Review of Jezebel (1938) by Scott R — 10 Oct 2017

Jezebel is a movie that feels somewhat reminiscent of Gone with the Wind. It?s about a southern belle who is so spoiled and headstrong that she makes some terrible decisions in her love life. Bette Davis is superb in the lead role, and captures that prideful attitude that makes the entire movie work.

The first half builds towards one scene that said so much without saying many words at all. Henry Fonda played that scene brilliantly, and you get to watch as Davis? resolve is slowly broken down. Sadly, this climactic moment is so strong that it feels like the second half is struggling to live up to the potential of the beginning.

It?s not like the rest of the movie is terrible, but it?s not quite as powerful. The story is one that ordinarily would frustrate me a lot, because it involves someone manipulating good people into terrible situations.

Yet somehow I wasn?t bothered all that much, perhaps because the main character was regularly forced to see how dangerous her behavior can be. The conclusion of the movie was by far the worst aspect of Jezebel.

It was terribly anticlimactic, and left me with an unresolved feeling. I think they completed the story they wanted to tell, but it wasn?t what I was seeking at all. Still, Jezebel is a good film with some great acting, so I?d probably recommend it to others.