Ball Of Fire (1941)

I love the oldies and I love movies starring Barbara Stanwyck!  In this film, Barbara Stanwyck stars as  "Sugarpuss" O'Shea a nightclub singer who is the girlfriend of a mob boss named Joe Lilac (Dana Andrews).  While working at the club, she meets professor Bertram Potts (Gary Cooper) who wants to ask her questions about modern American slang words as he is writing an encyclopedia about all human knowledge with some other professors.  She is not too thrilled with this and turns him down. 

When she finds out that she is going to be questioned about her boyfriends mob activities, she is told by his henchmen to skip town.  The only place that she can think to go is to the professors house where he and his other professors live and work.  These professors are lovably geeky and take to her right away.  The housekeeper however is not thrilled with her at all and wants her gone.  The professor and Sugarpuss eventually grow close and he asks her to marry him and she accepts.  Unfortunately her boyfriend wants her to marry him so that she can't testify against him. 

I recently read that Barbara Stanwyck had 12 soldier pen pals during WWII, what a gal!  Love the hair and clothing in this film!

Really cute film!  Love it!

111 MInutes.  Not Rated.  I give this film FOUR AND ONE HALF STARS!

The Birds (1963)

This review is in honor of my cockatiel "Bird" who recently went to that huge flock in the sky. He used to love MTV and Guns N Roses, He especially enjoyed "Welcome to the Jungle". He was with me for almost 30 years and his screeching will be missed.

This movie, directed by the amazing Alfred Hitchcock, was based on a short novel by Daphne du Maurier.

Melanie Daniels(Tippi Hedren) meets Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor) in San Francisco while picking up a bird for her aunt at a pet shop. Melanie pretends to work at the shop and Mitch pretends to think that she does until he lets her know that he sees through her ruse. I think that the expensive dress gave her away as her father owns a large local newspaper. Mitch is there to order some lovebirds for his sister Cathy who is having a birthday. Melanie and Mitch part, but Melanie knows what she wants and finds out what his address is and decides to deliver the lovebirds herself.

Mitch lives in a town north of San Francisco called Bodega Bay where the movie was actually filmed. When she gets into town, she decides to take a motorboat across the harbor to surprise Mitch. She looked really good doing it in her fancy coat, hair and pumps. She leaves the birds at the house and drives across the harbor again although Mitch sees her and drives around the harbor to meet her in his car. While she is crossing the harbor in the boat, a seagull dive bombs her leaving her with a bit of a bloody forehead.

Over the next few days, Melanie meets some of the other people in Mitch's life including Mitch's slightly controlling mother Lydia (Jessica Tandy), his 11 year old sister Cathy (Veronica Cartwright) and his former girlfriend and Cathy's teacher Annie Hayworth (Suzanne Pleshette).

The bird attacks escalate beginning with a bird killing itself by slamming into Annie's front door where Melanie is spending the night (how weird is that, not the bird dying but her staying at her crush's old girlfriend house. What, no hotel?). The birds then attack a group of children that attend Cathy's birthday party at Mitch's house. The famous schoolyard scene then occurs with the attack of crows on the schoolchildren. After that attack, Melanie goes to a bar to call her father and finds that several other attacks have happened. People are starting to become hysterical with a woman accusing Melanie of being the catalyst since this didn't start happening until Melanie showed up. Some people run outside and the birds begin a huge attack that includes the famous phone booth scene where Melanie is trapped inside the booth.

Mitch comes and picks up Melanie and they go to pick up Cathy from Annie's house and find Annie dead with Cathy crying inside. They go to Mitch's house and barricade themselves inside. There is another attack as the birds fly in through the fireplace. Things calm down and everyone goes to sleep. They later hear something upstairs and find that the birds have broken through the roof. Melanie is attacked and they manage to get her out of the room, but must take her to the hospital. Everyone calmly goes out to the car as they are surrounded by birds everywhere...just watching them.

This movie is awesome and way ahead of it's time.

Rated PG-13. 120 Minutes. I give this film FOUR AND ONE HALF STARS.

There was an instance in Capitola where some strange bird activity occurred. Apparently Hitchcock used to have a home in Scotts Valley and he requested a copy of the article from the Santa Cruz Sentinal be sent to him as "research material for his latest thriller". Read about it here www.santacruzpl.org/history/articles/183/

Brian and I went to Bodega Bay years ago and it was fun to drive along the exact routes that you see in the movie. We even sat in front of the schoolyard where the crow attacks occurred. I hate crows. We also saw this movie screened at the Stanford Theater a few years back and got to see Tippi Hedren who did a Q & A in between movies. She was lovely! She is also the mother of Melanie Griffith and runs a refuge for big cats (lions and tigers).

