Jezebel (DVD, 2006)

In the New Orleans Antebellum South, an engaged young couple, Julie Mardsen (Bette Davis) & Preston Dillard (Henry Fonda) are having extreme difficulties with power struggles. Davis portrays Julie as a vindictive debutant; Fonda plays Dillard in his infamously gentle & perservering style. Their striking contrast of characters & subsequent actions makes this film a classic (were it in color, Davis' turquoise & Fonda's ice blue eyes might have made it even more so).

Preston actually won't give Mardsen much of his time of day, as was typical of Southern men of their era. This inflames the wrath of Julie in such a way that I think only director Wm. Wyler could bring out of Bette Davis & onto the silver screen. So when she wants Preston to go with her to pick out a white dress for the Olympus Ball & he refuses, she gets revenge & wears a red dress that will prove to be the rebellion that tears their engagement to shreds, as well as scandalizes the ball. Preston doesn't play nice about Julie's red dress, insisting that she dance with him while her red dress clears the jammed dance floor.

Her power struggles are viewed as improper rebellions for "ladies" to commit. While his power struggles are viewed as virtuous for any man with an iron hand ruling his little Southern wife-to-be. In this sense, the story is about how gender is played out in the US South when it was Antebellum, among the wealthier plantation owning class. As any man with face then might have done with such a 'vixen' (or rather, self-determined woman who aims to live how she wants), Preston breaks off their engagement immediately after the ball & leaves town. For Julie this is a tragedy. She remains in love with him & doesn't leave the house for a year, or even entertain, which was her routine.

When Preston returns from the US North to New Orleans, a year later during the Yellow Fever flare, much to everyone's surprise he brings his wife Amy (Margaret Lindsay). But Julie Mardsen is waiting for Preston in a white ball dress, apologies & has extra high hopes of rekindling their engagement. After that ultimate clash of consequences, all hell breaks loose, including one of them catching the Yellow Fever. I'll leave the brilliant ending for your surprise.

I can't decide whether "Now, Voyager," "Little Foxes," or "Jezebel" is my Bette Davis favorite because all are exquisitely performed. Davis takes home her 2nd Oscar for being a real "Jezebel." On July 19th, 2001, director Steven Spielberg bought her Oscar & gave it to the AFI. The second highest amount of money paid for an Oscar was donated to the Bette Davis Foundation. Davis' son Michael, one of her close assistants & her friend actor Robert Wagner run this foundation. It awards scholarships to budding actors & also awards actors for their achievements. Meryl Streep was the first recipient. Bette Davis, herself, actually spotted Streep's talent & wrote to Streep that she hoped they'd work together one day.

Bette Davis left her 1937 "Jezebel" Oscar to her later life close assistant & devoted companion.