MovieChat Forums > The Paradine Case (1948) Discussion > the Mother and the Whore syndrome

the Mother and the Whore syndrome

posted 16 years ago by fcalderp
16 replies | jump to latest

The Paradine Case is not a “suspense” story, nor a courtroom drama (there are no legal issues discussed in the plot). But it’s quintessentially Hitchcock in the sense that it explores with deep psychological insight one of the director’s favorite themes: The difficulty for some men to establish love relationships with persons of the opposite sex, based on acceptance and respect.

The problem for many males with respect to the woman they love is the idealization of women through the idealization of their own mothers. Most men do not want to accept who the woman they love really is. We can see this theme explored in depth by Hitchcock in Rebecca, Notorious, Vertigo, The Birds, Marnie and other of his masterpieces.

Anthony Keane (Gregory Peck), Attorney for the Defense, falls in love with his client, a beautiful upper class woman accused of poisoning her husband. Keane does not believe the accusation, but gradually, through the trial, discovers that Mrs. Paradine is not the women he thought she was.

This is a wonderful dramatization of the Mother or the Whore syndrome that afflicts many men. One of the most interesting aspects of this film is that the more Keane discovers that Mrs. Paradine is not the ideal women he wished she were, the more he becomes obsessed with her, to the point of disregarding his own wife, who is the vivid image of The Mother.

The cast is excellent. Hitchcock’s first choice, Laurence Olivier, would never have projected the vulnerability and naivety necessary for the character to make sense. Peck does this wonderfully in one of his best and most underrated performances. Hitchcock’s first choice for Mrs. Paradine, Greta Garbo, would have been too endearing for the audience, to project the unpleasantness of the murderous widow.

The entire cast is excellent, especially Louis Jourdan. Hitchcock said he wanted Robert Newton, but not because Newton would have been a better casting choice, but because having an affair with him would make Mrs. Paradine more of a “tramp” (The Whore). Falling in love with Jourdan is more excusable under any circumstances.

[–] hisgrandmogulhighness 16 years ago

The Paradine Case is the best legal drama ever done . . . especially the way Keane crafts a defence for Mrs. Paradine . . . superb!

[–] fcalderp 16 years ago

Upppppps, I was expecting more comments from you about my insights on the psychological aspects of the picture. Legal issues? What Keane was trying to do was simply to implicate the valet. As far as coutroom dramas are concern, The Paradine Case is more like a whodunit, very much like the Perry Mason episodes. Some filmes, like the Exorcism of Emy Rose, do deal with legal issues. In that specific film, the issue is whether or not the Catholic priest's beliefs on exorcism can be discussed in Court. That's a legal issue. Inherit the Wind is about free-speech. Judgement at Nuremberg is about the right of the U.S. to judge the Germans, and so on. On the other hand, Witness for the Prosecution is more a courtroom whodunit than a legal drama. The greatness of The Paradine Case lies elsewhere.

Let's talk about the Mother and the Whore.

[–] rexshard93 16 years ago

I think Hitchcock said that Mrs. Paradine is a nymphomaniac. Mrs. Paradine has lots of connections with the character Judge Horfield.

[–] fcalderp 16 years ago

It seems that I’m not expressing myself clearly. The Paradine Case is not about who Mrs. Paradine is (definitively not a whore), but about the way Keane perceives her. When he met her, she seemed to him the embodiment of “the Mother”; little by little through the trial she became “the Whore”. The Mother and the Whore is a concept used in psychiatry and the two terms are not to be taken literally. For men who suffer from this syndrome, the women they love can never meet the qualifications of the “idealized mother” they expect her to be. And if she does, then they lose interest!

The Mother and the Whore syndrome appears in Rebecca, Vertigo, The Birds and Marnie. In all these films there’s a Mother figure which is of little or no interest to the male character: Joan Fontaine (Maxim does not seem to care much about her), Barbara Bel Geddes, Suzanne Pleshette and Diana Baker, respectively. In these films, the men is obsessed with the figure of “the Whore”: Rebecca, Kim Novak, and Tippy Hedren in the last two. In The Paradine Case, the Mother figure is the wife played by Ann Todd.

The counterpart of this syndrome is the Pimp/John syndrome, depending on how the man sees himself with respect to the woman he loves. It’s obvious that in the case of Rebecca, the Paradine Case and Vertigo, the man sees himself a “the John”.

This M/W conflict is also in Psycho, but in this film, the Whore is the Mother, literally, thus generating the psychotic response from the real son.

