After watching 'The Letter', I wonder whether Bette Davis was head and shoulders above any other actor in the cast because she really was that good, or was it because the supporting cast were as wooden as can be ?
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Bette Davis was pretty good from time to time, but I don't think this is one of them. As a fan of much of Davis' Warner output, for me personally this is one of her worst performances. But also the supporting cast did suck. Herbert Marshall is both wooden and weak - like balsa wood. James Stephenson is more...oaken. But that's obviously not good either. I think the abysmal support made Davis shine in one of her hammiest outings.
shareBette Davis had a long affair with actor George Brent and he was in many of her movies. He was most definitely in a special class of Cigar-Store-Indian wooden! He was quite content to sit there staring off into space, being the 'wallpaper' against which Bette was free to let loose with over-the-top histrionics.
shareDavis is fascinating to watch, but her diction here--as early as 1940--was hard to take, with the all emphasis on her Ds and Ts. (Oddly, an affectation that would be taught to Marilyn Monroe, and one for which she was mocked. In time, MM let go of it.)
Davis's performance reminds me of some of her later, jarringly mannered work. However, she is photographed magnificently in "The Letter" and when not speaking, is quite wonderful.
From what I have read about her, she took her job extremely seriously. She did not consider herself a "star" or have any interest in fame. She was for lack of a better phrase, committed to her art totally.
At times very difficult, extremely head strong, impatient and even rude. But very intelligent, witty and biting.
There is no way to know the real truth about how people were seventy five years ago, but I hold a great deal of respect for how she approached her job.
As far as the 30's and very early 40's go, I think she has to be considered as one of the top if not the greatest actor of that period.
There is a reason she has the reputation she does. Considering she was not a fame hound, and her career was somewhat stunted, there is a reason she is #2 on AFI's greatest female stars ever.
I know that when I was growing up in the late 70's and early 80's she was probably the most revered of all living actors at that time. I can remember actors and actresses in those days speaking of her as though she were a deity. They were in utter awe of her. That has always stuck with me.