The Deranged Love of Martha Ivers

This sister is rotten, a nut 
In a twisted noir plot she's been shut
Her love is tremendous
Above all, horrendous
She'll be kissed and then shot in the gut.


Kirk Douglas and Barbara Stanwyck in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946).

Martha, Martha, Martha

She's nasty, she schemes and obsesses
And ghastly are dreams she confesses
Awaiting her fate
She's fatal to date
Her past is a scream she supresses.

Kirk Douglas,Van Heflin, and Barbara Stanwyck in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946).

Dr. Strange Love of Martha Ivers

When Martha is hitting on fellas
she's strange and a bit overzealous
To have and to hold them
she'll manage and mold them
like a bitch in the telenovelas

Kirk Douglas, Van Heflin and Barbara Stanwyck in The Strange love of Martha Ivers (Lewis Milestone, 1946). Image source: Silver Screen Oasis. A telenovela is a television serial novel popular in Latin America.

Imbalance of Power

This triangle's angled all wrong
'cause none of its sides get along
She bears her mate's name
but cares for old flame
They'll find who is weak and who's strong

Van Heflin, Barbara Stanwyck and Kirk Douglas in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (Lewis Milestone, 1946).