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Jezebel

Jezebel

  • Status: Released
  • 26-03-1938
  • Runtime: 103 min
  • Score: 7
  • Vote count: 197

In 1850s Louisiana, the willfulness of a tempestuous Southern belle threatens to destroy all who care for her.

Bette Davis

Julie Marsden

Henry Fonda

Preston Dillard

George Brent

Buck Cantrell

Margaret Lindsay

Amy Bradford Dillard

Donald Crisp

Dr. Livingstone

Fay Bainter

Aunt Belle Massey

Richard Cromwell

Ted Dillard

Henry O'Neill

General Theopholus Bogardus

Spring Byington

Mrs. Kendrick

John Litel

Jean La Cour

Irving Pichel

Huger

Theresa Harris

Zette

Janet Shaw

Molly Allen

Margaret Early

Stephanie Kendrick

Lou Payton

Uncle Cato

Gordon Oliver

Dick Allen

Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson

Gros Bat

Matthew Beard

Ti Bat

Georges Renavent

De Lautruc

Mary Field

Woman at the Olympus Ball (uncredited)

Amzie Strickland

Woman at the Olympus Ball (uncredited)

Trevor Bardette

Sheriff at Plantation (uncredited)

Al Bridge

New Orleans Sheriff (uncredited)

Maurice Brierre

Drunk (uncredited)

Jack Norton

Drunk (uncredited)

Tony Paton

Drunk (uncredited)

Daisy Bufford

Flower Girl (uncredited)

Frederick Burton

First Director (uncredited)

Edward McWade

Second Director (uncredited)

Georgia Caine

Mrs. Petion (uncredited)

Davison Clark

Deputy Sheriff (uncredited)

Ann Codee

Madame Poulard (uncredited)

Frank Darien

Bookkeeper (uncredited)

Suzanne Dulier

Midinette (uncredited)

Jack George

Orchestra Leader (uncredited)

Jesse Graves

Servant (uncredited)

George Guhl

Fugitive Planter (uncredited)

John Harron

Jenkins (uncredited)

Stuart Holmes

Doctor at Duel (uncredited)

Philip Hurlic

Erronens (uncredited)

Fred Lawrence

Bob (uncredited)

Sam McDaniel

Driver (uncredited)

Louis Mercier

Bar Companion (uncredited)

George Sorel

Bar Companion (uncredited)

Charles Middleton

Officer (uncredited)

Cliff Saum

Ball Assistant Director (uncredited)

Jacques Vanaire

Durette (uncredited)

Charles Wagenheim

Customer (uncredited)

CinemaSerf

This starts off really strongly with the arrival, on horseback, of the feisty "Miss Julie" (Bette Davis). She is the rather proud orphaned daughter of a wealthy southern family whom everyone wants to know and be seen with - even if she is a bit of a pain in the neck. It's "Dill" (a rather charmless Henry Fonda) who is the front runner for her rather vain affections but he is no push-over. Her desire to inappropriately wear a red gown to a formal ball initially elicits his reluctant support as he escorts her, but then the ensuing fallout ensures he flees leaving her alone and determined - to get him back. The onset of the plague forces her to flee to their plantation and he ends up there too - but with a significant complication. With her normally ordered life all askew, "Miss Julie" has to think, perhaps for the first time, not just about herself. I'm afraid, though that this film was just bit too much of a soap for me. Though Davis has loads of beans at the outset, the story rather manoeuvres us into a rather predictably sentimental cul-de-sac that's slightly cluttered up by the rather obnoxiously cocky "Buck" (George Brent). Donald Crisp and Spring Byington provide a bit of ballast now and again, but I just found this all rather disappointingly flighty and thin. A frustrated love story, yes - but I just needed much more of our original "Jezebel" and less of what her character became. I saw this very recently on a big screen and it is still, despite my reservations, a fine example of thoroughly well presented and opulent cinema with a star who very much owns the screen.