What a classic! My favourite cinema holds screenings from time to time of rare and important films. The showing of 'Jezebel' induced a full house - but it was a rainy Monday afternoon! In many ways this was a spoiler for 'Gone With the Wind' produced a year before the blockbuster - this is also a tale of a scheming brazen woman from the ante-bellum Southern states. Bette Davis is absolutely wonderful in the title role with Henry Fonda also superb as Pres, the man who Julia (nicknamed Jezebel for her behaviour) treats so badly, but loves so deeply. So we have duels, magnificent dresses, Southern etiquette, appalling treatment and humiliating portrayal of African Americans (although to be truthful they often get the best lines) an outbreak of Yellow Fever and the redemption of Jezebel. Marvellous!
Two scenes to savour: The arrival of Julia at her party dismounting from a skittish colt wearing a provocative riding habit to the horror of her relatives and guests, and the final scene of her leaving New Orleans for the isolation of Leper's Island with the dying Henry Fonda. Here Bette Davis has mussed up hair and the odd smudge on her cheek - but still has her ear rings of diamonds. What style!
Rating 9/10
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