Academy Awards, USA 1942
| Won Oscar | Best Actress in a Supporting Role Mary Astor |
Warner Bros.
Directed by Edmund Goulding
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)
Suave George Brent marries tempestuous pianist Mary Astor, living a life of all-night parties and booze. When it turns out their marriage isn't legal, he leaves her for old flame Bette Davis, living a quiet life in the country. One day he goes missing on a trip to Brazil and is presumed dead. Astor is pregnant with his child and makes a bargain with Davis to have it in exchange for money while Davis raises it as her own. When Brent turns up years later alive, they have to sort the whole mess out. Watch in horror as the cast chain smokes endless cigarettes and sip on "frosty" mint juleps served by Bette's black slaves while Astor pounds out the theme music on piano over and over. Will Brent choose her or Bette? What about the child he fathered in Brazil? Why doesn't Bette just murder Mary and end everyone's agony? Neither plot twist would have been unexpected in this unintentionally hilarious soap opera.
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