Keep an eye out for a quick appearance of Hitchcock when Melanie goes into the pet shop at the beginning of the movie. Alfie liked to make small cameo appearances in his films. Here is his cameo in "The Birds".

It's A Wonderful Life (1946)

This film, based on the story "The Greatest Gift" written by Philip Van Doren Stern", is recognized by the American Film Institute as one of the best American films ever made.

On Christmas Eve, George Bailey(James Stewart) is despondent and is having thoughts of suicide. He prays and is heard by Joseph, the head angel, and assigns George's case to Angel Second Class, Clarence (Henry Travers). Joseph and fellow Angel, Franklin, narrate what George's life had been up until the present time.

When he was a young boy, George saved his younger brother Harry's life when he fell through some ice. He also saved the life of another person when the druggist that he worked for, Mr. Gower (H.B. Warner)upset about his sons death, had incorrectly filled a prescription with poison. George always sacrifices his own dreams for those of others. When his brother graduates from high school, it is his chance to stop working at the family business, the Bailey Building and Loan Association, and travel the world and go to college. He goes to a dance and meets up with Mary Hatch (Donna Reed) a girl who has had a crush on him for years. He tells her about her dreams, and when he is walking her home, he finds out that his father has had a stroke.

When his father dies, George must take over the Building and Loan because if he doesn't the evil Mr. Potter (Lionel Barrymore) will stop them from providing loans to the cities poor. George decides to stay and gives his brother his school money. When his brother graduates, George becomes excited because he has another chance to get on with his life. When his brother comes home, he has a wife and will be starting a job with her father's company. George must keep working at the Building and Loan.

He stays in town and marries Mary Hatch. As they are leaving for their honeymoon, there is a run on the bank. Evil Potter offers everyone "50 cents on the dollar" to come to his bank, but George uses his and Mary's honeymoon money to save the bank. George and Mary start a family and George starts up "Bailey Park", a low cost housing development, so that people don't have to go to Potter. When World War II occurs, George can't enlist because of the hearing lost he acquired when he saved his brother years ago, but his brother becomes a war hero as a pilot, winning the Medal of Honor.

On Christmas Eve, Uncle Billy (Thomas Mitchell) is reading the article about Harry in the paper and while distracted, leaves an $8,000.00 deposit on Potter's desk. Potter finds the deposit and doesn't say anything. They need the money for a bank examiner and when they can't find it, George appeals to Potter for the money and Potter says no.

An unhappy George thinks that he is worth more dead than alive and goes to the bridge and states that he thinks that everyone would be better off if he was never born. Clarence the Angel jumps into the water and George jumps in to save him. Clarence reveals himself to be George's guardian angel and shows George what life would have been like had he not been born. His brother Harry would have died if he had not been there to save him and therefore would not have been able to save lives in WWII. His pharmacist boss would have killed someone if he hadn't been there to stop the prescription from going out. Mary would have been an old maid, Uncle Billy would have been in an asylum and the town of Bedford Falls would be named Pottersville with Mr. Potter controlling everything.

George wants to live again and his prayer is answered with a yes. He finds that his family and friends have collected the money needed to satisfy the bank examiner. As he looks at his life and the people around him, George realizes that he does have "A Wonderful Life" after all!

Although the film was considered a flop when it was originally released, it was still nominated for five Oscars. It did not win any of it's categories. The pool scene was located at Beverly Hills High School where the pool is still in operation after all these years.

This is a great film with a great message!

132 Minutes. Not Rated. I give this movie FOUR AND ONE HALF STARS.

Miracle On 34th Street (1947)

The film begins as Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn)finds that the department store Santa that will be at the end of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is plastered. He can't have that, so he complains to the event director for Macy's, Doris Walker(Maureen O'Hara) and she persuades Kris to take his place. He does such a fabulous job that she tells Mr Shellhammer(Philip Torge), who is the head of the toy department at Macy's, to sign him up to be the store Santa Claus.

After the parade, Doris goes home to find her daughter Susan (a very young Natalie Wood) watching the parade from her neighbor Fred Gailey's (John Payne) apartment. While watching the parade with Susan, Fred learns that Susan doesn't believe in Santa or Fairy Tales. When he questions Doris about this, she says that she wants Susan to know what's real. He basically invites himself over for Thanksgiving dinner and it is obvious that he has a crush on Doris.

