A Woman Rebels

Hepburn plays a Victorian-era version of herself (the fiercely independent woman) and while the film makes some important points about women's rights, it's the look of the film that most appeals to me. Van Heflin as the geriatric Lord Gerald Waring Gaythorne strikes me as a precursor of sorts to Joseph Cotten's portrayal of the geriatric Jedediah Leland in 'Citizen Kane' (that's high praise coming from me, a devotee of Cotten).

The movie started strong and heavily reminiscent of the father/daughter situation in The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934) with Donald Crisp as the strict father and Katharine Hepburn as the daughter who stands up to him. Then the movie takes a different turn as Hepburn's character gets pregnant out of wedlock and she goes out into the world to find a job and stands up for women's rights, and Herbert Marshall pops in for a visit once in a while. The story goes off and becomes very vague.