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When this film opened in 1968, most patrons at the cinema either walked out or stayed and scratched their heads. I came back to see it several times. Everything about it is delightfully overdone. Elizabeth Taylor, while too shrill, is wonderful to watch. I am not sure she understood the role she was playing, but she attacked the film with a lot of gusto. This signalled the end of the big Taylor-Burton films of the 1960s, and would be the death knell of Elizabeth Taylor as number one at the Box Office. In the 1970s, I managed to see this film several times on television, and I remember finding additional delights on re-viewing. I recommed this to all Elizabeth Taylor fans.

I have seen this movie at least two dozen times, and I will see it at least that many times again. It's such a Bette Davis feast. Of course, she was nominated for an Oscar. And she should have won it! There was a lot of 'history' between Miss Davis and Miss Crawford going way back to the 1940s, when Crawford was let go from M-G-M and went to work at WB where Bette Davis was Queen of the lot. The stories behind the making of the film are as interesting as the movie, with Miss Crawford demanding the set be kept at a breezy 55 (but preservative) degrees causing all kinds of problems with Miss Davis's bronchitis. One only wonders how much 'acting' was involved as Miss Davis tortures Miss Crawford emotionally and, later, physically. Miss Crawford suffers grandly and has her mandatory telephone scene, big eyes tremulous with fear. She is great, but it is a Bette Davis tour-de-force and she wipes every other actor off the screen. Full 10 of 10 for this one, and recommended to everyone who wants to see what the great actresses of the 1930s and 1940s could and would still do, albeit in minor-A productions, as the requests for their services dwindled, but wanted to keep on working.

Another Oscar nomination for Bette Davis, and why not? Nobody did as much as Bette did with the little she was often given. Nobody probably could have. Not a particularly good film, but oddly enough it's interesting, with some compelling moments, based on sheer Bette Davis star power alone. It's great to see the beautiful young Bette as a young Fanny Trellis turn into a hideous Fanny Skeffington as a result of a serious bout with diphtheria. The transformation is quite wonderful, every slightest gesture carefully orchestrated. Unfortunately for Bette, she grew into her Fanny Skeffington look in real life. If you love Bette Davis or the early movies of the 1940s, you will want to see this.