The day after Thanksgiving, Kris is told by Mr. Shellhammer to promote certain toys that are overstocks. He doesn't like this and when a mother is frustrated by Santa telling her child that she would get him a certain toy, Kris tells her where to get it at a good price at a store that isn't Macy's. When Mr. Shellhammer finds out about this, he blows a gasket. Shortly after that, a customer congratulates Mr. Shellhammer on Macy's program to help the consumer during the Christmas season. Macy's adopts this philosophy of gift giving and goodwill and the store becomes the busiest store in town. Their chief rival, Gimbell's Department Store, adapts a similar policy and their years long rivalry is softened by a photo-op in which Mr. Macy and Mr. Gimbell shake hands.

Fred brings Susan in to see Santa and she tells Santa that she knows that he is a make-believe Santa as her mother is Mrs. Walker, although she admires his real beard. She later sees Santa speak Dutch to a little girl that doesn't speak English and begins to believe that he may be Santa.

Doris begins to worry that Kris may harm someone because he must be delusional if he believes that he is Santa and sends him to their in-house psychologist Mr. Sawyer (Porter Hall). Kris passes the tests, but angers Mr. Sawyer by taunting him. The doctor at the nursing home where Kris lives assures Doris that Kris is harmless, but asks if there is somewhere close that Kris can stay so that he doesn't have to travel every day. He ends up staying with Fred. While babysitting Susan one evening, Susan tells him that if he can get her a life sized house, she will know he is Santa Claus instead of just a nice old man like her mother says.

When Kris learns that Mr. Sawyer has upset one of his friends at the store, he confronts Mr. Sawyer and smacks him with his cane. This lands Kris in a mental hospital where he fails his tests on purpose because he is so upset.

Fred quits his job with his law firm so that he can defend Kris from being permanently committed. Kris goes before Judge Henry Harper (Gene Lockhart) and the Judge is put in the unenviable position of being the judge to put Santa away. His own grandchildren are mad at him. The district attorney, Thomas Mara (Jerome Cowan) asks Kris whether or not he thinks that he is Santa Claus and when Kris says yes, Mara rests his case. Fred decides to prove that Kris is Santa Claus. Fred subpoena's Mara's little boy and when he asks the boy who is Santa, the boy points at Kris. When asked who told him this, he says his father did. Cute!

A smart postal worker comes up with the idea to send all of the Santa letters from the dead letter office to the courthouse thereby getting rid of them and helping Santa. Fred proves that because the Post Office, a branch of the government, sent the letters to that courthouse and to Kris, that he is indeed the real Santa Claus. The Judge rules in favor of Kris. Doris invites Kris over for dinner, but he states that he will be very busy that night, "It's Christmas Eve!".

When Doris, Fred and Susan visit Kris at the rest home on Christmas morning, he gives them a map of a shortcut to go home. The map leads them to a house for sale that is the exact house that Susan wanted. Mission accomplished Santa!

This film was nominated for best picture and best supporting actor. Edmund Gwenn won for best supporting actor. This movie was released in May instead of at Christmastime as the studio thought more people saw movies in the summertime. This film was also played live on the Lux Radio Theater. Most of the same characters were on the radio show. I own this CD. It has all of the original Lux detergent commercials included. Fabulous!

96 Minutes. Not Rated. I give this movie FOUR AND ONE HALF STARS! A TRUE CLASSIC!

The clips below include one from the television and one theatrical trailer. The theatrical trailer is a hoot, shameless studio promotion at it's best! Look for the big stars!

Christmas in Connecticut (1945)

Barbara Stanwyck plays Elizabeth Lane, a writer for a woman's magazine in which she writes a column that outlines her happy life on a farm as a wife, mother and excellent cook. The only problem is that she is single, lives in a small apartment in Manhattan and orders in from a restaurant and gets her recipes for her articles from her "Uncle Felix" who owns a restaurant.

The film opens with a couple of sailors floating in a life raft. They are rescued and Jefferson Jones (Dennis Morgan) is hailed as a hero for giving the last of his food to his fellow sailor Seymour Sinkiewicz (Frank Jenks) before they are rescued. While floating on the raft, they have dreams about food. While they are recovering in the hospital he tells his nurse Mary Lee (Joyce Compton) that he doesn't know what a real home is like. Mary writes to Mr. Yardley (Sydney Greenstreet), the publisher of Elizabeth Lane's magazine, and asks if Jefferson can spend Christmas at Mrs. Lanes Farm. Mr. Yardley thinks that this will be great publicity for the magazine.

