Review of The Great Lie

One of Bette Davis' more colorless entries. Here she spars with concert pianist Mary Astor over playboy George Brent (the "lie" of the title involves one of the women raising the other's child as if it were her own). Somewhat plodding melodrama does pick up steam in its second-act, but it may lose non-devout viewers before then. The film's biggest obstacles are the awkward direction by Edmund Goulding and Lenore Coffee's soapy screenplay. Mary Astor won a Supporting Actress Oscar, yet her bitchiness occasionally seems forced (she's a good sport when being used for comedic relief, but even this doesn't fully come off). Hattie McDaniel is always nice to have around (albeit stuck in her proverbial role as the mouthy maid). As for Davis, she certainly looks good, however the star is trapped performing in a dishearteningly subdued key nearly throughout. ** from ****