was Bette Davis ever more beautiful...
...than in this film? It may be, at least partially, because she plays a softer character than in most of the movies I've seen her in thus far (Of Human Bondage, The Letter, All About Eve, among others), but I've never seen those big beautiful eyes look so inviting and pleasant. Certainly, the hairstyles here complement her features moreso than the ones in other films. Not that she's ever been unattractive to me, just that she's more conventionally beautiful in 'All This And Heaven Too'. Maybe, and I say this half-jokingly, her other characters just scare the conventional male in me (like they're meant to). Not that those "scary" women she played are a negative thing; on the contrary...I haven't seen anything yet that I haven't liked her in. After all, those other roles are more her stock-in-trade than Mademoiselle Deluzy-Desportes; and not that the Mademoiselle is a doormat herself. She's just not the ruthless character it seems B.D. could have played in her sleep. And if her eyes are not necessarily unpleasant or uninviting elsewhere, it usually seems you're being invited to your doom...like a Venus Flytrap. Not that there's anything wrong with that...she's always amazing and, as evidenced in 'All This...', she had incredible range. I guess my point is, if anyone ever doubts how very beautiful Bette Davis was (and those people are out there), this is the first place to which I'd direct them.
"How do you feel?"
"Like the Kling-Klang King of the Rim-Ram Room!"