The Woman Between (1931)

The Woman Between (later retitled Madame Julie) is a 1931 RKO pre-code melodrama.

Doris Whitcomb (Miriam Seeger) is very excited because her brother Victor (Lester Vail) is coming home from Europe. He’s been away for several years, since their father’s remarriage. At the time Victor was outraged that his father had dared to remarry after the death of Victor’s mother. Doris was not overly pleased by the marriage either.

The father, John Whitcomb (O.P. Heggie), chose for his second wife a glamorous French fashion model named Julie. Julie (Lili Damita) now runs a dress shop called Madame Julie’s. It’s more than a dress shop. It is the most exclusive and expensive fashion house in New York. Julie has been away in Europe as well, on a short business trip.

There’s naturally going to be a dinner party at the Whitcomb house to celebrate Victor’s return. Doris and her friend Helen (Anita Louise) are very excited. It’s obvious that Doris hopes that romance will blossom between Victor and Helen.

Romance has however already blossomed for Victor. It was a passionate whirlwind shipboard romance with a beautiful sophisticated Frenchwoman. Victor doesn’t want that romance to end. He suspects that the lady is a married woman but he doesn’t care. He is sure she can’t possibly be in love with her husband. He will persuade her to get a divorce and they’ll be married.

What poor Victor doesn’t know is that the sexy sophisticated Frenchwoman with whom he had dallied on the ship is his stepmother Julie. He had walked out of his father’s house without waiting to meet wife number two so he had never set eyes on her before their shipboard fling.

He also doesn’t want to believe that Julie is a married woman who is perhaps no stranger to adultery.

Naturally things get a bit tense at the dinner party when Victor is introduced to his stepmother.

Things get more tense later when Doris figures out what her brother and stepmother have been up to.

Victor wants Julie to run off with him. Julie doesn’t know what to do. She loves Victor but has no desire to hurt her husband.

To make things more difficult John Whitcomb (who has no idea what is going on) has suddenly decided to quit his high-powered business career to devote himself to making Julie happy.

This is a pre-code movie so it deals with the situation in a realistic grown-up way. Julie doesn’t want to hurt either Victor or her husband but one of them is inevitably going to get hurt. Emotional entanglements are like that.

Had this movie been made in the Production Code era the situation would have been resolved very simply. Julie would pay for her wickedness by dying horribly. Victor would have to pay as well. Virtue would be triumphant. But this was made in the pre-code era, when writers and directors were free to tell stories the way they wanted to and endings were not predictable. There was no obsession with the punishment of sin. Life was treated as something that was complicated.

It should also be mentioned that this was 1931, a time when women’s fashions were remarkably glamorous, elegant and slinky. The three main female characters are gorgeously dressed which gives the movie an added touch of class.

There’s some humour here but essentially this is a grown-up romantic melodrama. The Woman Between is fine entertainment and is highly recommended.

This movie is one of five included in the excellent Kino Classic RKO Classic Romances pre-code DVD boxed set. The transfer is a good one. The set also includes The Lady Refuses (1931), Kept Husbands (1931), Millie (1931) and Sin Takes a Holiday (1930). They’re all worth seeing, making this set a must-buy for pre-code fans.