[–] rexshard93 16 years ago

I think you are right. This also explains the separate bedrooms. Keane (Gregory Peck) and Gay Keane (Ann Todd) sleep in separate bedrooms.

I think Judge Horfield is also another example. But I am not sure. He doesn't like his wife at all. He is more attracted to other women.

I forgot to mention this. Hitchcock wanted Greta Garbo, because the original character was called Ingrid Paradine. And she was a Swedish character. Hitchcock wanted Robert Newton, because the original character was a Rough Englishman named William Marsh.

But I thought the performances were great from Peck, Louis Jourdan, and Alida Valli.

[–] fcalderp 16 years ago

The Mother and the Whore syndrome, as I said, is a concept used in psychiatry, but I never related it to Hitchcock until a few weeks ago when I saw The Paradine Case. (Nobody had noticed this before, I think).

Then, earlier today I saw Vertigo and The Birds (on TCM) and discovered that the "M&W syndrome" is also explored in these two films (as well as in Rebecca and Psycho). I'm sure Hitchcock was not aware of this. Don't forget that most great artists are not always conscious about the subtexts in their work. Ford was always surprised (and delighted) by all the hidden meanings found by the Cahier du Cinema critics in his films. It is no surprise to me that Hitchcock would use the M&W sydrome as a subtext in his films, since he was Catholic, and we Catholics tend to develope this syndrome through our idealization of women that generates, probably, from our devotion to Mary, the Mother of Jesus.

By the way, I've seen Vertigo at least 30 times (since I was a 7 year old boy and saw it for the first time, I'm like 58 now!!!!), but today was the first time that I spotted the Hitchcock cameo. It comes right after James Stewart falls from the steps, right into the arms of Barbara Bel Geddes. Hitchcock just crosses the screen. Not a very imaginative cameo. It took me also many years to see him for the first time in Rear Window, in the suicidal pianist apartment.

Talking about casting, Hitchcock casting ideas were not always on the right track. On the other hand, Selznick, as a producer, always found the ideal actor for each part. Think of GWTW, David Copperfield, Song of Bernardette, and The Paradine Case.

[–] rexshard93 16 years ago

Actually it was David O. Selznick's idea to cast Sir Laurence Olivier. And Hitchcock agreed with him. But Laurence Olivier was unavailable. So Hitchcock tried to get James Mason or Ronald Colman. But both were unavailable too. So Hitchcock decided to go with Gregory Peck. Selznick tried to cast Joseph Cotten. But I am glad Hitchcock finally went with Peck.

Mrs. Ingrid Paradine's character is very different from the character in the film version. David O. Selznick tried to get Greta Garbo for Mrs. Paradine ever since mid 1930s. Greta Garbo was David O. Selznick's original choice. But Garbo wasn't interested.

Alfred Hitchcock was mother dominated. Hitchcock worked on every single scene in the script. I think Playwright James Bridie and Alfred Hitchcock may have discussed about M&W Syndrome during scripting process. Playwright James Bridie was also a doctor. His original name was Dr. Osborne Henry Mavor. He also served as a Military doctor in World War 1 and World War 2. Alfred Hitchcock and Alma Reville developed adaptation of this film with Playwright James Bridie.

James Bridie and Hitchcock wrote Under Capricorn in 1948. I believe M&W Syndrome can also be seen in the film. Have you seen the film Under Capricorn?

[–] fcalderp 16 years ago

I've only seen Under Capricorn once. I remember the long sequences and the camera movements (same experimental style used for The Rope), as well as the fact that Ingrid Bergman was a closet alcoholic (in the picture, of course). Aside from Bergman, not a very good cast. Will try to see it again. Going back to the M&W syndrome, it's very much part of the plot of Notorious. Claude Rains sees Bergman as the Mother, and little by little discovers that she is "the Whore" (in his mind). Then tries to kill her. Most men with M&W syndrome are mother dominated. The real Mother is very much in evidence on this film. the counterpart of the M&W syndrome is the Pimp and the John syndrome. In Notorious, Claude Rains sees himself as the John, and Cary Grant as the Pimp. The same applies to Peck/Jourdan and Stewart/Tom Helmore in The Paradine Case and Vertigo respectively. I'm just figuring out all these things. It's amazing how well all the pieces of the puzzle fit together.

Sean Connery in Marnie and Rod Taylor in The Birds are also mother/father dominated. But both actors are miscast. They are "too strong", don't project the inner insecurities of both characters. James Mason or Anthony Perkins or Monty Clift would have been ideal in any of those parts. In movies, it's not enough to be a good actor, you have to match the character's psychology. The camera is a microscope.

