The Great Lie (1941)

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:

Baby | Pregnant | Marriage | Arizona | Pregnant Woman

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:

When Pete returns from seeing his lawyer, early in the film, he finds Sandra's agent in the living room listening to her latest recording. This is an excerpt from the first movement of the Piano Concerto No 4 in D minor by Anton Rubinstein, a great rarity and certainly not recorded by anyone else in 1941. It was possibly chosen by Max Steiner because it was no longer in copyright, but whatever the reason, it was a most unusual and sophisticated choice.

Goofs:

Continuity: Maggie's hair changes length from one shot to another, sometimes reaching her shoulders, sometimes tightly framing her face.

Quotes:

Sandra Kovac: "If I didn't think you meant so well, I'd feel like slapping your face"

Movie Connections:

Featured in Stardust: The Bette Davis Story (2006) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Susie Girl

Mary Astor's Pinnacle Year

The Great Lie in its own way is quite daring for the time. There were not too many films in which motherhood was seen as a burden rather than a sacred obligation. In that sense Warner Brothers was taking quite a chance with this film.

The one thing I don't understand is Bette Davis taking the role of the noble one in the triangle that involves her with George Brent and Mary Astor. Astor's part is clearly the showier one which she proved by taking home the Best Supporting Actress for 1941. Perhaps it was simply a matter of screen time and that Davis was not going to be in support of anyone.

Be that as it may, The Great Lie involves a possible lie to come when a certain infant comes of age. George Brent's got both these women on the string. He marries Mary Astor who is a renowned concert pianist in a whirlwind courtship as soon as the ink on her divorce became dry.

Turns out it wasn't quite that dry yet. But nature taking its course Astor gets pregnant. But before she and we find that out, Brent whose marriage to Astor was technically invalid runs off with Davis who's a member of the rich Maryland horsey set.

Later on Brent goes missing in a plane crash in the Amazon rain forest and Davis comes up with a marvelous proposition. If Astor will give up the kid when it's born, she'll raise it as her own. Astor who is career minded to the last exponential degree agrees to this until Brent finds his way out of the rain forest.

The Great Lie is one potboiler melodrama which is lifted above its worth by these two women. Davis does what she can with the part, though I think she would have been better as the pianist. But Mary Astor just dominates the film. Her performance is the best thing by far in The Great Lie. This was the pinnacle year in Mary Astor's career. She also co-starred in 1941 in her best known screen part, that of Brigid O'Shaunessy in The Maltese Falcon.

Given the mores of the time there are only certain directions this plot can take. The Great Lie would be one great flop, but for Bette and Mary. See it for them.