Jezebel (1938)
Director:
William Wyler
Tagline:
« A Fearless Feminine Creature with a heart full of love ! »
Actors:
Julie Marsden
Preston Dillard
Buck Cantrell
Amy Bradford Dillard
Dr. Livingstone
Rating:
(16’526 votes)
(16’526 votes)
Quotes:
« Dr. Livingstone: You might be interested in a bit of news I got today: Preston Dillard's coming back. Arrives Friday on the packet.
»
« Aunt Belle: What brings him?
»
« Dr. Livingstone: This yellow fever business. We two stand together on what ought to be done about it. Now it's busted loose, he's coming back.
»
« Aunt Belle: It's high time. I suspect I know Julie like nobody ever will. Every crook and cranny of her.
»
« Dr. Livingstone: You ought to, Miss Belle. She's more like you than you ever were.
»
« Aunt Belle: Maybe I love her most when she's her meanest, because I know that's when she's loving most.
»
« Buck Cantrell: I like my convictions undiluted, same as I do my bourbon.
»
« Julie: Pres, why did you do it? Why Pres?
»
« Preston Dillard: Because I love her.
»
« Julie: But you had my love.
»
« Preston Dillard: And lost it.
»
« Julie: Wasn't that memory more real than anything she had to give to you?
»
[Preston walks away]
« Julie: Oh, don't be cross with me, Pres. Just tell me. You must!
»
« Preston Dillard: Please don't, Julie!
»
« Julie: Shall I cry for you? Nobody ever made me cry but you… And that was only twice! Do you remember?
»
« Preston Dillard: Yes.
»
« Julie: How much do you remember?
»
« Preston Dillard: Everything you ever said or did. But that's passed now, Julie. Done. Finished.
»
« Julie: I ought to have come to you. I wanted to so terribly. It was because I wanted to so much that I couldn't. You do understand that, don't you, Pres?
»
« Preston Dillard: I didn't understand. I just knew what you did.
»
« Julie: But you had to come back home, didn't you? You had to come back to the country and the things you know, because you belong here! Nothing can change that. Pres, Listen… Can you hear them? The night noises? The mockingbird in the magnolia? See the moss hanging from the moonlight? You can fairly taste the night, can't you? You're part of it, Pres, and it's part of you. Like I am. You can't get away from us, Pres, we're both in your blood. This is the country you were born to, the country you know and trust. Your country, Pres! Amy wouldn't understand. She'd think there'd be snakes.
»
« Preston Dillard: Julie, please!
»
« Julie: Oh, it isn't tame and easy like the North. It's quick and dangerous, but you trust it! Remember how the fever mist smells in the bottoms, rank and rotten? But you trust that, too, because it's part of you. Just as I'm part of you and we'll never let you go!
»
[Julie kisses Preston, he pushes her away]
« Julie: Pres, you're afraid!
»
[Preston glares at her angrily and walks away]
Trailer:
Jezebel
Runtime:104 minutes
Plots:
In 1850s Louisiana, a free-spirited Southern belle loses her fiancé due to her stubborn vanity and pride, and vows to win him back.
In one of her most renowned roles, Bette Davis portrays Julie Marsden, a spoiled Southern belle who risks losing her suitor with her impetuous behavior. Engaged to successful banker Preston Dillard, Julie pushes him away with her arrogant and contrary ways, leading to a scandalous scene at a major social event and his subsequent departure. When Preston eventually returns and Julie attempts to win him back, she discovers that it may be too late.
Set in antebellum New Orleans during the early 1850’s, this film follows Julie Marsden through her quest for social redemption on her own terms. Julie is a beautiful and free spirited, rapacious Southern belle who is sure of herself and controlling of her fiancé Preston Dillard, a successful young banker. Julie’s sensitive but domineering personality–she does not want so much to hurt as to assert her independence–forces a wedge between Preston and herself. To win him back, she plays North against South amid a deadly epidemic of yellow fever which claims a surprising victim.

