Bette was smokin' but what about all the smoking... was this paid by big tobacco or something?
I guess they just thought it is sexy when man lights both cigarettes...
On further thought; smoking cigarettes was sort of a symbol for Bette's character's rebellion and independence from her mother. Sinful indeed.
Yes, given the Production Code, there was so very much they could not show. So smoking functions as a metaphor for Jerry and Charlotte's consummating their relationship. The cigarette smoking scenes have an intimacy that is akin to showing the two of them making love.
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Never say never...
Yes, I think that's the correct interpretation; it (man lighting two cigarettes) symbolizes intimacy. I think they overdid it a bit though.
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Btw, I really like the film "Portrait of Jennie", it has brilliant looking eerie cinematography. Makes it in my top 250...
http://www.listchallenges.com/top250
Thanks. I looked at the link and thought it was very interesting. I am not sure if I actually have a top 250.
I like Portrait of Jennie, but I don't love it. I agree the cinematography is awesome, as is the music. Frankly, the weakest part of the movie is Jennifer Jones. I think everyone else- Joseph Cotten, Ethel Barrymore, etc. is at the top of their game. In many ways the real love story is between Joseph Cotten and Ethel Barrymore (I mean she is real).
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Never say never...
Please allow me to put my two-cents on this thread: Of all the reasons for me to love classic movies, I'll honest admit that one of them is pretty nostalgic: Once upon a time, men and women could freely enjoy their smoking anytime, anywhere...
shareAt the time, smoking was just something people did. I have an old office handbook that has discussions over how appropriate it is for a secretary to smoke at her desk. Yes, it was everywhere.
In the novel, Charlotte smokes partly as a rebellion against her mother, but in the end it becomes a bond between her and Jerry. The novel has them both lighting cigarettes from a single light, then exchanging cigarettes...kinda sexy, that.
By this time, doctors had begun to figure out that smoking was harmful, but it wasn't until decades later that the public became aware of smoking's dangers. At the time this was made, everyone smoked, really. To not smoke was to be seen as being an ascetic or health nut.
"Value your education. It's something nobody can ever take away from you." My mom.
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away I was a smoker.
God knows how I got caught up in that habit or why it was so hard to kick,
but I recall in college how one of the older professors was talking about how
students used to come in with empty Coke cans, or anything that would
function to contain ashes and just light up their cigarettes in class.
Even as a light smoker I thought that was pure insanity and so rude to
non-smokers. And then of course there were the people who used to
light up on airplanes and I recall how miserable it was to have to breathe
that crap in the dry air of an airplane cabin.
Thank god I was finally able to quit decades ago, and how it is banned in
most public places.
In movies cigarette companies loved to show people smoking because it
was better than commercials - it showed America's most beautiful and
famous people smoking, and it convinced millions of people to buy their
product ... and then get sick with cancer and emphysema.
Now we have the same problem with processed and junk foods.