June Bride (1948)
7/10
Bette Davis is excellent in comedy roles
6 February 2022
I have just lost a review I have just written about this film, so I will attempt to recapture some of it. Bette Davis looks elegant and beautiful in this fluffy comedy and it is her delivery of sometimes very witty lines that makes this scenario work so well. She is the editor of a magazine, strong willed and good at her job and as she says in one scene not short on male company. Then an ex-lover needs a job and reluctantly accepts to work for her. Despite my not liking much Robert Montgomery as an actor he delivers well and with near equal wit, but it is Davis who rules. That is until the final scene which I found threw away a lot of what went before, and my reaction to it is so strong that I have to give this film a 7 and not a 9 which I would have liked. No spoilers except to say Davis and her co-workers go to a small town far from New York to cover the ' story ' of a June bride wedding. The twists and turns here are well directed and well acted by all. Fay Bainter stands out, as Davis's female assistant and Tom Tully is excellent as the father of the bride. I could name them all, and there is not a trace of bad or poor acting anywhere. Some critics consider it as a minor Davis film but I disagree. As if rehearsing for ' All About Eve ' to come two years later it just shows that with good direction and fine acting no film is minor. Pity about the final scene and in my opinion another kind of scenario could have been written. But then the roles of women, especially forceful ones were perhaps unable to totally succeed and win alongside men back in 1948. Not in Hollywood anyway.
1 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Recently Viewed