Mr. Skeffington (1944)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Vincent Sherman

Writers:

Julius J. Epstein (screenplay) &
Philip G. Epstein (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

25 May 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

Popular and beautiful Fanny Trellis is forced into a loveless marriage with an older man, Jewish banker Job Skeffington, in order to save her beloved brother Trippy from an embezzlement charge and predictable complications result.

Plot Keywords:

Embezzlement | Suitor | Loveless Marriage | Jewish | Brother Sister Relationship

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

Cast

Bette Davis	...	Fanny Trellis
Claude Rains	...	Job Skeffington
Walter Abel	...	George Trellis
George Coulouris	...	Doctor Byles
Richard Waring	...	Trippy Trellis
Marjorie Riordan	...	Frances Rachel Trellis aka Young Fanny
Robert Shayne	...	MacMahon
John Alexander	...	Jim Conderley
Jerome Cowan	...	Edward Morrison
Johnny Mitchell	...	Johnny Mitchell
Dorothy Peterson	...	Manby
Peter Whitney	...	Chester Forbish
Bill Kennedy	...	Bill Thatcher
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Fred Aldrich	...	Speakeasy Bouncer (uncredited)
Sylvia Arslan	...	Fanny (at age 10) (uncredited)
Janet Barrett	...	Witness (uncredited)
Harry C. Bradley	...	Rector (uncredited)
Georgia Caine	...	Mrs. Newton (uncredited)
Wallis Clark	...	Clubman (uncredited)
Ann Codee	...	French Modiste (uncredited)
Gino Corrado	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Joe Devlin	...	Boat Employee (uncredited)
Ann Doran	...	Maria, a nursemaid (uncredited)
Helen Eby-Rock	...	Woman in Cafe (uncredited)
Richard Erdman	...	Western Union Boy (uncredited)
Edward Fielding	...	Justice of the Peace (uncredited)
Mary Field	...	Mrs. Penelope Hyslup (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Mrs. Thatcher (uncredited)
William Forrest	...	Clinton, second butler to Fanny (uncredited)
Jack George	...	Henri (uncredited)
Sol Gorss	...	Plainclothesman (uncredited)
Creighton Hale	...	Casey, an employee (uncredited)
Hans Herbert	...	(uncredited)
Stuart Holmes	...	Man in Skeffington's Office (uncredited)
Fred Kelsey	...	Cop in Speakeasy Raid (uncredited)
Andrea King	...	Dr. Byles' Nurse (uncredited)
Isabel La Mal	...	Woman in Cafe (uncredited)
Vera Lewis	...	Wife of Justice of the Peace (uncredited)
Michael Mark	...	Fanny's beautician (uncredited)
Matt McHugh	...	Drunk (uncredited)
Harold Miller	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Bert Moorhouse	...	Nightclub Extra (uncredited)
Edmund Mortimer	...	Nightclub Extra (uncredited)
Jack Mower	...	Man in Skeffington's Office (uncredited)
Dagmar Oakland	...	Woman (uncredited)
Cyril Ring	...	Perry Lanks (uncredited)
Frances Sage	...	Skeffington's first secretary (uncredited)
Erskine Sanford	...	Dr. Fawcette (uncredited)
Jeffrey Sayre	...	One of Fanny's Admirers (uncredited)
Will Stanton	...	Sid Lapham, Drunk (uncredited)
Lelah Tyler	...	Mrs. Forbish (uncredited)
Minerva Urecal	...	Woman in beauty shop (uncredited)
John Vosper	...	Artist (uncredited)
Regina Wallace	...	Mrs. Audrey Newton Conderley (uncredited)
Leo White	...	Henri's Assistant Beautician (uncredited)
Crane Whitley	...	Louis, the speakasy owner (uncredited)

Directed by
Vincent Sherman

Writing credits
Julius J. Epstein		(screenplay) &
Philip G. Epstein		(screenplay)
Elizabeth von Arnim		(story) (as Elizabeth)

Produced by
Julius J. Epstein	....	producer
Philip G. Epstein	....	producer
Jack L. Warner	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Franz Waxman
Paul Dessau		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Ernest Haller		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Ralph Dawson

Art Direction by
Robert M. Haas		(as Robert Haas)

Set Decoration by
Fred M. MacLean

Costume Design by
Orry-Kelly		(gowns)

Makeup Department
Perc Westmore	....	makeup artist
Margaret Donovan	....	hair stylist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William Kissell	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Robert B. Lee	....	sound

Music Department
Leo F. Forbstein	....	musical director
Leonid Raab	....	orchestral arranger

Other crew
James Leicester	....	montages

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures (as Warner Bros.-First National Pictures Inc.)

