Review of Jezebel (1938) by Elliott F — 05 Aug 2011

Startling similarities between the role of Julie Marsden and Scarlett O'Hara aside, William Wyler's Jezebel is a nice little gem of a movie. It hasn't aged well, regarding some racial things (yes, black people that were generally in subservient positions, but the film has moments that sort of push historical accuracy, but that's irrelevant), but it does contain several excellent performances.

Bette Davis won her second Oscar playing Julie, a spoiled Southern belle (sound familiar?) who falls in love with a well-respected gentleman (Henry Fonda) who goes away to New York on a business trip and comes back married.

Julie's Aunt Belle (Fay Bainter, who also won an Oscar, as 1938's Best Supporting Actress) offers to house his new wife while he goes to do business-related things right as a fever of epidemic proportions breaks out in New Orleans.

Davis gives one of the best performances of her career, subtle, layered, and even a little pathetic; Bainter's Oscar-winning role is terrific as well, and Fonda, George Brent, Margaret Lindsay, and Donald Crisp all also turn in great work.

It's a melodrama, yes, and those can be somewhat unbearable, but in the hands of the ever-reliable Bette Davis and William Wyler, Jezebel works wonderfully.