''Madam Satan'' or ''Madame Satan'' is a 1930 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

musical comedy Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

film in black and white with Multicolor sequences. It was produced and directed by

Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of the American cine ...

and starred Kay Johnson, Reginald Denny,

Lillian Roth Lillian Roth (December 13, 1910 – May 12, 1980) was an American singer and actress. Her life story was told in the 1955 film '' I'll Cry Tomorrow'', in which she was portrayed by Susan Hayward, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best ...

, and

Roland Young Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...

''Madam Satan'' has been called one of the oddest films DeMille made and certainly one of the oddest MGM made during Hollywood's "golden age". Thematically, this marked an attempt by DeMille to return to the boudoir comedies genre that had brought him financial success about 10 years earlier.

Plot

Socialite Angela Brooks ( Kay Johnson) reads in a newspaper that her husband Bob ( Reginald Denny) and "Mrs. Brooks" were in night court together along with Bob's best friend Jimmy Wade (

). The woman is actually Trixie (

), a showgirl Bob has been seeing, but Bob tries to pretend that she is Jimmy's wife. Angela is more amused than angered by the clumsy lies, but it soon becomes clear that Bob has lost interest in their marriage, as he feels Angela has become staid and cold. They each declare that they are moving out and leaving the other, but Angela instantly repents. Her maid encourages her to fight for her happiness. Angela tells Jimmy that she will spend the night with him and Trixie. Thinking she believes they are married, Jimmy rushes to Trixie's apartment to warn her, but Angela arrives and they reluctantly pretend to be married. The scene becomes more farcical when Bob arrives as well, while Trixie is hiding; Jimmy conceals Angela under a blanket and says she is his girlfriend, a married woman whose name he will not reveal. Trixie reenters so that Bob will know the woman is not her. After the men leave, Trixie observes that Angela was caught in her own trap. She says that the difference between them is that Trixie understands the things that a man wants in a woman, and as long as she gives them to Bob, he will stay with her. Angela takes that as a challenge and says she can outdo whatever Trixie is capable of doing. An elaborate masquerade ball is to be held by Jimmy aboard a moored

rigid airship A rigid airship is a type of airship (or dirigible) in which the Aerostat, envelope is supported by an internal framework rather than by being kept in shape by the pressure of the lifting gas within the envelope, as in blimps (also called pres ...

, the

Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...

CB-P-55. To win back her husband's affections, Angela decides to attend the soiree as a mysterious devil woman, "Madame Satan", to "vamp" him. Now hidden behind her mask and wrapped in an alluring gown that reveals more than it covers, Angela finds her errant husband and begins teaching him a lesson. To Trixie's dismay, Bob is indeed bewitched by Angela in her devil woman persona, nothing like the demure spouse he left at home. During the ball, several exotic musical numbers are performed. A severe thunderstorm quickly moves in, and the airship is damaged and breaks free and now in danger of breaking apart. Everyone begins to panic as they are told to abandon ship and parachute to the ground. By that time Angela has unmasked and made herself known to Bob, who quickly resents her deception, he gives her his parachute harness and goes to find another harness for Trixie after she is unable to find one; Angela extorts a promise from Trixie to leave Bob alone in return for her own parachute harness. When Bob returns, he gives Angela his, and she parachutes safely into the open

jump seat In aviation, a jump seat or jumpseat is an auxiliary seat for individuals—other than normal passengers—who are not operating the aircraft. In general, the term 'jump seat' can also refer to a seat in any type of vehicle which can fold up out ...

of a convertible car in which a couple are making out. Bob rides down a portion of the now broken apart zeppelin, diving at the last minute into the city reservoir just before impact. Jimmy ends up in a tree in the middle of the lion enclosure at the city zoo. Trixie parachutes through the roof of a Turkish bath full of toweled men who immediately scramble to cover themselves. The next day, Angela, who is unharmed, and Bob, who has his arm in a sling, reconcile after a visit from a heavily bandaged Jimmy.

Cast

The cast of ''Madam Satan'' is listed by the American Film Institute. * Kay Johnson as Angela Brooks * Reginald Denny as Bob Brooks *

as Trixie *

as Jimmy Wade *Elsa Peterson as Martha *

Boyd Irwin Boyd Irwin (12 March 1880 – 22 January 1957) was an English stage and film actor. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1915 and 1948, both silent and "talkies", including a starring role in Australian film ''For Australia'' in 1915. ...

as Captain * Wallace MacDonald as First mate * Wilfred Lucas as Roman senator *

Tyler Brooke Tyler Brooke (born Victor Hugo de Bierre, June 6, 1886 – March 2, 1943) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 90 films between 1915 and 1943. He was born in New York, New York and died in Los Angeles, California by committi ...

