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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)

AwardRecipientResult
Best ActressBette DavisWon
Best Supporting ActressFay BainterWon
Best CinematographyErnest HallerNominated
Best Music - ScoringMax SteinerNominated
Best PictureWarner Bros.Nominated
See More Oscar Winners

Jezebel BlogHub Articles:

The Colors of Contagion in JEZEBEL (1938)

By Jennifer Garlen on Jan 30, 2024 From Virtual Virago

Bette 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 Films

The 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 f... Read full article

TCM Classic Film Festival Day 1: 7 Seconds of Bette Davis in JEZEBEL (1938)

By Lara on Apr 6, 2017 From Backlots

This 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 r... Read full article

Jezebel (1938) (3)

By Beatrice on Nov 23, 2013 From Flickers in Time

Jezebel 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 Films

When 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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Jezebel Quotes:

Buck Cantrell: To the very good health of the future Ms. Dillard.
Julie Marsden: Buck. Aren't you gonna wish me happiness too?
Buck Cantrell: What's the use? You won't get it. Marryin' a traitor and goin' up North.
Julie Marsden: Pres is a banker, not a traitor. I'll thank ya to remember that.
Julie Marsden: [about Preston] What does it matter who he loves? It's his life that matters.
Aunt Belle: Child, you're out of your mind. You know you can't wear red to the Olympus Ball.
Julie Marsden: Can't I? I'm goin' to. This is 1852, dumplin'. 1852, not the Dark Ages.
Aunt Belle: Julie, child, I'm so sorry.
Julie: For heaven's sakes, don't be gentle with me now. Do you think I wanna be wept over? I've gotta think, to plan, to fight.
Aunt Belle: But you can't fight marriage.
Julie: Marriage, is it. To that washed-out little Yankee. Pres is mine. He's always been mine. And if I can't have him...
Buck Cantrell: Look here, Miss Julie. You were out here a mighty long time with Pres Dillard.
Julie: Oh please, Buck. Pres had just been polishin' the brandy and...
Buck Cantrell: My back teeth. Did he lose his capacity to drink like a gentleman in the North too? What does he think a lady's house is - a riverboat bar? What did he do?
Julie: Oh Buck. I wouldn't have some silly thing I said be the cause of anything.
Buck Cantrell: Miss Julie, you won't be the cause of anything. Depend on me.
Julie: Thank you, Buck.
See More Quotes from Jezebel
Jezebel Facts
According to Robert Osborne, Julie's red dress was actually bronze colored, because bronze showed up better on black and white film than red would.
Bette Davis allegedly took 45 takes to perfect the scene where she lifts her riding skirt with her crop.
Bette Davis credited William Wyler for making her a box office-star after he directed her Oscar-winning performance in Jezebel (1938).
Originally a flop play on Broadway starring Bette Davis' nemesis Miriam Hopkins. Hopkins assumed she was contractually set to star in the film adaptation, but the contract only specified she would be "considered" for the film version.
Owen Davis's play opened on Broadway in New York City, New York, USA on 19 December 1933 and closed in January 1934 after 32 performances. The opening night cast included Miriam Hopkins as Julie, Joseph Cotten, Owen Davis Jr. (the writer's son), Cora Witherspoon and Lew Payton (who is also in the film).
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