Jezebel (1938) | |
| Director(s) | William Wyler |
| Producer(s) | William Wyler, Henry Blanke (associate uncredited), Hal B. Wallis (executive uncredited) |
| Top Genres | Drama, Romance |
| Top Topics | Based on Play, Book-Based, Old South |
Featured Cast:
Jezebel Overview:
Jezebel (1938) was a Drama - Romance Film directed by William Wyler and produced by William Wyler, Hal B. Wallis and Henry Blanke.
SYNOPSIS
The role perhaps most closely associated with Davis is an utter triumph. As a coquettish belle in the Civil War South, Davis taunts and teases the men who desire her (Fonda and Brent) until her options vanish and she's faced with life alone. She realizes her shallowness and the depth of her potential loss when Fonda becomes ill. Wyler and Davis were famous combatants, but the director was able to elicit her best work (here and in The Little Foxes, 1941). He was noted for endless takes and for allowing scenes to develop in one shot rather than by intercutting close-ups and reaction shots. This required discipline and concentration from actors. The results, as in this, were worth the effort.
(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).
.Jezebel was inducted into the National Film Registry in 2009.
Academy Awards 1938 --- Ceremony Number 11 (source: AMPAS)
| Award | Recipient | Result |
| Best Actress | Bette Davis | Won |
| Best Supporting Actress | Fay Bainter | Won |
| Best Cinematography | Ernest Haller | Nominated |
| Best Music - Scoring | Max Steiner | Nominated |
| Best Picture | Warner Bros. | Nominated |
BlogHub Articles:
The Colors of Contagion in JEZEBEL (1938)
By Jennifer Garlen on Jan 30, 2024 From Virtual ViragoBette Davis won her second Academy Award for Best Actress for the Civil War melodrama, Jezebel (1938), which took advantage of the cultural mania over Gone with the Wind by using many of the same plot elements and beating the 1939 blockbuster to theaters. Like Gone with the Wind, Jezebel tells the s... Read full article
Jezebel (1938): A Bette Davis Southern Belle
By 4 Star Film Fan on Aug 22, 2019 From 4 Star FilmsThe oldest movie?theater near where I grew up was built in 1938 and by some?peculiar coincidence, Bette Davis is said to have driven by the establishment time and time again. Being the iron-willed personality that she was, the rising star demanded they open with her latest movie. (I?assume very few ... Read full article
TCM Classic Film Festival Day 1: 7 Seconds of Bette Davis in JEZEBEL (1938)
By Lara on Apr 6, 2017 From BacklotsThis afternoon, classic film fans from around the country and the world descended upon the stretch of Hollywood Boulevard that runs from the Roosevelt Hotel?to the Egyptian Theater for the opening of the TCM Classic Film Festival. For much of the day, the street was completely blocked off for the re... Read full article
Jezebel (1938) (3)
By Beatrice on Nov 23, 2013 From Flickers in TimeJezebel Directed by William Wyler Written by Clements Ripley, Abem Finkel and John Huston from the play by Owen Davis 1938/USA Warner Bros Repeat viewing #120 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die Julie Marsden: Can’t I? I’m goin’ to. This is 1852, dumplin’. 1852, not ... Read full article
Jezebel (1938) (2)
By Brandy Dean on Nov 21, 2013 From Pretty Clever FilmsWhen the novel Gone with the Wind became a runaway best-seller, the office of independent producer and films rights holder David O. Selznick was flooded with fan suggestions for casting. They wanted Clark Gable as Butler (natch) but they also really, really wanted Bette Davis as Scarlett O’Har... Read full article
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Quotes from
Preston: [stands at the door] Goodbye Julie.
Julie: [looks at Preston slightly shocked] Is that all you've got to say to me?
Preston: There's nothing more to say.
Julie: Evidently you've made up your mind
Preston: No Julie, you've made up my mind.
Julie: [looks at Preston and smiles slightly] Goodbye Pres.
[shakes his hand eyes him carefully, frowns and then slaps him]
Preston: Goodbye Julie.
Dr. Livingstone: You might be interested in a bit of news I got today... Preston Dillard's coming back. Arrives Friday on the packet
Aunt Belle: What brings him?
Dr. Livingstone: This yellow fever business. We two started together on what 'oughta be done about it. Now its busted loose he's comin' back
Aunt Belle: It's high time. I suspect I know Julie like nobody ever will. Every crook and cranny of her
Dr. Livingstone: You 'oughta miss Belle, she's more like you than you ever where
Aunt Belle: Maybe I'll love her most when she's meanest, because I know thats when shes lovin' most.
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Facts about
An old rumor is that the role of Julie was offered as compensation to Bette Davis when she lost the opportunity to play Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind. This rumor is completely false, since the role of Scarlett had not yet been cast until long after Jezebel had been filmed.
Director William Wyler was known for working with the script of the films he was directing, but was unable to do so here to the degree he wanted because shooting started on the first part of the script before the rest was finished. Because he was too busy to contribute to the writing, Wyler asked that John Huston be brought in to act as the middleman between him and the writers, and the studio agreed.
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