as Romeo *

Lotus Thompson Lotus Thompson (26 August 1904 – 19 May 1963California Death Index 1940–1997, Lotus Thompson, Los Angeles, 19 May 1963.) was an Australian actress of silent and sound films. Her film career began in Australia in 1921 and ended in California ...

as Eve *Vera Marsh as Call of the Wild *

Martha Sleeper Martha Sleeper (June 24, 1910 – March 25, 1983) was a film actress of the 1920s–1930s and, later, a Broadway stage actress. She studied dancing for five years with Russian ballet master, Louis H. Chalif, at his New York dancing studio. ...

as Fish girl *Doris McMahon as Water *Marie Valli as Confusion * Julanne Johnston as Miss Conning Tower *

Albert Conti Albert De Conti Cadassamare (29 January 1887 – 18 January 1967), professionally billed as Albert Conti, was an Austrian-Hungarian-born Italian-American film actor. Life Born in the village of Gorizia (now, part of Italy), Conti achieved mode ...

as Empire officer *Earl Askam as Pirate * Betty Francisco as Little Rolls Riding Hood * Ynez Seabury as Babo *Countess De Liguoro as Spain *Katharine Irving as Spider Girl *Aileen Ransom as Victory * Theodore Kosloff as Electricity *Jack King as Herman *Edward Prinz as Biff * Abe Lyman and his Orchestra Katherine DeMille, DeMille's daughter, was an uncredited "Zeppelin Reveler".

voices an uncredited Radio Newscaster

Music

Songs * "Live and Love Today", sung by Elsa Petersen and Kay Johnson, words by Elsie Janis, music by Jack King * "All I Know Is You're in My Arms", sung by Reginald Denny and Kay Johnson * "This Is Love", sung by Reginald Denny and Kay Johnson (Missing from extant prints (see below); words by Clifford Grey, music by

Herbert Stothart Herbert Pope Stothart (September 11, 1885February 1, 1949) was an American songwriter, arranger, conductor, and composer. He was also nominated for twelve Academy Awards, winning Best Original Score for '' The Wizard of Oz''. Stothart was widel ...

* "Meet Madam", sung by Kay Johnson, by Grey and Stothhart * "Low Down", sung by Lillian Roth * "The Cat Walk", sung by Wallace MacDonald, by Grey and Stothhart * "We're Going Somewhere" * "

Ballet Mecanique Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

", uncredited Soundtrack
Abe Lyman, who can be seen in ''Madam Satan'', was hired to play the music. He recorded two numbers from the film for

Brunswick Records Brunswick Records is an American record label founded in 1916. History From 1916 Records under the Brunswick label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, a company based in Dubuque, Iowa which had been manufacturing prod ...

. "Live And Love Today" and "This Is Love" were released on Brunswick's popular 10-inch series as record number 4804. Regal label in Australia also released a version of "Live And Love To-Day" by the Rhythmic Troubadours, record number G20999, in 1930. Choreography
Theodore Kosloff, a DeMille regular who was better known as a dance director, was originally hired by DeMille to do the film's choreography, but MGM insisted on Leroy Prinz. However, some dance experts believe that Kosloff did choreograph the "Ballet Mechanicique", as it seems more representative of his work than that of Prinz.

Production

The Zeppelin sequences were originally filmed in Multicolor. The color sequences were praised by reviewers for their richness and beauty. These color sequences survive only in a black and white copy today. DeMille originally wanted writer Dorothy Parker to augment Jeanie MacPherson's original script. Learning that Parker was living in France, and that this would make collaboration too difficult, DeMille then sought vaudeville writer Elsie Janis.Birchard 2004, p.246. She agreed to work on the project, but left amicably on March 24, 1930 due to creative differences. Janis reportedly did not like the direction the script was going.Birchard 2004, p.243. Hollywood censor Jason Joy worked with DeMille to minimize censorable elements in the potentially objectionable script. "They agreed to put less revealing costumes on the girls at the masquerade party. Body stockings, larger fig leaves and translucent fishnets took care of most of the nudity. The drinking scenes were toned down ...", Angela's "Madam Satan" costume also was made less revealing. An entire scene in which Angela confronts Trixie, and Trixie is shown wearing a sheer nightgown because she "has nothing to hide" was deleted. The collaboration ended up being agreeable to both men. The notoriously finicky Ohio censor board passed the film without cuts. Thomas Meighan was sought for the lead role of Bob Brooks before Reginald Denny was cast on January 9, 1930. DeMille wanted

Gloria Swanson Gloria May Josephine Swanson (March 27, 1899April 4, 1983) was an American actress and producer. She first achieved fame acting in dozens of silent films in the 1920s and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, most f ...

for the role of Angela, but her lover and business partner

Joseph P. Kennedy Joseph Patrick Kennedy (September 6, 1888 – November 18, 1969) was an American businessman, investor, and politician. He is known for his own political prominence as well as that of his children and was the patriarch of the Irish-American Ken ...

reportedly persuaded her not to accept the role. Swanson still was trying to salvage her disastrous venture in ''

Queen Kelly ''Queen Kelly'' is an American silent film produced in 1928–29 and released by United Artists. The film was directed by Erich von Stroheim, starred Gloria Swanson, in the title role, Walter Byron as her lover, and Seena Owen. The film was p ...

