|
Great Lie (B&W) | 
 enlarge | Director: Edmund Goulding
Actors: Bette Davis, George Brent, Mary Astor, Lucile Watson, Hattie Mcdaniel
Studio: MGM (Warner)
Category: Video
List Price: $14.98
Buy Used: $5.47
You Save: $9.51 (63%)
New (2) Used (27) Collectible (6) from $5.47
Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 15393
Format: Black & White, Hifi Sound, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: VHS Tape
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 108 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 4.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 6301968891
UPC: 027616180230
EAN: 9786301968898
ASIN: 6301968891
Theatrical Release Date: April 12, 1941
Release Date: February 3, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Similar Items:
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
 Clash of the Titans: Davis vs Astor May 11, 2008
Martin Asiner (Jersey City, NJ)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
By the time Bette Davis made THE GREAT LIE in 1941, she had already established herself as one of Hollywood's most formidable actresses whose edgy style of dramatics made her the logical choice to play Maggie, a wealthy woman who passes off another woman's baby as her own. The plot is pure melodrama, of course, but it is not for that which stamps this movie as a near great. Once the audience gets past the logical improbabilities of the coincidences needed to make one scene lead to the next, what causes that audience to remain fixed on the unfolding events is the titanic clash between Bette Davis and Mary Astor (Sandra). And caught in the middle is George Brent, who first marries Sandra (Astor), gets her pregnant, flies off to the Amazon, crashes his plane, and remains off screen for the middle part of the movie. Brent is Pete the aviator who recreates his essential screen persona of blandness, which does not allow him to seriously challenge his leading ladies as the dramatic center. He and Miss Davis had similar parts in DARK VICTORY where he merely acted as a celluloid echo chamber for Davis to vent steam. Here, he does much the same, but this time he vacillates between Davis and Astor, both of whom see him as far more interesting than does the audience.
It is the onscreen duel between Maggie and Sandra that keeps the audience thoroughly rooted in the seats. From the moment that they agree to allow Maggie to raise Sandra's child as her own, the audience can sense Hollywood's Golden Rule # 1: any such agreement must wind up in catastrophe. When Pete magically reappears in both their lives, Maggie and Sandra trade sarcasms and catty remarks. But lurking beneath this all is the fear that both share--that they will lose both man and child that they thought they had, then could lose. Mary Astor plays Sandra first as a chronic drunk then as one who is fiercely determined to claim her own. Miss Davis had the more difficult task of portraying Maggie as one who walks a fine line between being equally determined but not coming off as a heartless schemer. By the time the film ends, director Edmund Goulding presents a too pat ending that suggests that one of the female leads can overcome her ego to enter the realm of magnanimity. Yet, it is the slow growth of personal vision of both women that permits audiences to remain entranced even decades later as to who will give in first. Few films exhibit such relentless probing of female primordial urgings as well as this one and that is why I call THE GREAT LIE a near great film.
 1941 Bette Davis & Her Grand Gestures of Conscience April 1, 2008
dr. m~d (USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Bette Davis would go to the mat with star-struck-snobs with whom she acted: like Miriam Hopkins, Joan Crawford, Faye Dunaway & Susan Hayward. The "Yankee Woman," couldn't stand their real-life superficial arrogance. No secrets there. What's less well known is how well Davis worked with & liked women she considered real actors: Mary Astor & Olivia de Havilland, for example.
When Davis liked a peer actor, she'd go a distance, such as, to pull herself back or assert her power, to bring out their best performance & even get them a role. Mary Astor won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 1942 for her performance as Sandra Kovak largely because Davis generously pulled herself back so that Astor's star could shine brightest. This was a typical gesture for Davis to help make the best actors & movies.
Kovak is a self-centered concert pianist who acts spoiled & superior because of her status as a classical musician. She's embattled with Maggie Patterson Van Allen (Davis) for the love & child of Pete Van Allen (George Brent). Pete's an aviator with whom Kovak partied for days following their supposed shot-gun wedding. Once sober, Pete learns from his lawyer that Kovak wasn't legally divorced. Concerned over his situation, Pete flies to Maggie's (Davis') estate to discuss his marital woes with his 1st & true love. Maggie's most concerned about Pete's drinking & risk-taking lifestyle.
But, since Pete & Kovak's marriage isn't legal, Maggie lands her man. Shortly afterward, Pete disappears in flight & is presumed dead. Kovak learns she's carrying Pete's child. Maggie, now the presumed widow Mrs. Van Allen, is so bereaved over losing Pete that she devises a plan that includes Kovak.
The self-centered pianist isn't filled with joy to become an unwed mother who totes a child from 1 concert hall to another, on the road. Whereas, Maggie desperately wants to give Pete's child his surname & a stable home. Both of Pete's women move into a reclusive cabin & return after Pete Jr. is born.
