Bored with her life, Stanley decides she wants Roy’s husband and seduces him away from her sister. What follows is a tale of reckless behavior with ends with the unjust use of a refined and intelligent black man as a scapegoat for murder.
Bette Davis battled to be cast as Roy—the “good girl.” She knew her fans wanted to see her in “good girl” roles and she thought that she’d be perfect for the part. Warner Brothers had other plans. They liked Bette as the “bad girl” and cast her as Stanley while placing Olivia de Havilland (true to form) in the “good girl” role. Davis showed her dissatisfaction by acting as a tyrant—insisting that she have total control over her wigs, her makeup and her wardrobe. Curiously, when the film was previewed, audiences wrote that they thought Davis’ hair, makeup and costumes were all quite atrocious.
Davis did have her helpful moments—between bouts of faux laryngitis—and helped in the casting of the African American character who takes the fall for Stanley’s crimes. Ernest Anderson—a relative unknown—gives a brilliant and educated performance as “Parry.”
Completing the cast are George Brent as Stanley’s onetime fiancé, Dennis Morgan as Roy’s onetime husband, Billie “Are you a good witch or a bad witch” Burke as the girls’ mother, Charles Coburn as the girls’ lascivious uncle and Hattie “It ain’t fittin’” McDaniel as Parry’s mother.
It’s an interesting, if not slightly overwrought, film. Davis blasted it and claimed she hated it. Quickly putting it behind her, she went to work on Now, Voyager—a film Bette enjoyed much more than this one. Nevertheless, the film is a must for any fan of Davis, de Havilland or McDaniel and is a very well produced picture.
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