Jezebel [PG]

Julie Marsden is the beautiful sought-after debutante of 1850s New Orleans. Engaged to Preston Diller and living in a society ruled by conservative customs and traditions, Julie finds herself confined and her attempts to defy tradition and goad her fiancé to jealousy backfire. When Preston comes back from New York married to another woman, Julie’s vengeance explodes destroying more than one life. 

According to the back of the cover, Bette Davis was unhappy when Warner Bros. refused to loan her out to star in Gone With the Wind. So, Jack Warner gave her this breakthrough southern belle role that won her the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1938. And rightly so! Bette delivers a dazzling performance in Jezebel, making this film a genuine dramatic treasure equally on par with Gone With the Wind, only not quite as long. 

Julie Marsden is the beautiful sought-after debutante of 1850s New Orleans. Engaged to Preston Diller and living in a society that is dictated by conservative customs and traditions, Julie finds herself confined, and her attempts to defy tradition and goad Preston to jealousy drastically backfire. After a year, Preston returns home from New York married to another woman. The shock sends Julie into a jealous frenzy and while everyone is staying at her house in the highland plantations to escape the infectious yellow fever that is engulfing the city, Julie’s vengeance escalates into a drama that destroys more than one life. 

Well, it first must be said that the costumes in this film were absolutely incredible. I completely fell in love with Julie’s red dress that turns so many heads at a highbrow ball. The sumptuous sets and costumes have an excellent marriage with the melodramatic instrumental soundtrack and the occasional traditional songs that are thrown in help to lighten the mood when things get a little too tense. All these elements worked really well together and produced a beautifully crafted and romantic drama. 

Bette Davis stars as Julie and she was absolutely flawless. She truly is a screen diva of the Golden Age of cinema. Her performance was arrogant, jealous, vivacious, fiery, manipulative, and whole-heartedly sincere, and I particularly loved her honourable act towards the end of the film. I absolutely love Bette Davis. 

Starring Harry Fonda, George Brent, Margaret Lindsay, Donald Crisp, Fay Bainter, Richard Cromwell, Henry O’Neil, and Spring Byington, Jezebel was a beautifully crafted drama that was filled with defiance, vengeance, betrayal, amazing outfits, marvellous music, and upstanding tradition. I absolutely LOVED this film!