hunter-19

At the risk of sounding politically incorrect, I think that this is a story written by a woman, for women. The terrible circumstances that cause the girl's sadness should have made me feel sympathy. Instead, I was annoyed at her sullen, ungrateful attitude. I had to keep reminding myself that she was surviving in the only way she knew how... but the hurtful way she treated her uptight, misguided aunt, made me dislike her even more. She seemed less the victim than a brooding narcissist. On the other hand, the old nun's part was played beautifully. Her performance made the whole movie worth watching.

I've heard a lot of complaints about not filming this masterpiece in color. Watch it again, and this time look at the beautiful use of light and shadow and the depth of atmosphere, especially in the night scenes. I don't believe that these effects could have been achieved with the strong lights needed for color at that time. All we need for the Olympus Ball scene is our imagination. Maybe the lack of color made us feel what was going on during that strange waltz.

I saw Kim Hunter interviewed about the making of this classic. She said that everyone on the lot tried to gain access to the set for the final scene. They all watched as Davis climbed the stairs to her bedroom. A stunned silence remained after she passed through the door. Moments later, Davis stepped back through the door and asked the director if Max Steiner was to do the score for the picture. He said that he thought so. Davis didn't like her acting to be underscored by emotional music and said, "Well, either I go through that door or Max Steiner goes through it but we're goddamn sure not going thought it together!