Wednesday, November 08, 2006
WEEPER
Today's NYTimes Best Film was
with Bette Davis and Paul Henried.
This is the one where he lights two cigarettes and hands one to her.
But, beyond that, we have the uber-girl-in-glasses takes them off, lets down her hair and plucks her eyebrows to become a real woman.
I am not cynical here.
The surprise is that when I watch the film I buy it. Davis' performance is that convincing throughout. You don't question the story. Well, not so much.
Bette flutters between dowdy and glamorous. When she has little flashbacks of her terrible life as the dutiful youngest daughter of a harridan Bostonian you can see it in the subtle fluttering of the eyes. A pause.
In other words, Davis does not overplay. It is expert.
I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5 in the hope that I don't skew the recommendation algorithm toward some of the other two or three hanky 40's pictures of which this is a classic! It is on everyone's best film list.
