IMDb RATING
6.8/10
2.8K
YOUR RATING
Resentful of her small-town life, a married woman schemes to run off with a rich businessman.Resentful of her small-town life, a married woman schemes to run off with a rich businessman.Resentful of her small-town life, a married woman schemes to run off with a rich businessman.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 nomination total
Joel Allen
- Minister
- (uncredited)
Gail Bonney
- Woman
- (uncredited)
Frances Charles
- Miss Elliott
- (uncredited)
James Craven
- Man with Photographs
- (uncredited)
Ann Doran
- Edith Williams
- (uncredited)
June Evans
- Woman
- (uncredited)
Bess Flowers
- Secretary
- (uncredited)
Hal Gerard
- Waiter
- (uncredited)
Creighton Hale
- Townsman with Glasses
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaBette Davis thought Joseph Cotten was all wrong for the role of her husband, saying: "He's adorable. What in the world would she leave him for?"
- GoofsNear the end, as Rosa prepares to catch the Chicago train, the camera dollies backwards, away from her, and as it does, the equipment bangs into her closet door, causing the clothes hanging on it to sway back-and-forth.
- Quotes
Rosa Moline: What a dump!
- Crazy creditsThe film begins after the opening credits with this warning title: This is the story of evil. Evil is headstrong - is puffed up. For our souls sake, it is salutory for us to view it in all it's ugly nakedness once in a while. Thus may we know how those who deliver themselves over to it end up like the scorpion, in a mad frenzy stinging themselves to eternal death.
Featured review
A camp classic
The tagline read 'Nobody's as good as Bette when she's bad' and the movie, reviled at the time of its release, became a camp classic when it was immortalised in the opening scene of Edward Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woof". It's actually a lot better than Mr Albee gave it credit for and Bette is magnificently over-the-top as small-town tramp Rosa Moline who wants to ditch her hubbie, (modest little Joseph Cotten), so she can marry bigshot David Brian and run off to Chicago, (the song 'Chicago' plays continuously, in one form or another, on the soundtrack).
Okay, it's not one of Bette's greatest performances and, to be honest, she spends the movie chewing the scenery while Lenore J Coffee's screenplay reeks of purple prose. King Vidor was the director so you knew exactly what you were letting yourself in for; remember he was the man who gave us "The Fountainhead" and "Duel in the Sun" and who seemed to take a perverse delight in making his leading ladies suffer. Hysteria was always the name of the game with Mr Vidor. Of course, he was also one of the great visual stylists and even a corn-fed chicken, (it's certainly no turkey), like this looks the part. Without Albee it may well have been forgotten so perhaps we owe him a debt of gratitude. Camp, yes; a classic of its kind, most certainly.
Okay, it's not one of Bette's greatest performances and, to be honest, she spends the movie chewing the scenery while Lenore J Coffee's screenplay reeks of purple prose. King Vidor was the director so you knew exactly what you were letting yourself in for; remember he was the man who gave us "The Fountainhead" and "Duel in the Sun" and who seemed to take a perverse delight in making his leading ladies suffer. Hysteria was always the name of the game with Mr Vidor. Of course, he was also one of the great visual stylists and even a corn-fed chicken, (it's certainly no turkey), like this looks the part. Without Albee it may well have been forgotten so perhaps we owe him a debt of gratitude. Camp, yes; a classic of its kind, most certainly.
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- MOscarbradley
- Jul 1, 2018
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Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $1,300,000
- Runtime1 hour 37 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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