Rating: 
Summary: Jezebel-Julie: More Selfish than Evil
Review: Hollywood explored the antebellum south twice in the movies in one year. First JEZEBEL with Bette Davis as the tempestuous Julie, then a year later in GONE WITH THE WIND with Vivien Leigh as the equally tempestuous Scarlet O'Hara. Both films romanticized the plantation life, but it was director William Wyler, who showed a darker, grubbier underside to a way of life that Victor Fleming would gloss over just one year later as director of GWTW. The world of the prewar southern plantation was firmly grounded on a strict separation of both race and gender. Regardless of how Julie's fiance Preston (Henry Fonda) is portrayed as a man of unflinching integrity, he is as anti-abolitionist as any white-hooded redneck. Blacks in this film are permitted none of the dignity that Hattie McDaniel showed as Mammy in GWTW. The slaves of JEZEBEL are strictly the shuckin' and jivin' no-account blacks that so shamefully were typical of most Hollywood films of the era. I cringed when Julie merely had to clap her hands to gather dozens of slaves to accompany her in song. Finally, there were the women who seemed to have been born wearing those ubiquitous hoop dresses bouncing in nearly every scene. A feminist interpretation of JEZEBEL suggests that southern women could not rebel against men, except in mildly juvenile ways that smacked more of a symbolic call for independence than a true call. Early in the film, Julie wishes to wear a red dress to a formal ball. Preston, as well as everyone else whom she asks, declares that her wearing red would be scandalous, but she browbeats him into accompanying her. You would think that her decision for red would be her way of drawing a line in the sand of gender inequality, but at the dance, she lacks the courage to do more than make a token entrance. There are few scenes in any film which show more crunching lonliness than the one at the ball in which Julie and Preston begin to waltz on a crowded dance floor. Slowly, the other dancers move to the side, leaving them horribly alone. Julie's willfulness at refusing to apologize sends Preston away from her, only to return a year later with a new bride, Amy (Margaret Lindsay). In many of Bette Davis' other films, her character often has a confrontation with her rival. In JEZEBEL, this confrontation takes place during an outbreak of yellow fever with Preston deathly ill. The conversation between Julie and Amy, although brief, rings with truth and clarity as Amy asks Julie about where Preston's true love lies.JEZEBEL is a terrific movie that showcases Bette Davis' talent that garnered her a well-deserved Oscar for Best Actress. As I watched, I could see the evolution of a woman from one who is ruled by a selfish wish for the fruition of the here and now to one who is willing to risk her own life for the sake of the man whom she loves, even if in so doing, her success merely provides another woman with that man. Not many films convincingly allow an actor to do this. Bette Davis in JEZEBEL did this, and that is the primary reason why it can be called a great movie.
Rating:
Summary: A classic despite everything
Review: I have strongly mixed feelings about this movie, considering it as art rather than entertainment (as the latter, it's a must-see for fans of Davis and soaps). Yes, the screenplay (based on a stage hit starring Tallulah Bankhead) is pure melodrama--but so is a lot of great art, from Ibsen to Henry James. The absurd tendencies of the script are largely curbed by the stately, chilly direction of notorious control-freak William Wyler. Davis is fascinating, charming, and riveting as the spoiled, willful, manipulative heroine-villain, somewhere between Isabel Archer and Hedda Gabler. It's hilarious that one customer reviewer thought Davis was awarded the Oscar in this part based on her looks rather than her acting, for Davis was considered plain and sexless by Hollywood standards. But in this part, like many an average-looking theatre actor, she manages to generate high-voltage charisma while *acting* charm and seductiveness. She is aided, of course, by fabulous costumes and the cinematography--especially in the final, "repentance" scenes, in which she is luminously haggard. Wyler wasn't taking any chances, though, and Davis's Northern rival Amy is horse-faced and bland. When I first saw this film as a teenager (many, many times) this device worked on me just as it was supposed to: I rooted for zesty Julie, throwing my morals to the wind, and despised wet blanket Amy. The screenplay seems to promote Southern (rural?) vitalism over Northern (urban?) effeteness, which is morally problematic and historically dubious, but no more so than the rural/urban moral symbolism of Jane Austen (for example). What's important is that it's dramatically effective. Is Julie a feminist icon? Her willfulness causes her to lose everything she most wants, and she eventually repents and apologizes to Pres--too late. Amy is more liberated and intellectual, whereas Julie tries to get