The Scoundrel (1935) is a drama film directed by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, and starring Noel Coward, Julie Haydon, Stanley Ridges, and Lionel Stander. It was Coward's film debut, aside from a bit role in a silent film. It deals with supernatural redemption in a way rather similar to Ferenc Molnar's Liliom, and drew inspiration from the life of publisher Horace Liveright, who had died in September 1933.
Anthony Mallare (Coward) is a publish...
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The Scoundrel (1935) is a drama film directed by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, and starring Noel Coward, Julie Haydon, Stanley Ridges, and Lionel Stander. It was Coward's film debut, aside from a bit role in a silent film. It deals with supernatural redemption in a way rather similar to Ferenc Molnar's Liliom, and drew inspiration from the life of publisher Horace Liveright, who had died in September 1933.
Anthony Mallare (Coward) is a publisher who (it appears) wishes to ruin the life of every person he comes in contact with. Every sentence he says is like a poisoned dart aimed for the greatest damage, and delivered in cold lifeless tones. He is under no illusion regarding his own personality, remarking to his staff at large that he has found the perfect woman - one as empty as he is: "I must marry her......it would be like two empty paper bags belaboring one another". He finally manages to completely destroy the career and life of an aspiring young author (Ridges) and his...
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