The Scandalous Mrs Brooks (1947)

D. Robert Wise
Black & White


One of the joys of having studied English literature is that it gives you the skills to do perverse readings of texts. I remember in my student library there was a book which proved that ‘Alice In Wonderland’ was a rewriting of The Koran. The author had gone through Lewis Carroll’s classic line by line to prove categorically – and beyond doubt - that Alice’s adventures were a rewriting of that sacred text. Now obviously ‘Alice in Wonderland’ is not a reworking of ‘The Koran’, but you have to admire the gumption of the author for attempting it. Textually he had managed to make a convincing case, even though that case was palpable nonsense. It’s a great example of what mischievous things English students can pull off if they set their minds to it.


So what can I do with 1940s noir melodrama ‘The Scandalous Mrs Brooks’? A tale of the conniving and wily Rebecca Brooks and the trouble she gets herself into. Obviously this film is nothing to do with Rebekah Brooks – currently facing trial at the Old Bailey for what went on in Rupert Murdoch’s UK newspaper empire – but let’s just say, for fun and larks, that buried away there may be hints in this film as to her case.


For starters, the central character is played by Rita Hayworth, so even though we’re looking at black and white, we know that there’s a flame haired lioness at the centre. There’s the fact that a key part of the plot is driven by a conversation that Rebecca eavesdrops over an open telephone line. At her side is an ever supporting second husband (Paul Henreid, playing the role with his normal phenomenal lack of charisma) who when he realises the perfidy of his wife, does all he can to alter the evidence. And then there’s the ruthless investigator, Claude Rains, who Rebecca first tries to charm and then to bully and then stonewall completely. Okay, its set in the 1940s, in a large mansion and the main push factor is the inheritance of your actual gold mine, but there are good reasons why no UK TV channel has shown this in the last few months. Seeing a Rebecca Brooks wriggle and connive and scheme to get herself out of serious trouble, may make jurors stare a little more anxiously at the Rebekah Brooks they have in the dock.


But what could probably be the most damning moment (certainly for any cinephiles in the jury) is when the camera pans onto a photo of Rebecca’s late husband,, Mr Brooks. There he is, played in still image by Orson Welles. That’s right, she finds herself in this movie closely associated with the most famous/notorious media mogul in cinema – Charles Foster Kane himself. Okay, Orson Welles never spoke with an Australian accent, but it isn't too much of a mental leap from bullying and untouchable Kane to bullying and untouchable Murdoch. The way Orson is wrinkling his forehead even makes him look a little like Rupert (although a vastly more handsome version). So there you have it, lies and deception, eavesdropping and obfuscation, and – to top it all - close connections with legendary media moguls. There really are very good reasons why no TV channel has shown this film in the last few months.


Of course any woman would find herself flattered by a comparison to Rita Hayworth, but Rebekah should probably do her best to avoid this film for now. The ending ain’t pretty!