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DVD Jezebel
Bette Davis won her second Best Actress Oscar for her showcase role in this sumptuous southern costume melodrama, which was released in 1938 in response to the phenomenal popularity of Margaret Mitchell's novel Gone with the Wind. (It would take another full year for the famous film adaptation of Mitchell's novel to be released.) The setting is New Orleans in 1862, and Davis plays Julie, an egocentric southern belle who's used to getting her way. Henry Fonda plays the equally selfish banker who breaks off their engagement, prompting Julie to a variety of futile schemes to win him back. Gracefully directed by William Wyler, the film won Oscars for Davis and Fay Bainter (for Best Supporting Actress), and was nominated for Best Picture, Music Score, and Cinematography. Highlights include the lavish ball scene where unmarried ladies dressed in traditional white are horrified by Julie's scandalous red dress, and Fonda's subsequent pleasure upon witnessing Julie's humiliation. An absorbing period melodrama, this film was ultimately overshadowed by Gone with the Wind, but it remains a classic in its own right thanks to Wyler and his remarkable cast. --Jeff Shannon
JEZEBEL was one of Bette Davis' most accomplished and memorable screen performances of the 1930s. It deservedly netted her an Academy Award as Best Actress and also garnered the Best Supporting Actress award for Fay Bainter.
When Bette Davis missed out on the role of Scarlett O'Hara in GONE WITH THE WIND, Warners fashioned their own Southern drama for her, based on the play by Owen Davis. JEZEBEL was released a year before GONE WITH THE WIND. Both films feature musical scores written by Max Steiner.
The story concerns willfull Southern belle Julie Marston (Bette Davis) who is engaged to the handsome but conservative Pres Dillard (Henry Fonda). In order to get some life out of her passive finance, Julie decides to wear a dramatic red dress to the annual Ball (when every girl will be wearing traditional white). After her shocking entrance at the ball, Pres insults her by whirling her around and around the dancefloor, until she is the scandal of all New Orleans. The following day, the engagement is called off and the shattered Julie doesn't hear from Pres for a whole year.
When Pres does return, its revealed that he has married a beautiful "Yankee" society belle named Amy (Margaret Lindsay). The repentent yet vengeful Julie tries to steal Pres for herself again, but when the dreaded Yellow Fever epidemic strikes, tragedy does as well...
The cast also includes George Brent (42nd STREET), Donald Crisp (POLLYANNA, NATIONAL VELVET), Richard Cromwell, Henry O'Neill, Spring Byington and John Litel.
The DVD includes the trailer. (Single-sided, single-layer disc).
SHOT DAVIS TO SUPERSTARDOM
JEZEBEL added yet another unsympathetic role to Bette Davis's lengthening list. The story of a perverse and selfish girl named Julie, the film takes place in the years just before the Civil War - 1852, to be exact. Miriam Hopkins played the role of Julie on Broadway, and while the plot is trite, Davis gave a knock-out performance; this undoubtedly started their legendary feud - you see, Hopkin's interpretation wasn't nearly as praised by the critics when they viewed her in the Owen Davis melodrama - which is ironic in a sense - Hopkins hailed from Bainbridge, Georgia! I appreciate Wyler's perfectionist direction which aids the basically trite plot immeasureably (without the zing Davis gave Julie, it would have been a very mossy affair indeed and probably a yawnable bore.) For her fine acting in JEZEBEL, Bette, in all fairness, earned her Oscar. A handsomely produced movie which withstands the passage of years due to the care and craftmanship given it; it was Davis's finest performance to date. Henry Fonda had to take time out in December of 1937 to be with his wife Frances during the birth of their child - a daughter named Jane. Wyler kept Bette's famous kinetic mannerisms in check and he encouraged her to explore uncharted depths of her acting ability. Davis fell in love with Wyler during shooting and instinctively knew he would make her a star of the first calibre due to his expertly inspired directing. As most classic movie buffs know, the dress Bette wore in the picture was russet brown; red photographed grey in black and white film! This is one film which would indeed be a good candidate for expert colorization!
Oscar-Winning, Oscar-Deserving. Excellent.
Poor Jack Warner. Imagine having to be the man who denied Bette Davis the role of Scarlett O' Hara. Imagine Bette's rage at the success of that particular picture. Imagine poor Jack's mind working nineteen tot he dozen, desperately searching for something, ANYTHING, to appease the wrath of The Davis.
Happily, Jack Warner came up with this: a 1938 movie about a spoilt southern Belle whose willful machinations eventually lose her the man whom she truly adores.
In my opinion, this is quite possibly Bette Davis' best ever moment in motion pictures. As Jezebel, she is old enough and established as an actress to bring real depth and credibility to the role, while being young enough so as not have established the Davis Trademarks to demean the role with. Playing the part of Julie Marsden, the titular Jezebel, Davis displays a rare understated pathos and a real sense of connection to her role. As with Regina Giddens in 'The Little Foxes', Bette's mastery of her craft is best displayed in the role of Julie. She is an emotional powerhouse, and the 'Let's raise a Ruckus' scene, as well as the final scenes of the picture, showcase that Oscar-winning mastery beautifully.