Elizabeth's editor calls her and tells her the situation. She knows that Mr. Yardley is a stickler for accuracy in his magazines and knows that she and her editor will be fired if the truth comes out. She goes to Mr Yardley to tell him the truth and ends up agreeing to have not only the sailor come to her farm, but Mr. Yardley as well. Fortunately she has a friend, John Sloan(Reginald Gardner) who owns a farm in Connecticut. He is a rather pompous architect who wants to marry Elizabeth and she agrees to marry him after turning him down so many times to save her job. Felix will come along to cook the meals.

They get to the house and meet Nora the housekeeper and see that she babysits a baby that they can use as their baby to try and fool Mr. Yardley. Just as Elizabeth is about to marry John, Jefferson Jones the war hero shows up and it is love at first sight for Elizabeth and Jefferson. Most of the rest of the movie is Elizabeth and Jefferson trying to resist each other as he thinks that she is married and he is engaged to Nurse Mary. Elizabeth also must cover up the fact that she knows nothing about cooking, babies or domestic duties.

In the end, Nurse Mary shows up to reveal that she has married Sinkiewicz. It soon comes out that Elizabeth is not married either and all ends happily. A light, entertaining movie! I own it.

There was a remake that was directed by Arnold Schwarzenegger that was widely panned. Duh!!! A second remake is apparently in the planning stages with Jennifer Garner attached to it for a 2012 release.

103 Minutes. Not Rated. I give this movie FOUR STARS!

Holiday Inn (1942)

"Holiday Inn" begins as Jim (Bing Crosby) and Lila (Virginia Dale) are finishing their last song and dance show with Ted (Fred Astaire) before they retire to a farm in Vermont. Lila decides that she wants to keep working, dumps Jim and gets together with Ted. Jim goes to the country, and finding that he can't hack the country farm life, check himself into a sanatorium. While there he comes up with the idea of turning his farm into an inn that is only open on national holidays. On those holidays, they offer dinner and elaborately themed song and dance numbers according to which holiday it is. He pitches this to Ted, where he finds out that Lila dumped Ted for a millionaire, and they set it up. Before they get started, Jim meets a woman named Linda(Marjorie Reynolds)who ends up getting a job at the Inn. Ted tries to take her away at the Independence Day celebration and she goes with him to Hollywood to make a movie about the Holiday Inn. Jim is depressed about this and at he goes to Hollywood, confronts Ted and gets Linda back. Ted also gets back together with Lila as her rich boyfriend seems to have some tax problems.

This film has some great entertainment. Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby do a fine job singing and dancing. With it being an Irving Berlin movie, there are many of these song and dance numbers. The clothes that the ladies wear are absolutely beautiful! The set at the Inn is the same set for the Inn in "White Christmas". This movie is considered a Christmas movie although the only "Christmasy" part about it happens at the beginning and the end.

This movie is the first in which the song "White Christmas" is introduced. Today some of broadcasts of this movie have cut out the politically incorrect "Abraham" musical number because of it's depiction of a black face mistral show. Turner Classic Movies retains this part because of the historical value as well as the fact that they only show uncut versions of their movies. Interesting fact: The Holiday Inn's of today are named after the film.

101 Minutes. Not Rated. Black and White. I give this movie THREE STARS.

White Christmas (1954)

This is a magnificent film that is about two men who meet in Europe during WWII in 1944. Captain Bob Wallace (Bing Crosby) and Private Phil Davis (Danny Kaye) are entertaining the troops on Christmas Eve with Wallace, who is a successful Broadway entertainer in his regular life, singing "White Christmas" as Davis works the record player. Their commander, General Waverly (Dean Jagger) arrives and as it is his last day in command, the soldiers all give him a grand send off by singing "The Old Man". After the General leaves, the men come under attack and Davis saves Wallace's life injuring himself in the process. Feeling guilty, Wallace gives in when Davis suggests that they work together when they get home.

