Another great Bette Davis Warner Brother's classic with a wonderful, understated performance by Claude Rains. This film highlights the fact that vanity is a deadly sin.
Bette once again gets to play an unsympathetic character and is not afraid to show herself in an unflattering light when the script calls for it. She portrays Fanny Trellis, a woman who is so self absorbed that she's out of touch with her family and the world around her. Her whole world revolves around her beauty and the beau's she can attract and toy with. She is so selfish that she will do anything to advance her own self interest, including marrying a wealthy man, played with restrained dignity by Claude Rains, who knows that Fanny doesn't love him. Interestingly enough, his character is named Job and he has the patience of Job in dealing with Fanny, even to the point of allowing her to continue her innocent flirtations with other men. Or are they innocent in the fact that they are so manipulative? Their marriage quickly disintegrates as the years go by and we can't blame Job for seeking comfort elsewhere. They eventually divorce, and Fanny gives up custody of their daughter to pursue her own shallow interests. One of the major reasons that she does this is that she doesn't want her admirers to know how old she is.
In the end, Fanny becomes ill and loses the one thing that she cares about, her looks. She has to learn the hard way that "A woman is only truly beautiful when she's loved." Bette's character is redeemed in the end when she takes her blind husband back in. But I believe that she only does this because he is blind and can't see that the devastating effects of her illness have aged her beyond her years.
The movie is a bit long and I think Bette's performance is a little melodramatic, but it's a wonderful, poignant film and a great morality play on the sin of vanity. It is interesting to note too that Bette only got to play this part after Merle Oberon and Hedy Lamaar had both turned it down.
Bette once again gets to play an unsympathetic character and is not afraid to show herself in an unflattering light when the script calls for it. She portrays Fanny Trellis, a woman who is so self absorbed that she's out of touch with her family and the world around her. Her whole world revolves around her beauty and the beau's she can attract and toy with. She is so selfish that she will do anything to advance her own self interest, including marrying a wealthy man, played with restrained dignity by Claude Rains, who knows that Fanny doesn't love him. Interestingly enough, his character is named Job and he has the patience of Job in dealing with Fanny, even to the point of allowing her to continue her innocent flirtations with other men. Or are they innocent in the fact that they are so manipulative? Their marriage quickly disintegrates as the years go by and we can't blame Job for seeking comfort elsewhere. They eventually divorce, and Fanny gives up custody of their daughter to pursue her own shallow interests. One of the major reasons that she does this is that she doesn't want her admirers to know how old she is.
In the end, Fanny becomes ill and loses the one thing that she cares about, her looks. She has to learn the hard way that "A woman is only truly beautiful when she's loved." Bette's character is redeemed in the end when she takes her blind husband back in. But I believe that she only does this because he is blind and can't see that the devastating effects of her illness have aged her beyond her years.
The movie is a bit long and I think Bette's performance is a little melodramatic, but it's a wonderful, poignant film and a great morality play on the sin of vanity. It is interesting to note too that Bette only got to play this part after Merle Oberon and Hedy Lamaar had both turned it down.