Henry Fonda is totally acceptable as the henpecked, hapless Preston Dillard, and in places gives a performance to match Bette's own. Other impressive supporting cast turns come in the shape of Margaret Lindsay as Yankee interloper Amy Bradford Dillard and the always-excellent Fay Bainter as Aunt Belle Massey.
Direction for the period is superior, too. Paced perfectly and beautifully photographed, William Wyler (whose talent is surely the only one to rival Joe L. Manckewiecz) has created a visual backdrop of opposite poles of emotion - the hubbub of city life, the quiet languor of plantation, and the terror and chaos of the epidemic are all as convincing as they are captivating. The infamous Red Dress scene has lost none of it's power, even after 74 years, Wyler's depiction of social ostracisation and slow realisation is masterful.
The DVD transfer for a 74 year old film is as good as can be expected. Sadly in parts the contrast between black & white is not as sharp as it could be, and the special features are not so good, but neither of these minor bad points will detract rom the overall majesty of 'Jezebel'.
Critic Pauline Kael called this shamelessly enjoyable, vintage Bette Davis weepie a "kitsch classic," and time hasn't diminished its ability to give the tear ducts a good flushing. Davis plays a swinging socialite, living the fast life of booze, smokes, and--with the help of Humphrey Bogart as her Irish stableman--raising thoroughbred horses. When a brain tumor starts giving her headaches and eroding her vision, she falls in love with her surgeon (George Brent), who grows more determined than ever to cure her. Davis gives one of her most vibrant performances, and her costars also include Ronald Reagan and Geraldine Fitzgerald. The film received Oscar nominations for best picture, best actress, and for Max Steiner's score. --Jim EmersonMore Info about this DVD Actor(s): Bette Davis - George Brent - Humphrey Bogart - Geraldine Fitzgerald - Ronald Reagan Director(s): Edmund Goulding DVD Release Date: Released the 19 September 2000 Usually ships within 24 hours
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In this 1942 melodrama, founded on the novel by Olivia Higgins Prouty (who also wrote the novel on which Stella Dallas was based), Bette Davis stars as Charlotte Vale, a dowdy, repressed woman who, overwhelmed by her domineering mother, is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She finds help at a sanitarium from a kind psychiatrist (Claude Rains), who turns her into a beautiful, confident woman. As a new person, she takes a pleasure cruise, where she meets Jerry (Paul Henreid), an architect trapped in an unhappy marriage, saddled with a troubled daughter. The two fall in love, but, of course, the romance is doomed. Yet their paths cross on occasion, and, despite their feelings, Charlotte finds satisfaction in helping Jerry's depressed child. The film will seem familiar to new... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Bette Davis - Paul Henreid Director(s): Irving Rapper DVD Release Date: Released the 13 November 2001 This item is currently not available.
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William Wyler and Bette Davis made their third and final collaboration their finest with this striking 1941 adaptation of Lillian Hellman's acidic play. The titular foxes are a particularly ravenous turn-of-the-century Southern moneyed clan, the Hubbards, and the most cunning of them all is sister Regina Giddens, the brilliant but ruthless woman played by Davis. In contrast to the manipulative Regina and her scheming brothers (Charles Dingle and Carl Benton Reid) is her guileless sister-in-law Birdie (Patricia Collinge in a delicately flighty performance) and her sickly, humanistic husband Horace (Herbert Marshall), whom she tolerates only for his money and position--until he stands in the way of a scheme that could bring her a fortune. Teresa Wright is the hope of the next generation as... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Bette Davis - Herbert Marshall - Teresa Wright Director(s): William Wyler DVD Release Date: Released the 18 September 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Showered with Oscars, this wonderfully bitchy (and witty) comedy written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz concerns an aging theater star (Bette Davis) whose life is being supplanted by a wolf-in-sheep's-clothing ingenue (Anne Baxter) whom she helped. This is a film for a viewer to take in like a box of chocolates, packed with scene-for-scene delights that make the entire story even better than it really is. The film also gives deviously talented actors such as George Sanders and Thelma Ritter a chance to speak dazzling lines; Davis bites into her role and never lets go. A classic from Mankiewicz, a legendary screenwriter and the brilliant director of A Letter to Three Wives, The Barefoot Contessa, and Sleuth. --Tom KeoghMore Info about this DVD Director(s): Joseph L. Mankiewicz DVD Release Date: Released the 14 January 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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It's brash! It's grotesque! It's a blistering display of psychological terrorism! One of the blackest comedies ever made, this 1962 thriller rejuvenated the careers of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford and played heavily on their own Hollywood legends, incorporating film clips from their earlier stardom to add depth and realism to a severely twisted tale of sibling rivalry. Davis plays the former child star turned wrinkled hag Jane Hudson, whose sister Blanche (Crawford) eclipsed her star in Hollywood, and has been paying for it ever since. Now confined to a wheelchair, Blanche is held prisoner in the musty mansion she shares with Jane, who terrorizes Blanche with maniacal control (and dead rats for dinner), and embarks on an absurd campaign to revive her career, curly-haired wig and all. A... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Bette Davis - Joan Crawford Director(s): Robert Aldrich DVD Release Date: Released the 25 September 1997 Usually ships in 1 to 2 weeks
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