Mr. Skeffington

I think this is one of Bette Davis' best roles ever. I have always been the "beautiful one' in my family also, getting all the attention, neglecting (but still loving my child). This movie is timeless, especially today in our youth worshiping society. It should be required watching for all young teenage girls. The moral is: beauty fades but true love lasts forever. A cliché? Sure, but so what! I cry each time I see this film. It hits me close to home, I always secretly wondered if my daughter would be as beautiful if not more beautiful than me. Mr. Skeffington (played by Claude Rains) is too good to be true, no man would tolerate such rejection from his wife. How did she get pregnant? Also, all the men she constantly entertained in their home! Thats something that didn't make sense to me but the good outweighs the bad in this movie. I know Franny Skeffington was shallow, but what about all those around her? Once her youth & beauty had faded, not only did her so-called admirers & friends disappear but they were so cold & callous about it. This movie woke me up like a slap in the face. I make it a point to try not to look in the mirror more than 3 times a day. :) But I used to sleep with a mirror next to my bed just like Franny did. All women thrive on compliments, etc. But I pity Franny not for losing her beauty, but for losing her innocence. How ironic it was for her to get a children's disease in order to grow up. Having to be told by a therapist that she was old & her only hope was to go back to her husband. The ending was truly inspired! Another movie that has a similar message about beauty & love is "The Enchanted Cottage" (1945) All in all this is a realistic portrayal of a selfish, shallow person and it takes one to know one.............

Bette Davis was an actress. She did not play herself over and over but reinvented herself in each film she made. Mr Skeffington is curiously names after Claude Rains character Mr Skeffington, like Dorothy Arzner's Christopher Strong, a film about Cynthia Darrington ( Katherine Hepburn). Davis plays a Fanny, a woman of less than average intelligence, one afraid of being a woman, mostly because of the attention paid to her by ridiculous suitors, and a life spent in sucking up to them and learning how to get what she wants because of their stupidity. Finally she is truly loved by Mr Skellington (Claude Rains). Nevertheless she still feels embarassed having a baby so she goes back east to hid her growing body. Whatever made her into the fragile and distant creature she truly is underneath her silly flirtations and airs, she realizes in the end the shallowness of her fan club and the true love of the man who loves her no matter what. She conveys the bunglings of a woman caught up in her appearance and the futility of living as an image brilliantly. Well done Bette! You still outshine all actresses living!

Bette Davis and Richard Waring are the Trellis siblings, an old name and dwindling money. They also have the snobbery that comes from having a name that goes back to the 17th century in terms of residence on the North American continent. Both their lives get forever intertwined with that of Claude Rains, Mr. Skeffington.

Fanny Trellis Skeffington is one of Bette Davis's best screen performances. She's a shallow woman who is a great beauty and enjoys all the flattery that a stream of men give her. Waring to keep up with his lifestyle goes to work for investment banker Skeffington and winds up embezzling a considerable sum of money.

Rains is ready to prosecute, but Davis intercedes and marries Rains who is as entranced as everyone else is with her beauty. They have one rocky marriage that produces a daughter, Majorie Riordan, but little else in the way of happiness for either.

If Mr. Skeffington has a fault it's that Rains is sometimes just to good to be true. For what he put up with, if he were a Christian, he'd be a candidate for sainthood.

Another thing I like about Mr. Skeffington is that it does tackle the issue of anti-Semitism head-on. Waring is a Jew hater as are many of Davis's upper crust admirers. Rains keeps a cheerful look on his face, but because he's that brilliant an actor, you can see the pain registering.

Mr. Skeffington was nominated for two Academy Awards. Bette Davis got one of her nominations for Best Actress, but lost to Ingrid Bergman for Gaslight. And Rains was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, but he lost to Barry Fitzgerald in Going My Way.

Warner Brothers gave Davis a great group of supporting players and among the ones I like are Dorothy Peterson as her loyal maid, George Coulouris as a psychiatrist who gave her some words of wisdom like a Dutch Uncle, and Walter Abel as her wise cousin who is the catalyst for some positive change in her in the end.

Mr. Skeffington is Bette Davis at her best and always finds a place in the top 10 of her screen roles.

Watching "Mr. Skeffington" again, after not having seen the film for a while, one thing comes perfectly clear, the adage about love being blind never made more sense than what we witness Job Skeffington feel for his wife Fanny. His was a love like no other one; knowing she did not love him, he spent a lifetime to love her unconditionally until he loses his vision and can't see her dear face, which by that time is not the same as the young beauty he fell in love with and married.

Vincent Sherman's direction of this film, based on Elizabeth Von Armin's novel, makes it a classic that endures the passing of time. Sure, it's pure melodrama, but as a film, "Mr. Skeffington" makes perfect sense because of its timeless story. It helps too that the black and white cinematography by Ernest Haller is in pristine condition. The music score one hears in the background by Franz Waxman enhances the movie.

Bette Davis and Claude Rains had an easy way to compliment one another's work. It comes as no surprise these two actors made a tremendous contribution to the finished product as they are the only reason for watching the film. Bette Davis, with her enormous and expressive eyes is at the center of the story; a society beauty that was much in demand in her youth, sees her good looks fade as she ages in front of our eyes.

Claude Rains is the generous man who falls in love with Fanny, even though her brother has swindled money from his firm in order to keep living in the style the Trellis family has been used to. Mr. Skeffington being Jewish has to endure all the prejudice directed at him.

The supporting cast is excellent. Walter Abel, Marjorie Riordan, John Alexander, and the rest do a good ensemble job backing the principals.

"Mr. Skeffington" will delight all viewers.

"Mr. Skeffington" is one of the great Hollywood melodramas. Bette Davis has the showy role in this epic story of a troubled relationship, but it's Claude Rains as her Jewish husband who jerks the tears. Bette is all mannerisms and makeup - and there's nothing wrong with that! - but Rains gives a subtle, weighty performance that anchors the movie.

This is Warner Brothers at its most elegant. The Franz Waxman score is superb and the way he punctuates Bette's eye-blinking is hilarious.

The magnificent singer/actress Dolores Gray made her first film appearance in this film as a 1920s speakeasy chanteuse. Bette acknowledges what a beautiful voice she has in a moment that hasn't really anything to do with the scene, but the divine Dolores deserves the comment. In case you don't know who she is, check out her own film career 10 years later in her MGM films such as "It's Always Fair Weather."

Bette's aging makeup presages her work in "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?"

You won't want to miss "Mr. Skeffington." Bette's flamboyance and Rains' gravitas make this film totally enjoyable.