is 100% unbelievable from start to finish! The film begins with a dirt-bag getting his girlfriend (Barbara Stanwyck) pregnant and the running away to evade any responsibility (a pretty edgy plot for 1950). Soon, you see a very pregnant Stanwyck on a train where she is befriended by a sweet young couple (she is also quite pregnant). They talk and talk and soon Stanwyck learns that the couple are on their way to see his rents--and she is very nervous since she still hasn't met her in-laws.

The next scene is so ridiculously impossible, but bear with it! The train wrecks and Stanwyck is in the hospital. Her baby was born quite healthy but here is the twist--the couple died and people think Stanwyck is the dead man's wife! And now, the dead guy's family thinks she is family and the new baby is theirs! Stanwyck and the child are taken in and spoiled by these sweet people--and she can't tell them since her new 'mother-in-law' is a sickly lady with a bad heart--and the truth might kill her. So, Stanwyck goes along with it--not to defraud anyone but because they are such decent folks! Here is where it starts to get interesting--the old boyfriend shows up and threatens to expose Stanwyck as a phony unless she pays--and pays big. Ultimately, Stanwyck sees no other options and goes to kill the rat---only to see he's already dead. Where all this goes next, you'll just have to wait and see--but it's a very wild and exciting ride--filled with lots of twists and turns.

If the plot all sounds very familiar it's because the film was remake (with a few plot twists) as "While You Were Sleeping"!!! Yes, a dark noir suspense film became a wonderful romantic comedy--who would have figured?! But, regardless of the implausibility, the film works wonderfully and is a treat. See this film--it's a doozey.

A Tragic Woman-centric Melodrama in its most versatile form, and it has thrills too.

[SAMTHEBESTEST · 7/10 · 21 February 2022]

No Man Of Her Own (1950) : Brief Review -

A Tragic Woman-centric Melodrama in its most versatile form, and it has thrills too. Watching old melodramas, which gave birth to so many cliches over the years, is one of my favourite things to watch. Because it educates me about the original source material and first copies of the novel. No Man Of Her Own was based on Cornell Woolrich's novel 'I Married a Dead,' the first of which I'm referring to. Later, it saw some more adaptations in different cinema industries. Shakti Samantha made "Kati Patang" in the early 1970s with super hit songs and a slight touch of Indian culture (woman I mean) in Bollywood, and delivered a hit. It was a formulaic drama, but hardly anyone knew that it was an adaptation of No Man Of Her Own. That was much before we entered the internet era. Nowadays, everybody knows it. The film is about a pregnant woman who is abandoned by her unfaithful boyfriend. She adopts the identity of a railroad crash victim and starts a new life with the woman's wealthy in-laws, and falls in love with their other son. Her happiness fades away as soon as her devious ex is back, but this time to blackmail her. The film has some dumb moments, but it has sensible reasons to prove them right. Take the woman's character, for instance. She is constantly disturbed by the facts, such as she can't get away with it, she'll be exposed sooner or later, but when it comes to making a decision, she gives up. However, she hits back harder later. Barbara Stanwyck, one of the best and most well-known actresses of the time, shows her class acting yet again. John Lund looks fine, but I must say that Lyle Bettger made one hell of a villain. What eyes, what expressions he gives. Merciless, reckless, and unshakeable! Mitchell Leisen's drama misses just a few things, but overall it gathers most of its soul to fill the body in the right shape. Melodrama lovers, just hop in.

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest.

Top-Notch Film-Noir

[claudio_carvalho · 9/10 · 2 September 2016]

In a mansion in Caulfield, Illinois, Patrice Harkness (Barbara Stanwyck) and Bill Harkness (John Lund) are waiting for the police. Meanwhile, she recalls her life in San Francisco.

The eight-month pregnant Helen Ferguson (Barbara Stanwyck) is dumped by her boyfriend, the crook Stephen 'Steve' Morley (Lyle Bettger), who gives a train ticket to her to New York to stay with his new girlfriend. In the train, Helen befriends the also pregnant Patrice Harkness (Phyllis Thaxter) and her husband Hugh Harkness (Richard Denning) that are returning from Europe. When they go to the toilet, Patrice asks Helen to hold her wedding ring to avoid losing it, but there is an accident and only Helen survives. She is mistaken by the Hatkness family as being Patrice and welcomed by Mrs. Harkness (Jane Cowl), Mr. Harkness (Henry O'Neill) and Bill at home. Helen decides to pose of Patrice thinking in the future of her baby Hugh and the family treats her like a daughter. Out of the blue, Steve meets Helen in a club and blackmails her, promising to destroy the lives to Mr. and Mrs. Harkness. Now Helen realizes that she must kill Steve to protect her son and the old couple. What will she do?

"No Man of Her Own" is a top-notch film-noir, with magnificent direction and screenplay. Barbara Stanwyck is fantastic as usual; John Lund is also great; and Lyle Bettger is perfect in the role of a scum. The surprising melodramatic conclusion is to make the audience happy, with all the problems easily resolved. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Casei-me com um Morto" ("I Married a Dead Man")

Mistaken identity and blackmail (nothing new for a melodrama), though the train crash is a new wrinkle

[moonspinner55 · 6/10 · 29 November 2015]

Penniless woman, pregnant and dumped by her rotten boyfriend, survives a train wreck and is mistaken for another expectant mother on-board, one who perished while on her way to meet her wealthy in-laws for the first time. Melodramatic adaptation of "I Married a Dead Man" by Cornell Woolrich (published under a pseudonym) includes a meaty central role for an actress, yet Barbara Stanwyck wasn't an appropriate choice to play it. Stanwyck, of course, ranks as one of the greatest actresses in cinema, however she's not convincing begging at a man's door for a hand-out (she naturally projects the strength and intelligence of a woman who can take care of herself). The star also looks uncomfortable carting a (rather large) infant up and down the stairs in her arms, playing the teary-eyed good girl around her 'relatives.' With a softer, more vulnerable actress in this role, the outlandish plot might have had a chance to build momentum, but tough cookie Stanwyck looks too much in control. Second act involving blackmail doesn't move the film in an exciting direction (it's too standard for the genre). Instead of focusing on the lead character and her present situation, we get the usual potboiler trappings typical of a "woman's picture" in the 1950s. Remade in 1996 as the romantic comedy-drama "Mrs. Winterbourne". **1/2 from ****

An escape from reality

[van-83714 · 4/10 · 19 July 2023]

Oh sure, Barbara Stanwyck is always good. But how about believability? That's why they call it a melodrama of the noir variety. She slips on the wedding ring, and Bam!!' She's a different girl. Where are the glass slippers? And how did Steven Morley ever wind up in the same town? And how did she ever fall in love with such vermin in the first place? Oh yes, Barbara Stanwyck can't tell the truth and stand up to a two bit crook. Unbelievable. Take your pick as to the murderer. We have three volunteers with one abetting. But in the the heroic couple live happily ever after so everyone leaves the theatre feeling good.