La grande menzogna

The chief reason to watch this highly implausible melodrama is the bravura supporting performance of the stunning Mary Astor, ably abetted by Bette Davis, the lead actress, both at their cinematic peaks. Astor plays a passionate but emotionally fickle concert pianist with lusty appetites who battles decent and simple Bette for the affections of George Brent. No need to detail the plot about one woman persuading another to give up her baby. Suffice it to say that whenever these two powerhouse actresses occupy the screen, especially together, the viewer can accept anything. Outstanding is a sequence shot at least in part on location in the desert where the battling ladies reach a climax of sorts in their emotional duel. It is said that the two performers rewrote some of Lenore Coffee's script to spike it up; if so, they succeeded brilliantly. Their contrasting natures - physically, vocally, emotionally and, thanks to wise costume design, sartorially - make them an exciting and volatile combination. Astor has never been more ravishing and even Davis photographs unusually well in many scenes. The always entertaining Hattie McDaniel and Lucile Watson are on hand as the maid and a matronly aunt, respectively, though they do nothing here they haven't done better elsewhere. Astor, in addition to her expert histrionics, is said to have actually played – as opposed to faking - classical piano pieces throughout, adding substance, emotional coloring and much-needed authenticity. If she was faking, then it was dazzling fakery!