Most helpful customer reviews
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4.0 out of 5 stars
How'd I miss this one?, April 27 2004
By A Customer
I love these old movies -- I often get hooked in the early morning on AMC and TCM, have to get to work late! But I'd never seen this one before. Great soapy movie. Two things really stand out: Bette Davis is just beautiful in this film, and usually she --frankly -- looks a little odd. The second thing is, how expectant mothers behaved in the 40's! Twelve cigarettes since lunch indeed.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Watch Mary Go!!, Dec 30 2002
George Brent is having a hard time managing the women in his life. He spends years in love with Bette Davis, but she won't marry him because he isn't ready to settle down. He marries fiery concert pianist Mary Astor, only to discover her divorce from her first husband isn't finalized. When she won't bend to his will, he goes back to Davis and marries her, only to disappear in the Brazilian jungle, leaving behind a broken-hearted Davis and a pregnant Astor. The story behind The Great Lie is, needless to say, a bit farfetched. It relies a lot on the viewer suspending their disbelief. What really keeps this film moving is the sparring between Davis and Astor. I've always enjoyed and appreciated Mary Astor, and in this film she's given a character right up her alley. She sinks into the roll, throwing out her lines with obvious relish and taking control of every scene she's in. Davis is good in a quieter performance, letting Astor have the spotlight. Brent is his usual self, and Hattie McDaniel is given more dialogue and character to work with than her standard maid role, and she is very strong. The music is a bit overpowering and over the top, but then again, so is the whole scenario of the story. The strength of this melodrama is Mary Astor in one of her best performances. The film is never believable, but she makes it fun to watch.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent film with great performances from Davis and Astor, April 11 2002
This is one of the long run of film successes Bette Davis enjoyed in her golden period at Warners in the Early 40's. The film is very interesting as it provides a strong role for another female, in this case the marvellous Mary Astor. The film develops into an emotional tug of war between these two strong women, first over the George Brent character and then Astor's son. Bette Davis in a refreshing change in pace plays the nice girl while Mary Astor has a field day in the role of the selfish concert pianist for which she rightly won the academy award that year as best supporting actress. I always enjoy Astor's film acting from "Midnight" to "The Maltese Falcon" to "Meet Me in St Louis" She was a superb actress who had a rather disjointed film career ranging from playing femme fatales to loving mothers. In "The Great Lie" she has never been better and more than holds her own up against Bette Davis in the acting honours. One would have thought there would be fireworks on the set of this production as there was between Bette and Miriam Hopkins during production of the superb "The Old Maid" but no the two got on very well together, worked beautifully together and Mary Astor ever after spoke highly of Davis's care towards her during production and publicly thanked her during her Oscar acceptance speech for her help during production of "The Great Lie"
The production itself shows all the care that went into a Bette Davis production during the 40's. The supporting cast from the Warner Bros stable namely George Brent is excellent as always. With superb actresses like Lucile Watson and the wonderful Hattie Mcdaniel (who has some really beautiful dialogue in the scenes after Davis "adapts" Astor's baby ) how could the production go wrong? The musical score is also one of the best of the early forties as well.
Soap Opera it may be but done with such finesse that the whole viewing is an engrossing experience. There are a number of amusing scenes included as well like the scene of Bette "pacing" up and done like an expectant father while Astor goes into labour which at the time was viewed as being "too Lesbian"!!! Also worth mentioning is Astor's "mad" scene as she gets fed up with living in the desert with Davis..it's a riot and her scream sounds like something out of "Whatever happened to Baby Jane"!! It's such a hoot
I recommend this great film strongly, firstly as a great showcase for two fine actresses working superbly off each other and secondly as a great example of Hollywood production and the excellent care that went into these films in the Golden era of Hollywood
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