That Certain Woman

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Trailer—That Certain Woman

That Certain Woman

First, I love Bette Davis. This movie is among the worst she ever made. Bette Davis wonderful at playing modern women, especially outspoken, bitchy or evil women. She showed little talent for playing mealy-mouthed, self-sacrificing women. I think most of her fans will be appalled by this film, especially by the ending, which will leave most modern audiences speechless. Thank God that the following year, Bette co-starred with Henry Fonda in a classic, "Jezebel," and got her career back on track.

I was delighted to find another Bette Davis movie that I hadn't seen. I loved the goodness of the women in the story. I thought the acting was excellent. The movie highlighted the dilemmas women can face when they operate with genuine love and self-sacrifice as a motive. I noticed that the two young wives looked remarkably alike, and I wondered if it were by design.I get that the story might be a bit of a stretch, but truth is no stranger than fiction, and the story was plausible for me. I would watch this movie again in time. I enjoyed seeing such a young Bette Davis and Henry Fonda. One thing I especially enjoyed about the movie is that it was operating in the social conscience of the time.

Audiences will groan at the character of Mary Donnell. Bette Davis is normally looking out for number one--and she's definitely her good old self in the first half of the movie. The widow of a gangster, Donnell has become a super-competent legal secretary for a respected attorney in a big firm. She fends off unwanted press attention and generally handles herself quite well as a tough single girl in the big city. She becomes the mistress of her married boss at the law firm (although the Hays Office undoubtedly required the removal of any breath of sexual content here, it should be pretty obvious to all what is going on). In the second half of the movie, which focusses on Jack Merrick (Henry Fonda), whom Donnell has always loved, she achieves peaks of self-sacrifice that will send you staggering to the bathroom to throw up. This is the sort of film that gives soap opera a bad name.

People who think this film is too 1930's don't remember a time before abortion was the answer to every inconvenience. This is a fine movie and yes, it is of its time. Men were and remain selfish because women, in their affection allow it. Women allow it because they love. Children then and now are the prize and often the lure. Bette is marvelous, as good as ever. To be honest, Fonda is his usual boring self. I liked the lawyer but he had to be disposed of because he loved too well. For him the boy wasn't the prize. I honestly think this is a good film for exploring the darker side of Stella Dallas. I also think some of the other reviewers could do with a time machine, or at least a moment of contemplation that the past is at least a different country.