Review of Ex-Lady

If the script of this movie was a little better this could have really been something. The force of Bette Davis in this film is captivating. Consider this is 1933 as the code nears and she is prancing around in plunging necklines in nightgowns while in bed with her co-star Gene Raymond. The subject matter of this film considers illicit affairs and to understand this Warner Brothers film a little better it helps to know the director was French. Still, the script was American and for The Great Depression the scenes of the high-ceiling city apartments with the flashy gowns and suits and costumes and nightlife must have seen so foreign and glamorous to audiences at the time. To think that 90 years later I can watch this movie and feel the same way as most of America did looking at this film - such a foreign place, time and atmosphere that we may never get back. In many ways, I wonder if this film was ahead of its time or a reflection of the 1920's good times or a mix of Hollywood selling fantasyland to a depressed America. No matter which way you take this movie, the energy of Bette Davis is always something to behold. Interesting that Raymond, who married MGM star Jeanette McDonald, is not better remembered. He reminds me of Paul Henreid, and shows some good chops here. As I say, if this script was a point or two better, this film could have been an 8 but I give it a 7 primarily for the great acting of Davis, the solid performance by Raymond, the great costumes and to be frank - the shock value of how scandalous this seems to me now putting the film in the context of its time and place.