The Great Lie (1941)

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.

Director:

Edmund Goulding

Writers:

Lenore J. Coffee (screen play), Polan Banks (novel)

Stars:

Bette Davis, George Brent, Mary Astor

Won 1 Oscar.

Cast

Complete credited 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 Mason
Jerome Cowan	...	Jock H. Thompson
Charles Trowbridge	...	Sen. Ted Greenfield
Thurston Hall	...	Worthington James
Russell Hicks	...	Colonel 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)

Storyline

Sandra and Pete elope but their marriage is invalid since she's not yet divorced. Sandra is, however, pregnant by Pete. Pete marries his former fiancée Maggie, then flies to South America where his plane crashes. Maggie pays Sandra to let her adopt Pete's baby. Pete returns "from the dead". Sandra and Maggie contend for Pete and the baby.

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Plot Keywords:

baby | marriage | maryland | desert | missing person | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 April 1941 (USA)

Also Known As:

Far Horizon

Filming Locations:

Mojave Desert, Victorville, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

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.

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Goofs

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.

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Quotes

Sandra Kovac: Whoever heard of an ounce of brandy?

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Connections

Featured in Stardust: The Bette Davis Story (2006)

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Soundtracks

"For He's a Jolly Good Fellow"
(uncredited)
Traditional
Played during the home movie scene

User Reviews

Well constructed, fast, soap opera plot film, wonderful escapism.

The Great Lie (1941)

This is really a fabulous mixture of great movie themes, and it pulls it together to make its own amazing statement about fidelity and love. And class. And pre-war America, seemingly isolated but actually trapped by world events.

Within ten minutes there is first an echo of My Man Godfrey (George Brent in this case making a more mainstream Powell) and then a swoop down for a taste of Gone with the Wind or even closer, Jezebel (the plantation south, even though it's 1940 or so). Then it's a melodrama straight up, and tragedy, and even if the plot is improbable, you go with it and get swept away.

Brent plays Pete, a man caught between two women, both of money, but one cosmopolitan and used to being in charge, and one a lively, warm woman living a more earthy life. At the start it seems Pete is married to the urbane one, a concert pianist, Sandra, played with typical poise and ice by Mary Astor (compare this to her more famous role in The Maltese Falcon from the same year). She's a professional woman, in charge of her life, and, lately, Pete's. She wants independence and culture, and man with his feet on the ground.

But Brent's country girl, an ex-love (and true love, it seems) Maggie is played to perfection by Bette Davis. The music here, and the support cast is African American, which makes for a more heart warming, and wrenching, background. He pays a visit to Maggie the day after his wedding (for reasons that slowly clarify) and the dynamic is set. And the twists begin. We have a contemporary drama between recognizable stereotypes as World War II looms for the U.S.

Early on, Sandra asks Pete after his visit to Maggie, "Did you get it?" He says, "What?" Sexual innuendo intact, the Hays code chaffing, she clarifies, "The air?" What a great simple example of how movies so often played brilliantly with innuendo because the code wouldn't allow a straighter interplay.

Director Edmund Goulding is not as well known as some of his contemporaries, but he has a few masterpieces in his lot, including the Bette Davis Dark Victory and the later Razor's Edge. For me, The Great Lie is maybe short of perfect--the plot does intrude on our sense of suspending disbelief--but it's really fast, moving, well written, and well directed. No question.