A Good Woman
Set in 1930, the film opens in New York City, where femme fatale Mrs. Erlynne finds that she is no longer welcomed by either the high-ranking men she has seduced or the society wives she has betrayed. Selling her jewelry, she buys passage on a liner bound for Amalfi, Italy, where she apparently sets her sights on newlywed Robert Windermere. When his car frequently is seen parked outside her villa, local gossips become convinced the two are having an affair.
Robert's demure wife Meg remains oblivious to the stories about the two circulating throughout the town, but when she discovers her husband's cheque register with numerous stubs indicating payments to Erlynne, she suspects the worst. What she doesn't know is that Erlynne actually is her mother, who has been extorting payments from Robert in return for keeping her secret. She is consoled with the advice, "Plain women resort to crying; pretty women go shopping."
In retaliation for what she believes is her husband's transgression, Meg wears a revealing gown to her twenty-first birthday celebration, attended by Erlynne - wearing the same dress - in the company of Lord Augustus, a wealthy, twice-divorced man who has proposed marriage to Erlynne. Complications ensue when Lord Darlington professes his love for Meg and implores her to leave her supposedly wayward husband, an invitation she accepts.
Erlynne, having found Meg's farewell note to Robert, intercepts her on Darlington's yacht, where the two are trapped when Augustus, Darlington, Robert, and friends arrive for a night of drinking. Robert is startled to see the fan he gave Meg for her birthday on board; while Meg makes a hasty escape, Erlynne reveals herself and claims she had taken it from the party in error; and Augustus, thinking his fiancée was planning a romantic rendezvous with Darlington, ends their engagement.
Robert pays Erlynne to leave Amalfi immediately and begs her not to reveal her identity to Meg. Reluctantly, she complies with his wishes, although she returns his cheque before she departs. On board the plane waiting to take her to a new life, she discovers Augustus, who presents her with the fan Meg gave him when she confessed to him all that had really happened. Erlynne accepts his renewed proposal of marriage and the two depart for places unknown.
romantic, depressing