'' (1929) and was advised to appear in films only made by her own production company. Although originally scheduled to be shot in 70 days, it took 59, with principal photography commencing on March 3 and ending on May 2, 1930.Birchard 2004, p.241. ''Madam Satan'' was the most expensive film made by Metro in 1930, and would remain its most expensive musical until '' The Merry Widow'' (1934).Barrios 1995, p.260.

Reception

''Madam Satan'' was released at a time when American theaters had become saturated with musicals, and as a result, it was a financial failure, eventually resulting in a net loss of $390,000. In his review for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', film critic Mordaunt Hall described ''Madam Satan'' as "an inept story with touches of comedy that are more tedious than laughable." He further noted the film "is a strange conglomeration of unreal incidents that are sometimes set forth with no little technical skill. It begins with the flash of a bird bath and closes with the parachuting of passengers from a giant dirigible that is struck by lightning. This production, in which occasional songs are rendered, boasts of no fewer than 46 listed characters besides Abe Lyman and his band." A similar review by Edwin Schallert in the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' noted: "The general impression of the DeMille picture is that it is too much in one key. The superabundance of sound palls, and leaves one weary. Besides, there is a staginess about the whole result that casts anything approaching convictions to one side." ''The Film Daily'', a

trade paper A trade magazine, also called a trade journal or trade paper (colloquially or disparagingly a trade rag), is a magazine or newspaper whose target audience is people who work in a particular trade or industry. The collective term for this ...

widely read by theater owners in 1930, also highlighted in its review the production's alleged excesses, including its extravagant production values and the frequent use of "risque lines" in its dialogue. "'Madam Satan'"
review, ''The Film Daily'' (New York, N.Y.), October 5, 1930, p. 10.

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

, San Francisco, California. Retrieved March 15, 2020. The paper in its October 5 issue summarizes the film in all-capital letters as a "" Today, a reassessment is taking place; though some only regard the film as an amusing oddity and an exercise in DeMille using "too much of everything just because he can."Nordin, Jonas (November 20, 2008
"Madam Satan (1930)."
'All Talking! All Singing! All Dancing!''. Retrieved: May 18, 2015.

Preservation

The current print of ''Madam Satan'' has all of the color sequences in black-and-white and is missing at least one musical number. According to film reviews of 1930, Kay Johnson and Reginald Denny originally sang "This Is Love," but in the currently circulating print, this song is only heard playing in the background during a scene in which Johnson is speaking to her maid.

Home video

The original Multicolor sequences of ''Madam Satan'' exist only in

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

. The film was released for home viewing on VHS and, as of November 9, 2010, was released on DVD via the Warner Archive Collection made-to-order process."Madam Satan."
''wbshop.com''. Retrieved: May 18, 2015. The film is televised by

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of At ...

as part of the channel's standard programming rotation.Miller, Frank
"Madame Satan."
TCM.com Retrieved: May 18, 2015.

References

Notes Bibliography * Barrios, Richard (1995) ''A Song in the Dark: The Birth of the Musical Film''. New York: Oxford University Press. . * Birchard, Robert S. (2004) ''Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood''. Lexington, Kentucky: University of Kentucky Press. . * Black, Gregory D. (1994) ''Hollywood Censored: Morality Codes, Catholics, and the Movies''. New York: Cambridge University Press. . * Eyman, Scott (2010) ''Empire of Dreams'' New York: Simon & Schuster. . * Higashi, Sumiko (1994) ''Cecil B. DeMille and American Culture: The Silent Era''. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. . * Ringgold, Gene and Bodeen (1969) ''The Films of Cecil D. DeMille''. Secaucus, New Jersey: Citadel Press, .

External links

* * * *
KPCC, Southern California Public Radio storyStills
at pre-code.com {{Cecil B. DeMille 1930 films 1930 musical comedy films 1930 romantic comedy films American aviation films American musical comedy films American romantic comedy films American romantic musical films Films directed by Cecil B. DeMille Films set in New York City Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films