Mr. Skeffington (1944)

Regista:

Vincent Sherman

Writers:

Elizabeth von Arnim (novel)
Julius J. Epstein (screenplay) ...

Data di uscita:

25 maggio 1944 (USA)

Genere:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

Popular and beautiful Fanny Trellis is forced into a loveless marriage with an older man, Jewish banker Job Skeffington, in order to save her beloved brother Trippy from an embezzlement charge and predictable complications result.

Plot Keywords:

Narcissism | 1910s | Loveless Marriage | Upper Class | 1920s

Premi:

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

Recensioni degli utenti:

Excellent tearjerker

Cast

Bette Davis	...	Fanny Trellis
Claude Rains	...	Job Skeffington
Walter Abel	...	George Trellis
George Coulouris	...	Doctor Byles
Richard Waring	...	Trippy Trellis
Marjorie Riordan	...	Frances Rachel Trellis aka Young Fanny
Robert Shayne	...	MacMahon
John Alexander	...	Jim Conderley
Jerome Cowan	...	Edward Morrison
Johnny Mitchell	...	Johnny Mitchell
Dorothy Peterson	...	Manby
Peter Whitney	...	Chester Forbish
Bill Kennedy	...	Bill Thatcher
Tom Stevenson	...	Reverend Miles Hyslup
Halliwell Hobbes	...	Soames, first butler to Fanny

Alias:

Signora Skeffington, La (Italy) [it]

Durata:

145 min

Nazionalità:

USA

Lingua:

Inglese

Colore:

Bianco e nero

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sonoro:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Divieti:

Spain:7 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved | UK:U (re-rating) (2005) | UK:A (original rating)

Luoghi delle riprese:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Curiosità:

Bette Davis's final Oscar-nominated performance while under contract with Warner Bros.

Errori:

Continuity: When Job trips and falls, he drops his cane down by his feet. When he retrieves the cane, it is six paces forward to pick it up.

Citazioni:

[first lines]
Jim Conderley: Good evening, Soames!
Soames: Good evening, Mr. Conderley.
Jim Conderley: Afraid I'm a little early, aren't I?
Soames: Miss Trellis wasn't expecting anyone till 8 o'clock.
Jim Conderley: Well, I thought I'd come a little ahead of time; have a little chat with Miss Fanny.
Soames: Sorry, sir; she's still dressing.
Jim Conderley: All right, I'll wait.

Movie Connections:

Citato in "M*A*S*H: It Happened One Night (#4.3)" (1975)

Colonna sonora:

Bridal Chorus

Excellent tearjerker

This movie displays some of the greatness of Bette Davis' acting skills. This could have been just another throwaway movie from the 1940's, but Bette Davis makes it a must-see classic. Even though Ms. Davis was never (in my opinion) a very attractive woman to look at, she absolutely convinces the viewers that she is a gorgeous society girl with an endless array of suitors. Throughout the entire movie she plays up the ditsy, self-absorbed nature of her character, but at the end she gets to redeem her entire life by a very magnanimous act. What most of the reviews don't tell you (this is not a spoiler) is that the three actresses who play her daughter (at three different time periods) are wonderful. The three of them really look like you are watching the same person grow up from a toddler to a young woman. The little girl has a line that you'll want to play over and over, it is so cute (better than Zuzu's lines in "It's a Wonderful Life"). I adore movies from the 1940's, and have seen hundreds of them, but this is now one of my favorites.