her way through charm and flirtation. But she's a fighter and risk-taker to the end, and we can safely count her apology as a momentary anamoly (as Harold Bloom suggests we should do with Hamlet when he apologizes to Laertes). The major problems with the film are Henry Fonda's sulky, wooden, priggish performance as Julie's great love (very soon after this he expertly made fun of this side of his persona in Sturges's comedy "The Lady Eve"), George Brent's goofy, wooden, listless performance as a supposed "rake," and the use of stereotypical Negro servants as sources of humour and ("happy, carefree") slave-children as picturesque background scenery. The dialogue is unimpressive (though Davis often gives it a lyrical lilt), but the original stage play (and very theatrical the film remains--in a good way, for those who love theatre) is a solid star vehicle, with spectacular entrances for Davis and many terrific coups de theatre (Davis's ostracization at the Olympus Ball, of course, but also the "apology scene" and the scene where Julie's morally disapproving guests are forced to accept her offer of hospitality). Also impressive is the business devised by Wyler and Davis, particularly the scene where she tries on her ball dresses (she's ackwardly "caged" in a whalebone hoop-skirt, in which she squirms and fidgets, expressing her sense of confinement in her society), and the one afterwards, in which she leisurely does her needlework in her bedroom while listening to Pres urgently bang on her door. In fact the most brilliant moments of this film are *silent*: the needlework scene, the justly famous Olympus Ball sequence, and the final sequence in which an exhausted Julie, finally past caring what anyone thinks of her, cares for the dying Pres. Which goes to show that you can't judge seemingly "conventional" old films based on their cheesy dialogue--
Rating: 
Summary: Bette Behaves Badly in a Fairly Good Movie
Review: I like this movie, though it is a pale variation of "Gone with the Wind."
Bette Davis is an entertaining vixen, though at times her character Julie seems more like a spoiled, petulant child than a fiery Southern belle. You wonder why she just didn't wear the stupid white dress and save herself a lot of trouble. Hadn't she ever heard of accessorizing?
Watching this movie makes you realize that the right actress did get the part of Scarlett O'Hara.
"Jezebel" is worth viewing, though, especially for Bette Davis fans.
Rating: 
Summary: Was that it?
Review: I must first say that I simply and basically cannot understand why people consider Davis to be such a great actress. Compared with Marlene Dietrich (spelling?) her performances are not moving, engaging or engrossing which one does expect from a great actor/actress. For instance, when one watches a movie starring Charlton Heston, the one loses all ones senses and becomes so part of the movie that all outside reality ceases to exist. Davis does not have this quality and to imagine that the Academy Award was given to this no talent is proof that good looks wins over real and genuine substance. It will be a long time before I even consider watching another one of these movies, i.e., Jezebel VHS ~ Bette Davis and I finish and conclude by saying good riddance.
Rating:
Summary: Important feminist film
Review: I watched Jezebel as part of a film studies module at college and actually became reasonably absorbed in it. Of course, admitedly I'm not a fan of classic movies but Jezebel is an intelligent movie on several levels, not least in its take on feminism and questions of the place of women in society. The plot has Julie (Bette Davis) as a Southern belle who, through her defiant nature, manages to break off her engagement to Press (Fonda). Years later she realises that she has lost the love of her life and, finally willing to see him again, discovers Press is married to New Yorker Amy. Seeing this Julie tries to do everything to win Press back by fair means or foul. Yes the plot may sound clichéd when stated like that but actually this film offers up a very intriguing angle on feminism. For instance, Julie is condemned as the jezebel of the title by other characters in the movie, even though she does everything that she does in the name of love. Is any action justified by love? There are also the obvious comparisons between the sparkling Julie and the plain and uninteresting Amy, from the south and the north respectively. The ending is possibly the most interesting thing of all about the film as Julie either finally realises that self-sacrifice denotes true love or finally gets her way and wins Press depending on your point of view. I know that I wasn't expecting it to end so suddenly but such an ambiguous ending certainly works, frustrating as it is, to offer up a stand on the place of the woman, the nature of love and geographical comparisons in the mid 19th century. It might not be as utterly compelling or relevant today as it once was, but it's still more than possible to appreciate it on its own ground.
Rating: 
Summary: How did this end?
