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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:

Julie Marsden: This is 1852 dumplin', 1852, not the Dark Ages. Girls don't have to simper around in white just because they're not married.
Julie: Why did you do it Prest?
Preston Dillard: Because I love her.
Julie: But you had my love.
Preston Dillard: And lost it.
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.
Julie Marsden: [about Preston] What does it matter who he loves? It's his life that matters.
Preston Dillard: You haven't a partner you have to meet Cantrell?
Buck Cantrell: Why no. Came alone
Preston Dillard: [They glare at each other] Pleasant evening isn't it?
Buck Cantrell: Mighty pleasant. Nice and cool...
Preston Dillard: [Looks at Buck and snaps] Do you find it cool in here? I don't find it particularly cool. Do you Julie?
Julie Marsden: [Looks up at Pres] Why... Why no
Preston Dillard: [Steps towards Buck] I don't find it particularly cool. Miss Julie dosen't find it so.
Buck Cantrell: [stares at Pres] Why no. Now that you speak of it... It's just about right...
Preston Dillard: Seems so to me.
Buck Cantrell: [Glares at Pres] Your servant. Yours miss Julie.
[Bows at Julie]
See More Quotes from Jezebel
Jezebel Facts
In an interview with Dick Cavett in 1971, Bette Davis said her salary was $650 a week.
This is the film Catherine O'Hara is watching on television at the beginning of For Your Consideration. She follows along with the dialogue suggesting that she knows the film very well. The same dialogue is also spoken at the end of the film when O'Hara is teaching the acting students.
Because of excessive takes for each scene by director William Wyler, Jezebel allegedly ran 28 days behind schedule.
Franco Corsaro, Roger Valmy, George Sorel, Vic Demourelle and Louis LaBey are in studio records/casting call lists as cast members, but they did not appear or were not identifiable in this movie.
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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