I like Dial M for Muder and I see it everytime I can. I don't think is one of Hitchck's best, but I always enjoy it, and the business about the key always gives me a run for my money. Bob Cummings does not look like a writer, nor Milland like a tennis player. Milland is wonderful but they should have make him the writer (and use Farley Granger instead of Cummings).

[–] rexshard93 16 years ago

Hitchcock tried to get Farley Granger for The Birds. Farley Granger was already working in the theatre. So he was unavailable. Hitchcock tried to get other actors for the leading male role in The Birds. Hitchcock was finally able to get Rod Taylor. Hitchcock took Sean Connery, because he was interested in working with Hitchcock.

Hitchcock tried to get an American actor. At first, Hitchcock tried to get Rock Hudson. But Rock Hudson refused. Hitchcock wasn't interested in casting Method Actors. So Hitchcock tried to get other American actors. But they weren't interested either. So the role finally went Sean Connery.

There are lots of symbolisms in the film Under Capricorn. Samson Flusky also has "inferior complexity." Its more of a psychological study on the characters.

[–] fcalderp 16 years ago

Farley Granger would have been perfect. I thought of him for the Bob Cumming's role in Dial M for Muder. Unfortunately, movies are not made in your mind so you get whatever is available. Sometimes you get the perfect actor. I cannot thing of anyone else in The Appartment but Jack Lemmon. (Well, maybe Tony Randall).

[–] rexshard93 16 years ago

Under Capricorn is free to download, because no studio owns this film anymore. If you are interested, then it is available in this link.

http://transatlanticpictures.blogspot.com

Its not a thriller. But a brilliant Drama. Margaret Leighton is brilliant as Milly. I also like Michael Wilding's performance.

[–] fcalderp 16 years ago

If no sutdio owns a film, that's bad. It may dissapear completely. That happened to "Baby Face Nelson" (I bought a copy impossible to see, just shadows), and it may happen to "The Moon and Sixpence" (a wonderful film). I will ask my son to teach me how to dowload films. I'm technophobic. In a following mail I will talk about Farley Granger.

[–] rexshard93 16 years ago

An American DVD Company long time ago released a dvd of Under Capricorn. It was horrible. All the colors in the film are washed out.

But the version I posted is truly faithful to the Original. Under Capricorn is a brilliant study on the characters. Hitchcock wanted to make a different film. And he made Under Capricorn. But the film was a box office failure.

[–] ange_gabb 14 years ago

This reply of mine is coming very late. I thoroughly found interest in your original post about THE PARADINE CASE, which I have viewed this afternoon, for the first time, on TCM. In fact, I came here to IMDb.com to check on some information on Valli because I love just about any film in which she prominently appeared, such as THE THIRD MAN.

Your surmise, however, that Hitchcock was unaware of the Mother/Whore syndrome is incorrect. While I'm nowhere near scholarly status on the master filmmaker, I will say that everything that I've read in biographies of Hitchcock points to the fact that he was aware of the M/W syndrome, which is exactly why you (and many of us Hitchcock fans) have perceived it in his numerous films.

With regard to VERTIGO, Hitchcock himself discusses the "whore" aspect of Kim Novak's character, Madeleine, in an interview (audio only) that comprises one of the Vertigo DVD's special features. That interview with Hitchcock is superb! Hitchcock, who can be heard as photograph stills and film footage are on display, details the even-for-the-21st-century disturbing psychological aspects of both Kim Novak's and Jimmy Stewart's characters. VERTIGO remains my favorite Hitchcock film because of the elements of mystery and suspense -- of course -- and the deep psychological studies.

As for the deep psychological studies, it's not only the Mother & Whore syndrome that piques my interest (and I, too, am pleasurably guilty of having viewed VERTIGO more than 20 times). I also find the following issues intriguing: obsession (first Jimmy Stewart's character; later Kim Novak's character, too; but also Barbara Bel Geddes' character); identity (Kim Novak's character); guilt (first Stewart's character and then Novak's character); unrequited love (first Bel Geddes' character and then Stewart's character); and memory (not only Stewart's and Novak's characters but ours [the memory of the viewer]). Of course, Hitchcock's masterpiece dealing with memory and guilt is SPELLBOUND. So many of Hitchcock's films deal superbly with guilt, so I can point to one, but PSYCHO and REBECCA (for different reasons, of course) are right up there in the top five. And, yes, the Mother/Whore syndrome is in full effect in REBECCA as is the not-so-subtle treatment of lesbianism -- yet another indication of how far ahead of his time Hitchcock was, not to mention how far he was willing to push the envelope on topics of sexuality in general.

