I've talked about several obscure movies before, but this one is on a whole new level of rarity. Hardly any websites know about it, so once again it's up to me to explain why I think it's too bad this film went mostly unnoticed. For one thing, the movie stars two timeless actors who epitomize the 1930s; Edward G Robinson and Kay Francis. In this only film they made together, both of them are given interesting personas that help pull the story along. Robinson plays John Hayden, a man whose father runs a powerful meat packing enterprise. While taking some time off in greece, John receives word that his father is dead. John comes back to america, and it is now the late 1800s. While in chicago, he tries taking over his father's business but he isn't very good at it, which encourages him to find a better way to spend his time. He meets socialite Martha (Genevieve Tobin), with whom he has a relationship. Martha is also the daughter of a rival meat packer. Later on, an opera singing girl named Laura (Kay Francis) starts to lure John away from Martha and his other priorities. A few years later, the spanish american war is underway, and a US military detachment in cuba (led by colonel Teddy Roosevelt) is being supplied meat distributed by Hayden's company. A paper later publishes a story saying how more american servicemen were put out of action in cuba because of illnesses induced via consumption of contaminated meat rather than spanish gunfire. Roosevelt himself later threatens Hayden to his face and says he will put him out of business once he becomes president. After this, John's relationship with Laura continues, despite the fact he's married to Martha by this point. John is truly convinced that Laura is going to love him forever, but predictably, she abandons John right as his company starts to falter. John tries to get Martha to help him with his problems regarding the company following world war 1, but she reveals that she knows all about his affair with Laura. Laura and John haven't been together in years, but in Martha's eyes, it doesn't matter. She refuses to help him, and John is later indicted over the whole "sell the US army infected meat" thing from 2 decades before. He manages to run away back to greece, and even though Laura eventually visits him, he can no longer remember who she is. I Loved a Woman may not be on par with Little Caesar, but I thought it was a decent Robinson movie. Robinson is the key word here, since his performance is easily the best on offer. It seems like no matter what movie he was in, he was great. I thought the story was quite predictable, and as soon as Robinson started to go out with Kay Francis, I knew something bad would end up happening. Overall, this movie isn't amazing, but I still think it's worth investing time in since Francis and Robinson never collaborated again.
Review of I Loved a Woman