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1944) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

145 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Spain:7 | Australia:G | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (certificate #9762) | UK:U (re-rating) (2005) | UK:A (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Bette Davis was not the first choice for the role of Fanny. The part was first offered first to Merle Oberon and then to Hedy Lamarr who both turned it down.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The image of the battleship turning over in the newsreel scene is that of the Viribus Unitus, which sunk during the closing days of World War One, rather than before America's entry into the war, as discussed in the newsreel

Quotes:

[first lines]
Jim Conderley: Good evening, Soames!
Soames: Good evening, Mr. Conderley.
Jim Conderley: Afraid I'm a little early, aren't I?
Soames: Miss Trellis wasn't expecting anyone till 8 o'clock.
Jim Conderley: Well, I thought I'd come a little ahead of time; have a little chat with Miss Fanny.
Soames: Sorry, sir; she's still dressing.
Jim Conderley: All right, I'll wait.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "M*A*S*H: It Happened One Night (#4.3)" (1975)

Soundtrack:

Bye Bye Blackbird

Very, very worthwhile

This truly lavish melodrama really knocked me out. I simply did not find any significant weaknesses to this film, at least none of which others have alluded. Films of this type can easily become maudlin, insignificant, and flat. However, "Mr. Skeffington" is the result of a set of elements that are incorporated vibrantly. The film simply has a grand sweep to it, lifting it high above many others of this genre.

The staging and sets (in conjunction with Ory-Kelly's costumes) are as good as any movie that I've seen, along the lines of "Gone With the Wind", "Citizen Kane", "Gigi", or "Long Day's Journey into Night". The use of silence and spaciousness, along with noise and density, is brilliantly carried out and is extremely well-balanced by the characters' non-verbal responses to each other. It's hard to describe without providing details of given scenes - I would suggest that you watch it with this perspective and see what you think.

Speaking of scenes, length is the common enemy of films of this type, but not here - each scene plays out like a shining entity that still provides momentum and underpinning for the entire story. I counted at least 12 very memorable scenes. Humor is added strategically to most scenes to balance the starkness of the story and is nicely understated to avoid a sense of camp. Director Vincent Sherman has polished each scene like a diamond, and the effect is very powerful. The scenes really do stand on their own almost like a set of montages.

Bette Davis' performance is decidedly affected as she plays Fanny as a young girl, but the pure talent and visual power of this actress makes one believe that she is truly the beauty that she is supposed to be. Notice how her movements and responsiveness reinforce the sense of someone almost 15 years younger than herself. While others have complained about the makeup of the older Fanny in portraying her change in age, I found that the makeup perfectly embodied the older Fanny because Davis plays the character so consistently to her advanced age. I would place this performance in Bette Davis' top tier, along with "Now, Voyager", "The Little Foxes", and "All About Eve".

Claude Rains plays the title character with restraint, integrity, and great love for Fanny, but the sense of pathos that he communicates really helps to give the movie a lot of power. The other acting performances are uniformly excellent, particularly Walter Abel as Cousin George. Without the strength of Abel's characterization, this would have been a far weaker movie.

Franz Waxman's score has been criticized by some as being extravagant and overly dramatic to the point of being startling. I really enjoyed it - Waxman incorporates a lush late romantic style that has a stronger "classical-music" feel than other scores for movies of this type, which tend to emphasize strings as accompaniment. The result is a feeling of complexity which shades the story along with the other elements.

This is easily Vincent Sherman's best work, one of Ernest Haller's best, and one of the best melodramas that I have seen. 10 out of 10.