The Great Lie (1941)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Edmund Goulding

Writers:

Polan Banks (novel)
Lenore J. Coffee (writer)

Release Date:

12 April 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Sometimes there's a terrible penalty for telling the truth.

Plot:

After a newlywed's husband apparently dies in a plane crash, she discovers that her rival for his affections is now pregnant with his child.

Plot Keywords:

Pregnant | Baby | Marriage | Washington D.C. | Orchestral Music Score

Awards:

Won Oscar.

Cast

Bette Davis	...	Maggie Patterson Van Allen
George Brent	...	Peter 'Pete' Van Allen
Mary Astor	...	Sandra Kovak
Lucile Watson	...	Aunt Ada Greenfield
Hattie McDaniel	...	Violet
Grant Mitchell	...	Joshua 'Josh' Mason
Jerome Cowan	...	Jock H. Thompson
Charles Trowbridge	...	Sen. Ted Greenfield
Thurston Hall	...	Oscar Worthington 'Worthy' James
Russell Hicks	...	Col. Harriston
Virginia Brissac	...	Sadie
J. Farrell MacDonald	...	Dr. Ferguson (as J. Farrell Macdonald)
Addison Richards	...	Mr. Talbot
Sam McDaniel	...	Jefferson Washington
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Olin Howland	...	Ed, Arizona Ranch Hand (scenes deleted)

Also Known As:

Far Horizon (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Mojave Desert, Victorville, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Bette Davis and 'Mary Astor (I)' thought the original script was not very good. They ended up doing massive rewrites on the script themselves.

Goofs:

Continuity: The cake that Violet and Jefferson take to the party changes size from the time it leaves the kitchen and its arrival in the dining area. It leaves the kitchen very tall and arrives considerably shorter.

Quotes:

Sandra Kovac: I'm not one of you anemic creatures who can get nourishment from a lettuce leaf - I'm a musician, I'm an artist! I have zest and appetite - and I like food!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Becoming Attractions: The Trailers of Humphrey Bogart (1997) (TV)

Soundtrack:

The Sailor's Hornpipe

missing husbands, mystery babies, warring ladies

An average melodrama with a powerhouse performance by Mary Astor (if you've only seen her as Marmie in 'Little Women' she's a bit different here). Bette Davis and George Brent are former lovers still on the boil, and circumstances mean that he is passed between her and Astor depending on what's happened on a particular day. Then he goes missing in a plane, there's a baby, there's a plan ... and that's about it.

'The Great Lie' is a typical Warners potboiler, lengthy, not very believable, but with decent enough performances and production values. In the 1940s there were a lot of love triangles in the movies and a lot about the sanctity of marriage and the importance of children; this film is no exception. The husband may be a bit colourless, but the ladies he is involved with more than make up for that, although it is hardly Davis' best performance.