Sonia Dresdel goes Joan Crawford in Queen Bee one better in This Was A Woman, a British film from 1948.
Dresdel was considered one of Britain's finest actresses, and there was widespread disappointment that she never played Lady Macbeth. That's just to give you a heads up of what's coming.
Dresdel plays the matriarch of a home, with a husband, a son, and a daughter. She does horrific things to all of them.
Her mild-mannered husband has prize roses- which she cuts and puts around the house. He has a beloved dog. The minute I saw him, I knew he was doomed. She doesn't like his barking and has him put down.
Her daughter is engaged to be married. Her mother brings a young maid into the house to give him slutty books, hoping she'll make a play for the fiancé.
Then she scares her daughter about sex so horribly that she won't even let her new husband kiss her. The maid starts looking pretty good.
Finally, she meets a successful friend of her husband and decides hubby has to go.
Outrageous. It's not like no one stands up to her, but they don't seem to hold a grudge. In the next scene, everything seems fine.
A tour de force for Dresdel. She's hateful. Must be seen to be believed.
