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Ex-Lady was important as a film way ahead of it's time in content and expression. This was one of Bette's least favorite films, but she also said that it was ahead of it's time. The premise here is that a woman can think and behave the same as a man when given the opportunity.
Bette plays a successful artist, Helen Bauer, who's in love with an equally successful ad man, Don Peterson. (Gene Raymond) At the beginning of the movie, Helen's father has a showdown with Don, sort of like old world meeting new. This gets Don to thinking, and he suggests to Helen that they get married. Helen thinks that marriage kills romance and personal freedom, so she refuses him initially. Later in the movie, she accepts his proposal and they marry, combining their careers. This would be quite a challenging proposition even today, and the inevitable happens. Don becomes somewhat insecure and begins an affair with the bored wife of a client.
Bette decides that this is all the fault of a traditional marriage, just like she had told Don in the beginning. They decide on a trial separation, but when this doesn't work any better than the ordinary marriage arrangement they had before, they agree to make a go of their marriage.
There are two very surprising, but not so surprising moments in this pre-code film. One is at the beginning of the movie, when Don lets himself into Helen's apartment after a party and it's obvious that the two have an ongoing relationship sans marriage. The other is while they're on honeymoon in Cuba and it's apparent that something is going on under the table and behind the shrubbery at a nightclub/restaurant! See this movie to see a stunning, blonde Bette Davis at the beginning of her career and for pure pre-code, lighthearted fun!
score /10
sunlily 27 March 2006
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1326808/ |
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28-2-2021 12:06:08