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)
Georgia Caine	...	Mrs. Pine (uncredited)
Richard Clayton	...	Page Boy (uncredited)
Billy Eugene Ferris	...	Pete Van Allen Jr. #1 (uncredited)
George Kirby	...	Minister (uncredited)
Doris Lloyd	...	Bertha, Sandra's Maid (uncredited)
Alphonse Martell	...	Backstage Waiter (uncredited)
Edmund Mortimer	...	Man Greeting Sandra Backstage (uncredited)
George Reed	...	Greenfield's Butler (uncredited)
Georges Renavent	...	Maitre d'Hotel (uncredited)
Cyril Ring	...	Harry Anderson (uncredited)
Napoleon Simpson	...	Parker, Greenfield's Chauffeur (uncredited)
Timony Tennyson	...	Pete Van Allen Jr. #2 (uncredited)
Leo White	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Lottie Williams	...	Woman with Minister at Maggie's (uncredited)
Charlotte Wynters	...	Mrs. Anderson (uncredited)

Directed by
Edmund Goulding

Writing credits
Polan Banks		(novel "The Far Horizon")
Lenore J. Coffee		(writer) (as Lenore Coffee)

Produced by
Henry Blanke	....	associate producer
Hal B. Wallis	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Max Steiner

Cinematography by
Tony Gaudio		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Ralph Dawson

Art Direction by
Carl Jules Weyl

Costume Design by
Orry-Kelly		(gowns)

Makeup Department
Perc Westmore	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Frank Mattison	....	unit manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jack Sullivan	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
C.A. Riggs	....	sound

Special Effects by
Robert Burks	....	special effects
Byron Haskin	....	special effects

Music Department
Leo F. Forbstein	....	musical director
Hugo Friedhofer	....	music arranger: orchestral arrangements
Ray Heindorf	....	music arranger: orchestral arrangements
Max Rabinowitz	....	musician: piano (uncredited)

Other crew
Norma Drury Boleslavsky	....	stand-in: hands playing piano (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1941) (USA) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2008) (USA) (DVD)

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:

One of Mary Astor 's lines is, "Who brought me to this dump?" Eight years later Bette Davis said "What a dump!", one of her best known quotes, in Beyond the Forest (1949). Both original scripts were written by Lenore J. Coffee.

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:

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

Soundtrack:

Slumber My Darling

Overblown but good soap opera

A rich woman Maggie (Bette Davis) is in love with Peter Van Allen (George Brent) who is married to famous concert pianist Sandra Kovak (Mary Astor). Them Van Allen finds out his marriage to Kovak isn't legal--they got married before her divorce was final. So he marries Maggie which infuriates Kovak. Then Kovak discovers she's pregnant and Van Allen disappears when his plane crashes in the jungle...

As you can see this is more than a little silly. The above plot just covers the first 30 minutes or so--the story gets even more ridiculous. This is wildly overly melodramatic and has an ending where reality totally disappears, but production values, music and performances pull it over.

It was lushly made (Warners Brothers spared no expense on this one) and there's some great music here--LOVE the piano solos that Astor is supposedly playing. Brent is good in his role--handsome and intelligent. Davis is (as always) good--she ALMOST overdoes it but is pulled back. Astor is GREAT--she deservedly won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for this. She takes her role and runs with it--she's playing an almost totally evil, self-absorbed woman and enjoys it.

So it IS silly but worth seeing. I watched the film with a smirk on my face the whole time but I DID keep watching. I give it a 7.