Sorry to get off-topics, but VERTIGO is also my fave Hitchcock film because of the master's direction, the dialogue, the use of color, and that gorgeous Hermann score. Oh, and it doesn't hurt that I find Novak (MY PAL JOEY, STRANGERS WHEN WE MEET) to be one of the most underrated actresses of all time.

Still off-topic, I realize, but my other fave Hitchcock films are MARNIE (love the chemistry between Sean Connery and Tippi Hedren and the frightful bird gatherings and bird attack scenes); I CONFESS (more for the early-20th-century scenes of Quebec City than Montgomery Clift's earnest acting); REAR WINDOW (for *so* many reasons -- from the genius use of P.O.V. to the wisecracking insurance nurse played by Thelma Ritter, to the absolutely stunning appearances by and clever lines uttered by Grace Kelly a few years before she was crowned Princesse de Monaco); and SHADOW OF A DOUBT because of the Hithcock's (or someone else's?) idea to convey a slightly incestuous element (the relationship between the main character, the sinister uncle, played by Joseph Cotten, and his naive niece, portrayed by Theresa Wright). For some strange reason, I also find the actor who played the main detective in SHADOW OF A DOUBT to be quite a looker -- I'm referring to the detective who has a conflict of interest because he's also smitten with Wright's character. I can never remember the handsome actor's name.

Back on the topic of the OP, though ... thanks for broaching the topic of the Mother & Whore (or Mother/Whore) aspect of THE PARADINE CASE and VERTIGO. Catholicism's focus on the worship of Mary has lent much passion, as well as themes of guilt and deviant sexuality in the films of Hitchcock and other directors (Martin Scorsese and Abel Ferrara immediately come to mind in terms of the contemporary ones, the latter director in his unflinching 1990s film BAD LIEUTENANT).

[–] fcalderp 14 years ago

I enjoyed your reply very much. I love to find another film buff in this web site. We are not that many.

Intereseting about Hitchckck knowing about the Mother and the Whore syndrome. But it is eveident in many of his films as you and I know very well. Quite frequently filmmakers express themselves via the subconscious. But our interpreataion (you and I, as well as other contributors to this message board) is a little different from the standard one. My sister is a PHD in Psychology, and she explains the Mother/Whore syndrome in terms that would apply to Mastroianni's character in "Ill Bell Antonio". But our interpretation (I don't know where I got it from) is much more interesting and universal. Explains a lot about the "macho" mentality. There's a wonderflu French film titled "The Mother and the Whore" (Jean-Pierre Leaud et all) which was the last New Wave film ever made. But it has a different theme.

I saw The Paradine Case again this afternoon. It is not one of Hitchcock's top 5, but it certainly is one of my favorites. Gregory Peck is ideally cast, even though he is not British. His naivety was essential for the role. You should see Alida Valli in her best role, the central character in "We the Leaving", made in Italy during the war (with a very young and very handsome Rossano Brazzi). I saw this film (4 hour version) in the Miami International Film Festival some 20 years ago.

I suppose you are refering to Macdonald Carey. Is he really a looker?

You somehow confused Marnie with The Birds, but that happens to all of us. It happens to me all the time.

I'll try to get the Vertigo DVD for the interview.

I have met some very intereseting people in this web site. Not as much as I thought I was going to. But quite a few. You're one of them. We do not know who we are. Just talking brains I guess.

[–] Jason_Radley 13 years ago

Intereseting about Hitchckck knowing about the Mother and the Whore syndrome.

It's usually called the Madonna/Whore syndrome but given that Hitchcock (with Peck) made the Freudianesque Spellbound I'm suprised at your suprise. Unfortunately trying to shoehorn the complexities of human relationships into schematic Freudian boxes doesn't make for the best cinema - perhaps that's why TPC fails to be psychologically convincing.

One amusing little point is that in the final scene, Gay tells her husband that she wants him 'back on the job'. Of course she's referring to his lawyering but 'on the job' is British slang for having sex so it could be seen as a sly allusion to her desire for a resumption of conjugal relations. There's nothing wrong with that marriage that a regular good seeing-to (or, perhaps, a couple of children - there, another Catholic idea) couldn't put right.