Soon they become "Wallace and Davis" the darlings of Broadway with their variety show. They get a letter from an old army buddy asking them to take a look at an act that his sisters, Judy(Vera-Ellen) and Betty(Rosemary Clooney), put on. The four of them meet and when the girls have to escape a landlord who is trying to say that they skipped out without paying, the men help them out and put on a funny routine to buy the girls some time to get away by doing a very funny turn to the girls' "Sisters" number. The men meet up with the ladies on the train going north and decide to join them at their next show at the Columbia Inn in Vermont. When they arrive, they are told by the housekeeper Emma (Mary Wickes)that since there is no show and therefore no guests, that their act isn't needed. They also find out that Bob and Phil's former commander, General Waverly, owns the inn and has sunk his savings and pension into the Inn. To help him out, Bob and Phil decide to have their whole show come up and rehearse at the Inn. Later they come up with the idea to have as many former soldiers that had been under the command of General Waverly come up to Vermont as a surprise for the General on Christmas Eve.

Throughout the film there are misunderstandings, ploys to get couples together, many song and dance numbers and much more.

The dancing and singing in this movie is top notch and is in my top 5 Christmas movies! Plus Cathy and I like to drive Jean nuts with our exemplary rendition of "Sisters". I am also looking forward to a Christmas tradition in which Cathy, Brittany and sometimes Bret put up and decorate Cathy's tree while I recline under a blanket, drink and watch this wonderful movie! I was surprised to see that a lot of critics rated "Holiday Inn" over "White Christmas", they don't know what they are talking about!!

I found out some interesting facts on Wikipedia regarding this movie. Fred Astaire was offered the part of Bob Wallace but turned it down and Danny Kaye ended up with the part. Vera-Ellen's costumes all have a high neck as she was battling Anorexia (you can see how thin she was) and her neck looked rather old. Rosemary Clooney actually sung both parts of the "Sisters" number, although she was not on the soundtrack for the movie because she was under contract with another company. The set for the Columbia Inn is indeed an exact replica of the Inn in "Holiday Inn". The choreography for the dance numbers was done by the famous Bob Fosse.

120 Minutes. Not Rated. I give this movie FOUR AND ONE HALF STARS!

American Graffiti (1973)

Wonderful movie about the last night of summer vacation for a high school graduating class located in the small town of Modesto in 1962. We follow the characters as they "cruise the strip" and get themselves into all kinds of adventures all to one of the best soundtracks there is. This is the movie that will catapult the careers of George Lucas and many actors into the stratosphere. The acting and directing are exceptional.

The film begins as main characters and old friends Steve(Howard), Curt(Dreyfuss), Terry "the toad"(Martin) and John(Le Mat) meet at the local Mel's Drive-In. Curt, who received a scholarship from the local Moose Lodge, is waffling about whether to go back East to school with Steve who is absolutely itching to get out of their small town. John is older and has been out of school for some time and is the resident drag racer with a constant line of challengers who want to go up against him at "Paradise Road" the local drag strip. Laurie (Williams) is Curt's sister as well as Steve's girlfriend and still has another year in school. We follow them and their schoolmates through various activities including sock hops, pick-ups, run-ins with the law, unsolicited relationships with the local gang (the Pharaohs), a hold-up and a woman in a white Thunderbird who declares her love for Curt. There is much more, but too much to list.

This movie includes many actors that were unknown but later became household names such as Harrison Ford, Suzanne Somers, Bo Hopkins, Richard Dreyfuss, Mackenzie Phillips, Cindy Williams and Wolfman Jack just to name a few. The majority of the movie was filmed in Petaluma California but parts were also filmed in Sonoma, Richmond, Novato and Concord. Many of the male characters were modeled after different parts of Lucas' own life. This was one of the first films to use already recorded music instead of a regular film score. The radio callers during Wolfman Jack's show were actual phone calls from his real radio show. This film was also shot in sequence.

The photos above are of my beautiful niece Jordyn wearing her grandfather's letterman's sweater from Dinuba High School (out in the valley South of Modesto) from 1959!!!

This movie is in my top 25. 112 Minutes. Rated PG. I give this movie FOUR AND ONE HALF STARS!!!!!

Random Harvest (1942)

This film is an adaptation of a novel by James Hilton, the author who also wrote "Lost Horizon". The film begins as a man in an insane asylum is hopeful that a couple is coming to claim him as their son. This man, John Smith (Ronald Coleman), has amnesia since being fired upon while in a foxhole during WWI in 1917. He is not identified by the couple as their son. When the war is declared over, he manages to slip out of the facility during the celebration. He finds a friend in a woman, Paula (Greer Garson) who is a member of a Vaudeville troupe working in the English town where they are located. They fall in love, marry and settle in a small English country village. They are very poor but very happy and have a child a few years after settling in the village. John finds that he has a talent as a writer and need to go to Liverpool for an interview. While there, he gets hit by a car and regains his memory, but forgets all that transpired since he originally got amnesia.

