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The Sin of Madelon Claudet Overview:

The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931) was a Drama - Black-and-white Film directed by Edgar Selwyn and produced by Irving Thalberg.

Academy Awards 1931/32 --- Ceremony Number 5 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best ActressHelen HayesWon
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The Sin of Madelon Claudet BlogHub Articles:

Pre-Code Crazy: The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931)

By shadowsandsatin on Mar 1, 2015 From Shadows and Satin

I’m going to just jump right in here. My Pre-Code Crazy pick for March (March? Geez, it was just Thanksgiving!) is The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931). There’s a whole lot of pre-Codey stuff going on in this 76-minute film. Pre-marital sex. Cohabitation without benefit of clergy. Illegitimate birt... Read full article

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The Sin of Madelon Claudet Quotes:

Madelon Claudet: You know, it's the queerest thing. When I was a little girl, Father Matthew used to say to us children, "You pay for everything - everything in this life." And last night when we were dancing, I thought of him, and I laughed to myself and said, "What an old fool you are, Father Matthew..." But he was right. And I'm paying.
Carlo Boretti: I wish Spaniards wouldn't put so much tragedy in their music; they ask for love with so many tears.
Carlo Boretti: Sit here my dear. Oh wait, I want to get this cushion... it brings out all the blue that's sleeping in your eyes.
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The Sin of Madelon Claudet Facts
Before writer Charles MacArthur was assigned to the project, he saw a preliminary script and protested to MGM studio head Irving Thalberg that the play "The Lullaby" was hopelessly old-fashioned and wouldn't be a good film debut for his wife, Helen Hayes. Thalberg heard him out and told him, "You don't like it - you're a writer. You fix it," and hired MacArthur to do the script.
According to Anthony Holden's book "Behind the Oscar" (1993), M.G.M. production chief Irving Thalberg, when pondering a soap-opera-ish script, gave it the green light with the immortal words, "Let's face it. We win Academy Awards with crap like 'Madelon Claudet.'"
A studio cast list, dated 15 June 1931, lists the following performers (and character names), all of whom were replaced and did not appear in the movie: William Bakewell (Jacques), Tenen Holtz (Emil), Lloyd Ingraham (Claudet), Claire McDowell (Angeline), Bradley Page (Salignac), Aileen Pringle (Suzette) and Margaret Seddon (Grandmother). In the final rewritten script, many of these characters were eliminated. A modern source lists Otto Hoffman in the cast as "Official," but he was not seen in the movie.
After the film flopped badly on its first preview, Irving Thalberg ordered it back into production and had about one-third of the film re-shot. Since Helen Hayes was already making her second film, Arrowsmith, she was called back to work on the "Claudet" retakes during her only times off from shooting "Arrowsmith," Saturday afternoons and Sundays. When Samuel Goldwyn, the producer of "Arrowsmith," heard that Hayes was working seven days a week and making two films simultaneously, he insisted that Hayes stop doing "Claudet" retakes until "Arrowsmith" was finished.
According to 'When the Lion Roars,' Irving Thalberg and his producers were previewing films one night and he asked to see this one. Told it was hopeless, he asked to put it on anyway. After watching it, he remarked that it wasn't bad; the main thing to do was change the last seven minutes. Re-takes were done and Helen Hayes went on to win the Oscar for the part.
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