Even practically 9 many years since its launch and rightful re-evaluation, there are few movies which have had the identical affect as Gone with the Wind. The story of a spoiled Southern Belle, Scarlett O’Hara (Vivien Leigh), residing throughout the antebellum period, by the Civil battle and Reconstruction, the film stays the highest-grossing movie of all time and continues to be a cornerstone of popular culture. Most moviegoers know that, when Hollywood has successful, it’s fast to attempt to recapture the magic of their success, and Gone with the Wind’s success definitely appeared ripe for the choosing. Bette Davis’ Oscar-winning function as Julie in Jezebel positively mirrors David Selznick’s epic in some ways. Like Scarlett, Julie is a self-absorbed southern belle who longs for a person she will’t have and faces tragedy all through the story. So, it might come as a shock to many to search out out Jezebel was not solely an enormous hit, but additionally one which preceded Gone with the Wind.
Bette Davis was a Prime Option to Play Scarlett O’Hara
Davis is synonymous with Warner Brothers. In truth, her company and the battle she fought with studio head Jack Warner with a view to get higher roles are legendary. A lot in order that Davis earned the nickname “The fourth Warner Brother.” Davis was one of many studio’s greatest stars, because of her persistently profitable field workplace returns and the rave evaluations she all the time acquired. And when David Selznick started his worldwide seek for Scarlett, there was one actress on the highest of everybody’s checklist: Bette Davis. As recounted within the documentary The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind, Davis led a nationwide ballot because the primary alternative for Scarlett. Beneath the studio contract system of the time, Selznick knew he must discount with studios to mortgage out their stars for Gone with the Wind, however Warner Brothers was truly receptive to the concept of Davis enjoying Scarlett. There was just one downside: Davis was at battle with the studio.
In keeping with The Hollywood Reporter, Davis, uninterested in being supplied lower than spectacular roles, defied her studio contract by saying she was going over to England to make motion pictures. This resulted in a prolonged authorized battle, which in the end took her out of rivalry for Gone with the Wind. Davis would later say, “I misplaced the battle, however I received the battle” (per the New York Instances). Although the studio received the lawsuit, the trajectory of her roles modified, and so they started casting her on higher tasks. One in every of which was none aside from Jezebel.
Warner Brothers Purchased ‘Jezebel’ For Bette Davis
Davis might have missed her likelihood to play Scarlett O’Hara, however Warner Brothers was eager to money in on the Gone with the Wind craze and had the proper mission lined up for Davis so as to take action. Per documentarian Isabel Custodio, Warner Brothers had bought the rights to Jezebel—which had been a flop play on Broadway—particularly for Davis. Nevertheless, there was an enormous loophole to leap by first. The half had initially been performed by actress Miriam Hopkins. The actress owned part of the rights, which allowed her to play the half ought to there be a movie adaptation. Warner obtained Hopkins to promote the rights by telling her she could be the primary actress thought of for the half, earlier than instantly rejecting her. Curiously, many years earlier than Davis’ well-known (and overblown) rivalry with actress Joan Crawford started, Hopkins and Davis had made their distaste for each other publicly identified. Nonetheless, Jezebel was destined for Davis, with Warner Brothers calling it her “comfort prize” for not attending to play Scarlett O’Hara (per CMG Worldwide).
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“Bette and Bogie” does have a pleasant ring to it.
The similarities weren’t misplaced on Selznick, who, per Making of a Legend, wrote to Jack Warner, expressing his upset with the manufacturing’s plain capitalization on the Gone with the Wind craze. Curiously, although, Davis’ choice would as soon as once more be introduced to Selznick. Gone with the Wind had a famously tough manufacturing from the start, and, following her success in Jezebel, Warner got here and supplied help with Selznick’s solid points. Not solely was Selznick having problem discovering his Scarlett, he was having problem securing Clark Gable from MGM. Warner supplied Davis and Errol Flynn as a joint bundle. Nevertheless, regardless of the keenness for her casting, Selznick determined to go due to her Jezebel Oscar win and was unenthusiastic about Flynn, with the documentary, calling him an “imitation of Gable.” It also needs to be famous that Davis was uninterested within the thought, calling her potential co-star improper for the function. Nonetheless, Davis’ efficiency in Jezebel stays top-of-the-line of her profession, and, even with the similarities to Gone with the Wind, Julie stays an iconic function because of Davis’ efforts.
- Launch Date
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March 26, 1938
- Runtime
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103 Minutes
- Director
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William Wyler
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Henry Fonda
Preston Dillard
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George Brent
Buck Cantrell
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Margaret Lindsay
Amy Bradford Dillard
