1938 – Bette Davis
Jezebel
Here we are with another Oscar for Bette Davis. The Academy sure loved her, and with good reason. She had an unconventional beauty and she could act. This was only the third of her career total of eleven Best Actress nominations. In other words, she was just getting started. And this was a period piece, showing us that she had a little versatility to her look and her abilities. And it is easy to see her believability in this performance.
She played the character of Julie Marsden, a spoiled Southern Belle, in 1852. Not only was she accustomed to getting her way, she had a reputation of being careless of the feelings of others in her pursuit of her desires. And for some reason, these negative traits were almost admired back in those days. Look how self-assured and strong willed she is! Look at how scandalously she is behaving, wink, wink! Unless she takes things too far. Eventually, when her actions cause the death of a family friend, her own aunt compares her to the evil biblical character of Jezebel
This is a role that seemed to be made for Davis. She seemed to have just the right amount of youth, immaturity, selfishness, and petulance to do the part justice. Through Davis’s acting, it was clear that Julie felt perfectly justified in her cruel behavior, because none of her self-centered schemes had ever really failed her, and she had never faced any consequences, emotional or social, to deter her. So when her terrible actions in the name of love caused her to lose everything, she became so despondent, she couldn’t even leave her house. Her fall, and later, her redemption, were very well-played. In the end, we learn that her love was not as childish as it had once been, turning out to be real and true.
As I’ve mentioned before, an acting nomination needs to be a seamless blending of the actor’s craft, and a well-written script. Here, Davis had a great character to work with, and she played the part perfectly. The final scene, where she puts her own life at risk to care for the man she loved, knowing that he loved another and would never be hers, was perfectly written, and beautifully acted. There was a good reason why Davis took home the Oscar for her work in Jezebel.