I must say that I was surprised at the audacity with which this movie was presented. The movie starts off right away like a good-sized rollercoaster from the first minute. Davis presents herself in such an unrelenting and unsympathetic way that it was almost scary, she would have gone over dead bodies to be acquited of the cold-blooded murder that she committed.
The acting was top-notch. Bette Davis delivers a very good stone-faced performance that is very believable, those eyes just seemed to not feel a thing. Now I know what people mean by "Bette Davis Eyes". But I think the male leads were even better. James Stephenson as the lawyer who has to live with the fact that for the first time in his career he has bend the law to save a client who is guilty was superb. The anguish of his conscience was readable off his face throughout the second part of the movie, after being the cool-headed councillor in the first part. The other exquisite performance was by Herbert Marshall, Davis' husband who is used beyond his knowledge in the scheme to get his wife off the hook. He is slowly but surely destroyed during the course of this movie and Davis doesn't seem to care a bit in the end. He is prepared to give her a second chance and forgive the whole thing, but she doesn't even spare him at this moment in the movie. She got what she deserved in the end.
The twists in the storyline were not the brightest in the movie business but still they were executed in such a manner that they presented a nice surprise every time one came around the corner. The "struggle" in the end was very stylish, and the sheer fact that Davis wanted to be with her lover rather that with her husband was a very bold step for her to take.
A big honorable mention goes out to the set decoration, these are so lavishly created that they didn't at all seem like studio sets. The Chinese quarter and the plantation sets were exquisite. The lighting of the several sets was very well established
Although sometimes this movie drops into the extreme melodrama that seems to haunt movies of that time, but this is all fine when you look at the big picture.
9/10
The acting was top-notch. Bette Davis delivers a very good stone-faced performance that is very believable, those eyes just seemed to not feel a thing. Now I know what people mean by "Bette Davis Eyes". But I think the male leads were even better. James Stephenson as the lawyer who has to live with the fact that for the first time in his career he has bend the law to save a client who is guilty was superb. The anguish of his conscience was readable off his face throughout the second part of the movie, after being the cool-headed councillor in the first part. The other exquisite performance was by Herbert Marshall, Davis' husband who is used beyond his knowledge in the scheme to get his wife off the hook. He is slowly but surely destroyed during the course of this movie and Davis doesn't seem to care a bit in the end. He is prepared to give her a second chance and forgive the whole thing, but she doesn't even spare him at this moment in the movie. She got what she deserved in the end.
The twists in the storyline were not the brightest in the movie business but still they were executed in such a manner that they presented a nice surprise every time one came around the corner. The "struggle" in the end was very stylish, and the sheer fact that Davis wanted to be with her lover rather that with her husband was a very bold step for her to take.
A big honorable mention goes out to the set decoration, these are so lavishly created that they didn't at all seem like studio sets. The Chinese quarter and the plantation sets were exquisite. The lighting of the several sets was very well established
Although sometimes this movie drops into the extreme melodrama that seems to haunt movies of that time, but this is all fine when you look at the big picture.
9/10