All's as well as can be expected since everyone assumes the baby's Maggie & Pete's. Miraculously, Pete is located & returns to his wife & child unaware that Kovak gave birth to him.
Davis plays the child-centered widow congeniality. Astor becomes the emotionally blackmailing shrew from hell after Pete Sr. resurfaces. In other words, Davis & Astor switch their more typical character roles for "Great Lie." Davis tones herself down to be a gentle caretaker; while Astor stokes up an intellectually fiery, back-stabbing, betrayer who's bent upon destroying the Van Allen family.
It takes a keen set of skills to critique the total quality & value of a motion picture. One of them is understanding the story within its historical & cultural contexts. The cultural issues of unwed pregnancy, bigamy, being a professional woman who prefers her vocation over raising her child are very controversial issues in the US in 1941! It's not unrealistic to imagine many audiences covering their mouths to muffle gasps of moral shock over the central themes of "Great Lie."
The role Davis plays as the grieving widow who takes in her dead husband's baby could have been viewed as the best moral choice for the child--instead of being labeled & raised as a "bastard" & called "illegitimate." Thus, while we, as a post-modern audience, find these central themes nearly innocuous, the big name of Bette Davis giving legitimacy & love to a child born out of wedlock was a grand gesture.
The Great Astor! August 31, 2007
Terry D. Robertson (Asheville, NC USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Why isn't this classic soap on DVD? The movie as originally written was "lousy" in Davis and Astor's words and both worked on the screenplay without credit. Davis is the good girl and Astor the bad. She was the more interesting role. Many say she stole the film which Astor refuted in her memoirs--the formitable Davis let her have the movie and a good thing. As brilliant as Astor always is, this is her finest performance and her Oscar was well-deserved. She's a tempermental concert pianist (and an accomplished one in her on right), round-heeled, spoiled, childish and perfectly wonderful. The sarcastic jabs between the two stars raise this above the suds to Grade A soap. A fine tearjerker. The plot has been reviewed and Astor who was always at her best doing character work cannot be equalled--this role would have been perfect for Davis but she would not have been as effective. Astor who later was typecast as the perfect mother, did not renew her lucrative MGM contract after spending years in this role which she so perfectly created as Judy Garland's mother in the classic "Meet Me In St. Louis" and by 1949 after playing "Marmee" in the sluggish remake of "Little Women" she left films for stage and television work appearing in movies too infrequently and usually as an overly doting mother. She was known in Hollywood when it came to casting "Get me a Mary Astor type", "We need a Mary Astor" and "Who is Mary Astor?". Fame knows no bounds. She later became a successful writer of two autobiographies including on her famous relationship with George S. Kauffman, her alcholism and her famous "Purple Diary" that the courts finally burned in 1952. She led a colorful life and her last cameo in 1965's "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte" reunited her with friend and admirer Davis (although they did not share any scenes together), Davis on Astor's first day of work, told everyone to be be quiet and learn from a professional at work.
This is a fine movie worthy of preservation. Again, where is the DVD Warner Brothers?
An intriguing story! January 15, 2006
Hiram Gomez Pardo (Valencia, Venezuela)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
If not for the impressive performances of these two outstanding actresses, the refulgent beauty of Mary Astor and the enigmatic look of Bette Davis, the movie could have been forgotten for the great audiences. But both of them assumed the compromise and shone with effective radiance.
A gentleman lives his own affective crossroad: his actual wife (Mary Astor) is a consummated and renowned pianist, but simply the marriage does not work out, he has an ambitious mistress that pushes on him to divorce.
The dramatic nucleus will unfold since her ex wife is pregnant and he disappeares between the Amazon jungle.
A brilliant chamber work with memorable performances and excellent direction. Edmund Golding is the same director of Nightmare Alley.
The Great Melodrama September 28, 2005
Samantha Kelley (USA)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
The Great Lie is an excellent melodrama with a wonderful cast. The story revolves around Peter (George Brent), Sandra (Mary Astor), and Maggie (Bette Davis), who are involved in a love triangle. We learn that Peter and Sandra have married on drunken impulse, but they are not legally married because Sandra's divorce from her previous husband is not final. Peter suddenly finds himself questioning whether he actually wants to have Sandra as his wife, as he's been chasing country girl Maggie for years. He goes to see her and decides that it is she that he wants to be with. The two marry and Sandra's jealousy poses a problem. She claims to Maggie that she was pregnant with Peter's child.
The acting is wonderful, especially by Bette Davis, whose emotions outwardly register quickly but not too overtly. Mary Astor is less likable in her arch-enemy type role, but she serves her purpose as the selfish rival. Brent's role is less demanding; he is a straight character and supplies the necessary believability for the role. Hattie McDaniel, who plays the maid Violet, has a decent part which allows her to be a matronly figure. She is lovable and sweet.
The story is filled with twists and turns in this elegant soap-opera-like extravaganza.
|
|
|
| |
