Madame X is a 1966 drama film

Drama film

A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...

 directed by David Lowell Rich

David Lowell Rich

David Lowell Rich is an American film director and producer. He has directed nearly 100 films and TV episodes between 1950 and 1987...

 and starring Lana Turner

Lana Turner

Lana Turner was an American actress.Discovered and signed to a film contract by MGM at the age of sixteen, Turner first attracted attention in They Won't Forget . She played featured roles, often as the ingenue, in such films as Love Finds Andy Hardy...

.

Plot

A lower class

Working class

Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...

 woman, Holly Parker (Turner), marries into the rich Anderson family. Her husband's mother (Constance Bennett

Constance Bennett

-Early life:She was born in New York City, the daughter of actor Richard Bennett and actress Adrienne Morrison, whose father was the stage actor Lewis Morrison , a wealthy performer of English and Spanish ancestry...

) looks down on her and keeps a watchful eye on her activities. Due to her husband's frequent and long trips abroad, Holly forms a relationship with a well-known playboy (Ricardo Montalbán

Ricardo Montalbán

Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán y Merino, KSG was a Mexican radio, television, theatre and film actor. He had a career spanning six decades and many notable roles...

). When her lover accidentally dies, and only her mother-in-law knows she is innocent, the latter blackmail

Blackmail

In common usage, blackmail is a crime involving threats to reveal substantially true or false information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand is met. It may be defined as coercion involving threats of physical harm, threat of criminal prosecution, or threats...

s her into disappearing into the night during a planned boat trip, leaving her husband (John Forsythe

John Forsythe

John Forsythe was an American stage, television and film actor. Forsythe starred in three television series, spanning four decades and three genres: as single playboy father Bentley Gregg in the sitcom Bachelor Father ; as the unseen millionaire Charles Townsend on the crime drama Charlie's...

) and young son thinking she has died.

She then slowly sinks into depravity all over the world, only to be brought back to America under false assumptions by a "friend" (Burgess Meredith

Burgess Meredith

Oliver Burgess Meredith , known professionally as Burgess Meredith, was an American actor in theatre, film, and television, who also worked as a director...

) who plans on blackmailing her family. When she realizes that the man intends to reveal who she is to her son, she shoots the man to stop him. The police arrest her and refusing to reveal her identity, she signs a confession with the letter "X." As fate would have it, the court assigns a defense attorney who happens to be her long-lost son (Keir Dullea

Keir Dullea

Keir Dullea is an American actor best known for the character of astronaut David Bowman, whom he portrayed in the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey and in 1984's 2010: The Year We Make Contact...

).

Cast

Actor	Role
Lana Turner Lana Turner Lana Turner was an American actress.Discovered and signed to a film contract by MGM at the age of sixteen, Turner first attracted attention in They Won't Forget . She played featured roles, often as the ingenue, in such films as Love Finds Andy Hardy...	Holly Parker
John Forsythe John Forsythe John Forsythe was an American stage, television and film actor. Forsythe starred in three television series, spanning four decades and three genres: as single playboy father Bentley Gregg in the sitcom Bachelor Father ; as the unseen millionaire Charles Townsend on the crime drama Charlie's...	Clayton Anderson
Ricardo Montalb%C3%A1n	Phil Benton
Burgess Meredith Burgess Meredith Oliver Burgess Meredith , known professionally as Burgess Meredith, was an American actor in theatre, film, and television, who also worked as a director...	Dan Sullivan
John van Dreelen John van Dreelen John van Dreelen was a Dutch-born American-based actor, who frequently performed on television from the 1960s through the 1980s...	Christian Torben
Virginia Grey Virginia Grey Virginia Grey was an American actress.She was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of director Ray Grey. One of her early babysitters was movie star Gloria Swanson. Grey debuted at the age of ten in the silent film Uncle Tom's Cabin as Little Eva...	Mimsy
Warren Stevens Warren Stevens Warren Stevens is an American stage, screen, and television actor.Born in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania, Stevens began his acting career after serving in the U.S. Army Air Force as a pilot during World War II. He trained at The Actor's Studio in New York, received notice on Broadway, and thereafter...	Michael Splading
Carl Benton Reid Carl Benton Reid Carl Benton Reid was an American actor. He achieved fame on the Broadway stage in 1939 as Oscar Hubbard, one of Regina Giddens's greedy, devious brothers in the play The Little Foxes, and made his film debut reprising his role opposite Bette Davis in the 1941 film version...	The Judge
Teddy Quinn	Young Clayton Anderson Jr.
Frank Maxwell	Dr. Evans
Kaaren Verne Kaaren Verne Kaaren Verne , was a German-born actress. Sometimes billed as Karen Verne, she was originally a stage actress and member of the Berlin State Theatre.-Biography:...	Nurse Riborg
Joe De Santis Joe De Santis Joseph Vito DeSantis was an American radio, television, movie and theatrical actor and sculptor.-Biography:Joe DeSantis was born Joseph Vito Marcello DeSantis to Italian immigrant parents in New York City...	Carter
Frank Marth Frank Marth Frank Marth is an American film and television actor. He may be best-known as a cast-member of Cavalcade of Stars , especially segments of The Honeymooners, which later became a television series . Marth's career ran from 1952 until 1994.Tall and fair-haired, Marth, often in tandem with the short,...	Det. Combs
Bing Russell Bing Russell Bing Russell was an American actor and baseball club owner, and was the father of Golden Globe-nominated actor Kurt Russell.-Personal life:...	Police Sgt. Riley
Teno Pollick	Manuel Lopez
Jeff Burton	Bromley
Jill Jackson	Police Matron
Constance Bennett Constance Bennett -Early life:She was born in New York City, the daughter of actor Richard Bennett and actress Adrienne Morrison, whose father was the stage actor Lewis Morrison , a wealthy performer of English and Spanish ancestry...	Estelle Anderson
Keir Dullea Keir Dullea Keir Dullea is an American actor best known for the character of astronaut David Bowman, whom he portrayed in the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey and in 1984's 2010: The Year We Make Contact...	Clayton Anderson Jr.

Home Video release

Madame X was released on DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 in Region 1

DVD region code

DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...

 as a Lana Turner double feature with Portrait in Black

Portrait in Black

Portrait in Black is a thriller released by Universal International. Produced by Ross Hunter, who also produced Airport and other films for Universal, the film starred Lana Turner and Anthony Quinn...

by Universal Studios Home Entertainment

Universal Studios Home Entertainment

Universal Studios Home Entertainment is the home video division of Universal Pictures...

on February 5, 2008.