Details
Movie Description
New Orleans, 1952. Julie Marsden (Bette Davis) and her fiancé, Preston Dillard (Henry Fonda), have a stormy relationship. He won't go with her--as promised--to collect her decorous white dress for the Olympus ball. In an act of angry defiance, she instead chooses a flamboyant red dress. Pres is dismayed and, at the ball, New Orleans's high society is outraged. Julie and Pres argue, and he leaves.
A year passes. New Orleans is stricken by yellow fever. Julie hears Pres has returned. Delighted, she throws a party. But, when Pres arrives, Amy (Margaret Lindsay) is with him, and they are married...
Synopsis
Set in the antebellum South, William Wyler's JEZEBEL centers on high society beauty Julie Marsden. Julie first arrives on horseback, then enters her home flamboyantly hooking the long flowing train of her dress with her riding crop and hoisting it to her shoulders. Julie is not just high-spirited--she is self-centered and high-handed, and she gets away with outrageous behavior because she is rich and beautiful. However, she gets her comeuppance--losing Pres and becoming reclusive and spiteful--before a chance for redemption occurs.
JEZEBEL is built around Bette Davis's bold, powerful, and, at times, subtle performance; when Julie discovers Pres and Amy are married, with the smallest of movements Davis conveys disbelief, then anguish as she realizes the truth--she looks down, her eyelids flicker, she glances from Pres to Amy and back, and utters single words while struggling to maintain her composure. And Fay Bainter, as Aunt Belle, matches Davis when she too discovers Pres is married and continues to greet her guests while worrying about her niece and how she can warn her. Both actresses won well-deserved Oscars.
JEZEBEL is also distinguished by Wyler's and cinematographer Ernest Haller's graceful, flowing long takes and deep-frame compositions.
Industry Reviews
"[It] still packs a punch..."
USA Today - Mike Clark (01/11/2005)
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