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Jezebel Movie Review

Jezebel is a 1938 romantic drama film directed by William Wyler and starring Bette Davis. It’s such a wonderful, very strong movie.

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“I like my convictions undiluted,

same as I do my bourbon“

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It follows a headstrong young Southern woman during the antebellum period whose actions cost her the man she loves. Let’s first get the elephant out of the room – this movie is clearly very reminiscent to ‘Gone with the Wind’ in both its powerful protagonist and its Civil War-era storyline. Of course, it is inferior to that unforgettable masterpiece, but almost no movie could compare to that classic, so comparing it is not fair, especially because it’s such a great movie in its own right.

The story is excellent. The first twenty minutes or so are overly concerned with historical affairs, at least that is how I felt. It takes its time to properly start its plot, but when it does, it’s a blast to follow. The story is very engaging, very well crafted and simply quite memorable. The ending is somewhat rushed and even contrived, but there is no doubt about it – it’s a powerful finale, rousing and highly striking in its ambiguous nature.

I adored the protagonist here. Julie changes a lot throughout the movie as she learns how to become a better person, but that was all done in a smooth, naturally progressive instead of rushed manner. Aunt Belle is great and Preston is a solid love interest. I also liked her interactions with Amy.

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Let’s talk about the performances. Fay Bainter is very good as Aunt Belle. I do not quite know if I would have gone with her personally, but her winning an Oscar in a supporting role was still quite reasonable. Donald Crisp, George Brent and Margaret Lindsay are all very good. It is also nice seeing Henry Fonda in such an early role, and he’s very charming here.

But this is of course all about Bette. Yes, Bette Davis got her second and last Oscar win for this role, and deservedly so as her performance here is absolutely remarkable. She lost the role of Scarlett O’Hara, so they ended up giving her this role as a consolation price, but it turned to be a high-career point for her in a very interesting turn of events.

Usually, Bette plays very unlikable, bitchy and/or downright villainous women, but here she is only realistically unlikable at first, but later on she becomes very likable. Thus, this role is different for her, and it worked as she is fantastic throughout, very believable and also very pretty.

Jezebel is at its best in the romantic and dramatic scenes where the protagonist has some moral dilemma and/or fight with others. My favorite scene is the ball sequence, which is simply incredibly memorable and perfectly orchestrated from start to finish. But the ending is also very interesting despite being so messy. In my book, whenever Julie was on screen, the film shines, but whenever she wasn’t there, it somewhat suffered in comparison.

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Jezebel is technically very strong. It deserved the music and cinematography noms as it looks and sounds stellar. I also loved the vibrant costumes, and it was very funny how they talked about the color of the costumes in one scene and the film is in black-and-white. The dialogue is also excellent and the film’s emotionally quite rewarding.

Although inferior in its beginning and somewhat messy in its ending, Jezebel is mostly a very engaging, powerful film that benefits from a couple of terrific scenes with the ball sequence being the standout. While obviously reminiscent in plot and protagonist to a much more famous movie that would be released a year later, Jezebel still managed to stand on its own thanks in no small part to Bette Davis’ emotional, phenomenal central performance that rightfully won her an Oscar.

My Rating – 4.5

You can get this wonderful Bette Davis classic on Amazon.