His name is Charles Ranier and he finds his way home where his family are wealthy members of society. When he returns home, his sisters' young stepdaughter, Kitty (Susan Peters), decides that she is in love with him and continues to write him letters from her boarding school. As he takes over the business, he begins to get involved in politics. When Kitty comes of age, she returns and they decide to marry. It is at this point that we also find out that his wife Paula has taken a job as his secretary to be close to him. His marriage plans don't work out and as his political career begins to take off, he asks Paula to marry him in name only because a politician should have a wife. When Paula decides to take a trip, John has to go to the same small town in which the asylum was located to stop a strike at a mill. His memory begins to come back and he finds his way to the little cottage that he lived in with Paula. Paula walks up behind him and his memory rushes back to him. Awwwwww!!!

This was a very good movie, especially for those of us who like sappy love stories (Guilty!). It was interesting though that back then, they weren't so careful with the details with regards to time periods or accents when filming. The film was supposed to take place from 1917 to the early 1920's, yet the clothing and hairstyles they wear are decidedly from the 40's. They are living in England, yet their accents sound as though they are from New England. This does not detract from the movie however, especially since clothing from the 1940's is my favorite era.

This movie was nominated for seven oscars, but did not win any. Greer Garson won an Oscar for another movie "Mrs. Miniver".

125 Minutes. Not Rated. I give this movie THREE AND ONE HALF STARS.

Thanks Julie for recommending this film!

Jezebel (1938)

Julie Marsten (Bette Davis) is a spoiled young woman who is engaged to Preston Dillard (a young Henry Fonda)in the pre-civil war South (New Orleans). When her fiance doesn't jump to fulfill her request to accompany her to a dress fitting for a ball gown (something that gentlemen just didn't do) she decides to exhibit her displeasure by purchasing a scarlet red dress for the occasion. At this ball only white dresses are worn by the young ladies to showcase their "innocence". Her Aunt (Fay Bainter) and Uncle implore her not to wear the dress as does her fiance. She insists on wearing the dress and when she arrives at the ball is shocked at the unwelcome reception she receives in her defiance of the unwritten dress code. Everyone steps away and/or turns away from Julie and her escort. Julie wants to go home, but her fiance is not letting her out of the situation that she has put herself in and insists that she take her medicine and dance. The dance sequence in which they are the only ones left on the dance floor is awesome. Her look of embarrassment at being kept there and his of steady control are priceless. He makes sure that she has learned her lesson. Even though Preston breaks up with Julie after the dance, she believes that he will come back to her.

A year later he does come back...with a wife! Preston comes back to help with the Yellow Fever outbreak that is occurring in the New Orleans area and drops by Julie's house as she is having a dinner there. Julie is devastated by his marriage to Amy (Margaret Lindsay) and tries to use an old suitor, Buck Cantrell (George Brent)a man who loves her, to get back at Preston. Her old flame ends up getting killed in a duel over words that were said as a result of her shenanigans, she is still up to her old tricks. She feels awful about what happened and when Preston gets Yellow Fever, she decides that she is going to try to make it up by putting herself in danger by nursing Preston back to health.

This movie was great. Bette Davis is one of my favorite actresses and this was a fantastic film that I had not yet seen (hard to do). There were some interesting things happening in this film such as the fact that the people thought that by firing off cannons, that the air would be expunged of the Yellow Fever. There was also abolitionist talk when Preston and his wife came down from the North with another point of view on slavery. Keep in mind that this is a Hollywood film, but it is interesting to see how the "Hollywood South" worked.

Bette Davis was up for the Scarlett character in "Gone With the Wind" but did not get the part. One of the rumors is that Warner Brothers would not lend her out to David O. Selznik for the part and she was upset, so they gave her this part in Jezebel. In the old days, actors had contracts with studios and the studios had ultimate control as to what movies their employees worked in. They were often put in movies that they did not want to be in and the studios could make or break their career. This movie was filmed as "Gone with the Wind" was in pre-production. It seems to have worked out for Ms. Davis as she took the Oscar for her role as the scheming Julie. Fay Bainter also received an Oscar for her portrayal of Aunt Belle.

Thanks to Ron for suggesting this movie!

105 Minutes. Not Rated. I give this movie FOUR STARS!!

Love the old trailer!!