Rating only for the heroine's performance: 5 stars - film history classic, passed down through the ages
"An evil heroine such as Mildred was really unheard of in that day. JL could not possibly understand any actress who would want to play such a part", Davis said (JL refers to Jack L. Warner, Davis's then-owner of Warner Bros. Pictures.)
In the 1930s, the on-screen image of wickedly unsympathetic women was unheard of, as both actresses and their bosses Worried that such a role would damage their stardom, Katharine Hepburn, Erin Dunn and Ann Harding turned down the role of Of Human Bondage, but Bette Davis saw it as an opportunity for herself.
Bette Davis, who was born in 1908, was nearly a year younger than Katharine Hepburn, but her Hollywood road was far less smooth: Hepburn's 1932 screen debut, A Bill of Divorcement, was an instant hit and praised. And Davis' first film, The Bad Sister (1931), received a mediocre response, and her confidence was severely beaten by makeup artists on the set; Hepburn won an Oscar for her third film in 1933 and Venice for her fourth film. After the movie, Davis played soy sauce in more than 20 movies and played female N before waiting for Of Human Bondage.
It can be seen how restless Davis was at that time, she begged the boss of Warner Bros. to rent her to ROC to play Of Human Bondage, until Warner Bros. also needed ROC's leading actress Irene Dunn to play Sweet. Adeline, the two just traded actresses.
Having said so much, firstly, I want to show how hard Davis is working in this film, and secondly, her bitch image in the film is a breakthrough in the sense of Hollywood film history. The heroine in the film is vulgar, ignorant, incompetent and self-centered, she lives with her own low values, she lives purely for cheap pleasure, she has no idea of improving herself, she does not love anyone or even herself . Davis takes the character's villainy to the brim while also proving his ability to portray a lowly cheesy woman. I like her look of disgust and disdain towards Leslie Howard. As for the minute-long roaring scene, it's not an exaggeration to describe it as "travelling through the ages"!
Digression, in this film Bette Davis is Leslie Howard's inevitable hit nemesis, and when Gone with the Wind Howard makes Vivien Lei can't stop, did Betty win Vivien, haha~
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