Review: I would probably recommend this movie to a classic movie fan, but not your typical movie watcher. I thought Henry Fonda did a splendid job on his portrayal of Preston; he brought dignity and sense to his character. Bette Davis did a pretty good job as Julie. I just felt that the character of Julie lacked much reason. There were a few unreasonable things in this film, but overall, I enjoyed it. The only absolutely ridiculous thing of this movie was the ending! It made me feel there should be at least 30 minutes more of film and that there was practically no closure to be had whatsoever! The plot was fairly decent until this unfortunate end.
Rating:
Summary: Bette Davis's Oscar winning performance now on DVD!!
Review: In 1938 Bette Davis was a beautiful captivating actress who auditioned and lost for "Gone With the Wind" like every other female star did, with one difference, she starred in "Jezebel" winning an Oscar for Best Actress the year before. "Jezebel" like Scarlet manipulated men with her destructive flirtatous desires. The setting was 1852 New Orleans pre-Civil War but abolotionists were abundant & the southern & northern relations were already politically strained. Davis's is outstanding in her role and quite beautiful. Henry Fonda & George Brent are her victims & pawns in her game chess. This movie even today remains as a classic Golden Hollywood film. Standard Format this Black & White film is a great Warner Brothers picture. Only extra feature is a theatrical trailer. This is a great addition to your DVD library. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Bette Davis's Oscar winning performance now on DVD!!
Review: In 1938 Bette Davis was a beautiful captivating actress who auditioned and lost for "Gone With the Wind" like every other female star did, with one difference, she starred in "Jezebel" winning an Oscar for Best Actress the year before. "Jezebel" like Scarlet manipulated men with her destructive flirtatous desires. The setting was 1852 New Orleans pre-Civil War but abolotionists were abundant & the southern & northern relations were already politically strained. Davis's is outstanding in her role and quite beautiful. Henry Fonda & George Brent are her victims & pawns in her game chess. This movie even today remains as a classic Golden Hollywood film. Standard Format this Black & White film is a great Warner Brothers picture. Only extra feature is a theatrical trailer. This is a great addition to your DVD library. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: SHOT DAVIS TO SUPERSTARDOM
Review: JEZEBEL added yet another unsympathetic role to Bette Davis's lengthening list. The story of a perverse and selfish girl named Julie, the film takes place in the years just before the Civil War - 1852, to be exact. Miriam Hopkins played the role of Julie on Broadway, and while the plot is trite, Davis gave a knock-out performance; this undoubtedly started their legendary feud - you see, Hopkin's interpretation wasn't nearly as praised by the critics when they viewed her in the Owen Davis melodrama - which is ironic in a sense - Hopkins hailed from Bainbridge, Georgia! I appreciate Wyler's perfectionist direction which aids the basically trite plot immeasureably (without the zing Davis gave Julie, it would have been a very mossy affair indeed and probably a yawnable bore.) For her fine acting in JEZEBEL, Bette, in all fairness, earned her Oscar. A handsomely produced movie which withstands the passage of years due to the care and craftmanship given it; it was Davis's finest performance to date. Henry Fonda had to take time out in December of 1937 to be with his wife Frances during the birth of their child - a daughter named Jane. Wyler kept Bette's famous kinetic mannerisms in check and he encouraged her to explore uncharted depths of her acting ability. Davis fell in love with Wyler during shooting and instinctively knew he would make her a star of the first calibre due to his expertly inspired directing. As most classic movie buffs know, the dress Bette wore in the picture was russet brown; red photographed grey in black and white film! This is one film which would indeed be a good candidate for expert colorization!
Rating:
Summary: An entertaining drama...
Review: Jezebel is a very entertaining and interesting movie which invites a lot of comparisons to Gone With the Wind, for both are about headstrong girls in the old South. Although not as well known as Gone With the Wind, Jezebel should be, for it is at least as good, if not better. In Jezebel, Miss Julie (Bette Davis), a headstrong and somewhat spoiled Southern girl, intentionally flounts the conventions of her time and manipulates people for her own amusement. But, after she humiliates her finacee, Preston (Henry Fonda) by wearing a red dress to a ball to which unmarried women only wear white, he feels she has gone too far with her selfishness and insensitivity to others and breaks off the engagement. Finally, Julie/Jezebel is able to redeem herself for her actions when Preston falls ill with yellowjack, a deadly fever. Anyhow, even though the plot of Jezebel may make it seem like an average melodrama, the movie is far better than most because of Bette Davis' brilliant performance as Miss Julie (which won her an Oscar), the script, which mixes in other themes about the old South, and the direction, by William Wyler.
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