Mr. Skeffington

Mr. Skeffington
Warner Bros.

August 12, 1944

Historical Drama

DVD
C+

This is based on the novel by Elizabeth von Arnim, but definitely not on the level of the '90s Enchanted April.  It starts out promisingly, with some spritely comedic elements as well as a serious subtext about anti-Semitism.  But the melodrama gets stronger as it goes on.  And it's one of those movies where turning 50 might as well be turning 90.  The title is somewhat misleading, especially in the second half, where Rains is hardly onscreen and it is very much Davis's showcase as Mrs. Skeffington.  I haven't read the novel, but I felt like her characterization was wildly inconsistent, and towards the end I wanted her earlier self to snap, "How can you say I never loved anyone but myself when I was distraught when my brother ran off to the Great War and later when he died in battle?"  Still, for a two-and-a-half-hour movie, it held my attention well enough to marginally recommend.

Vincent Sherman directed, six years before The Damned Don't Cry with Joan Crawford.