Mr Skeffington
by Vincent Sherman
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Product details
Actor: Bette Davis, Claude Rains, George Coulouris, Richard Waring, Walter AbelDirector: Vincent Sherman
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog
Format: Black & White, Dolby, HiFi Sound, NTSC
Release Date: 1998-09-01
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Publisher: MGM (Warner)
Studio: MGM (Warner)
VHS Movie Reviews of Mr Skeffington
Movie Review: Some kind of wonderful
Summary: 5 Stars
You can't get better than Bette Davis in my opinion. Claude Rains is a wonderful male lead, portraying a calm, long-suffering Mr. Skeffington to Bette's selfish, manic Mrs. Skeffington. You won't want to miss a minute.Movie Review: What an interesting movie!
Summary: 4 Stars
I love it when the ending is unpredictable. The acting was great, the movie kept my attention and it had some good life lessons illustrated.
The only thing was...one has to suspend disbelief to accept that Bette Davis was the most beautiful woman in New York. She did such a great job of acting - as always - that one may not mind that. I didn't.
Movie Review: "A woman is beautiful when she's loved, and only then..."
Summary: 4 Stars
Earning an eighth Oscar nomination, Bette Davis boldly owns this captivating "women's picture". Playing a vain and self-centered beauty, Davis commands the screen in every possible way.
Fanny Trellis (Bette Davis), the darling of New York society, is penniless thanks to her weak-willed brother but enjoys a neverending string of male admirers traipsing through her Gramercy Park mansion. When marriage finally comes, it's more of a business arrangement. Although she's very fond of Job Skeffington (Claude Rains), Fanny will never settle down as the devoted little wife and mother. Only after a middle-aged Fanny has suffered the ravages of diphtheria will she discover the true value of love over appearances.
Bette Davis was never afraid in playing unsympathetic characters, and in Fanny she found the perfect meaty role. Layered with many shades, moods and colours, Fanny Skeffington wins hearts on and off the screen, despite her more tempestuous moments. Not the most conventional screen beauty, Davis was concerned about playing a woman famous for her looks (Irene Dunne, Merle Oberon and Hedy Lamarr were all briefly considered for Fanny). I can't imagine any of them being better than Davis.
I absolutely adore everything about MR. SKEFFINGTON, from it's lush period design to the bravura performance of Bette Davis, in what must have surely been one of her favourite roles.
The DVD includes the new documentary "Mr. Skeffington: A Picture of Strength", audio commentary with director Vincent Sherman, and the trailer. (Single-sided, dual-layer disc).
Movie Review: Ms. Davis yet again isn't afraid to play a flawed, less than admirable character
Summary: 4 Stars
A vivid, sprawling, involving story about a woman who takes her beauty and charm for granted, reveling in the superficial benefits they attract while letting genuine opportunities for love and meaning pass her by. I think we all have met people like this, sharp and attractive and clever in their teens, twenties, and thirties, but then lonely and a bit paunchy as they enter their forties, because- way back when- they couldn't bring themselves to settle down with just one of the cute and charming people in their circle when they had the chance, because there were just too darn many of them to enjoy. Of course, the tragedy of people like Bette Davis' Mrs. Skeffington character is that, even if they did have a moment of clarity while still young and alluring, many still would choose the sweet, momentary pleasures instead of taking the time to build something more meaningful.
Warner Home Video's DVD of "Mr. Skeffington" features sharp picture and sound, a brief but illuminating featurette about the movie, and a couple of short subjects that might have been shown with the film during its original release.
Movie Review: Classic
Summary: 5 Stars
Loved this one. Just classic Bette Davis. I would watch her in any movie. A simple review I know, but what else can be said about Bette Davis?? She's the best!
Summary of Mr Skeffington
Fanny Skeffington, an incorrigible society flirt of the WWI era, was one of the meatiest roles and most exasperating women Bette Davis ever played. Flighty Fanny loves the attention of her male suitors, but marries the steadfast Jewish financier Job Skeffington (Claude Rains) for security; long after their wedding day, she still enjoys receiving gentlemen callers. Time catches up with Fanny, of course, and the bills are due by the time World War II rolls around.Mr. Skeffington is a vintage Warner Bros. workout for Davis, who never shied away from playing unsympathetic or physically unappealing roles. (Her main worry here was looking pretty enough in the early reels to justify Fanny's reputation.) Her theatrical performance and Rains's impeccable work carry the handsomely dressed story through its many melodramatic shifts. The dialogue by Julius and Philip Epstein (who were doing Casablanca around this time) has the sprung rhythm of screwball comedy, although director Vincent Sherman and the cast don't always seem to have noticed this. There's also the growing issue of anti-Semitism--a subject rare in Hollywood prior to this--especially as it concerns Fanny and Job's daughter. But mostly the film has Bette Davis, who strides headfirst into the gray areas (her indifferent treatment of her daughter is especially unappetizing), a fearless attitude that looks like the polar opposite of Fanny Skeffington's vanity. --Robert Horton
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