I went into this film knowing absolutely nothing. I hadn't read a plot synopsis, I'd never seen a Bette Davis film before, I've yet to read the play or its prequel, and I certainly was unprepared for what I was in for. I believe gateway called the film a classic, one passed up in recent years, or something along those lines. I find myself hard pressed to disagree. As I stepped back to the early 1900's South, the world seemed to jump off of the screen. The initial carriage ride through town with Alexandra and Addie framed a beautiful, if not generic, Southern town that dripped with personality thanks to a beautiful score, brilliant set and costumes, and the short introductory "hellos" from the townsfolk. However, the whimsical opening ride is short lived and the film quickly enters much darker territory. I'm going to refrain from spoiling anything in the forthcoming paragraphs, but when discussing performances, and some of the minor flaws I took with the work, mild ones are likely to occur.
I'm going to start off with the Hubbard family, particularly the roles of the three siblings. As Regina, Bette Davis brought a devious personality to the character that, in a bit of a deranged way, was a treat to view. When the character was put under pressure, Davis portrayed the panic perfectly, when she needed to be manipulative she had no problem shifting gears, and there was one scene towards the end between her and Charles Dingle that brought a chill to my spine. Speaking of Dingle, he brought a lot to the Ben character that seemed like it could have gone flat in the hands of another actor. He was portrayed, as far as I could tell, as Regina's equal and he played the part flawlessly. The jovial mannerisms he brought to Ben, even in times of distress, were very impressive. The weak link, if he could even be called that because the performance, like nearly everyone in the film, was very good, happened to be Carl Reid as Oscar. Early on he had a few scenes where he seemed to capture the rage and frustration the character was feeling, but towards the end it seemed to wear thin and didn't completely work for me, especially in the company of other performances that I was blown away by.
The direction was phenomenal as well, and Wyler seemed to have every shot precisely thought out as well as flawlessly executed. There was one shot about halfway through the film that, while aided by the performances and the script, really captured the tension in the air perfectly. I should also state that early on in the film, when Alexandra is leaving for Baltimore, there is one scene that, aside from being hysterical, is very touching and one of the most well shot and fun scene I've watched in older cinema.
I want to come back to performances really fast again before wrapping up this reflection and giving a final verdict. Be warned THERE ARE MILD SPOILERS AHEAD! Alexandra, a large focus of the film and, from what I could tell, the 'heroic' character if there was one (aside from Horace of course) didn't really work for me. The performance given by Wright wasn't bad, and the pay off at the end because of how the role was written was great, but her transformation from 'good little girl' to an independent woman just didn't work for me. I realize why the change happened so suddenly, and in the seeds of resentment are highlighted throughout the film, but the character seemed a bit flat to me. I personally think I was just annoyed by how the character was written early on, or something similar, but it just didn't feel right. Plus it didn't help that she was constantly around Duryea as Leo who had a compelling character despite a hit and miss performance, and Carlson who worked with a very well defined character paired with an incredible performance.
Now for the 'nitpicky' stuff. There's really only one thing I want to touch on here, and that's the film's ending. One major spoiler probably lies ahead. The last scene between Regina and Alexandra was nearly flawless. I think that it was the highlight of Wright's performance and it really helped the film end on an ambiguous note, not really taking a side or, at the very least, allowing for multiple interpretations depending on the viewer even if a specific message was intended. The film should have ended about two and a half minutes earlier. Yes it's minor, and the final shot was still enjoyable and certainly didn't break the tone or the power of the film, but there was one line delivered by Wright to Davis that was, aside from being the last spoken line of dialogue in the film (I think) that absolutely hit home. The delivery was perfect, and the unflinching, stone cold look on Davis's face was perfect. It was a great point to fade to black at, but we she Davis break a bit as she climbs the stairs and the audience, at least as how I saw it, is for the first time in the film, belittled. We are given exactly what happens, and the future seems to be set, we don't have anything to wonder about, where Alexandra goes, or how Regina feels, or even if she realizes the severity of the situation. But I can hardly fault a film as brilliant as this for two little minutes. It's a personal choice that I think would have worked better.
Gateway, thanks for the pick, it was an incredible ride.
****.57/*****