The Great Lie (1941)

Wonderful Movie

Touches You

Fantastic!

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

In New York, the playboy Peter 'Pete' Van Allen (George Brent) marries the famous pianist Sandra Kovak (Mary Astor) after a party. A couple of days later, his lawyer Lock Thompson (Jerome Cowan) tell him that their marriage is not valid, since Sandra's divorce of the previous husband is not concluded. Pete is a distinguished pilot and he flies to Maryland to meet his former fiancée Maggie Patterson (Bette Davis) in her farm. Maggie tells that her uncle has offered a position of pilot to work for the government. Pete returns to New York and tells Sandra that they need to marry again on the next week. However she has a concert in Philadelphia and tells that she cannot marry him on that date. Pete travels to Maryland and tells Maggie that he is free to marry her. They get married and soon Maggie learns that Sandra is pregnant. However Pete is missing and the search party does not find him. Maggie seeks out Sandra and proposes to adopt her baby; in return she would give a generous amount for the pianist. However when Pete is found in Manaus, Sandra visits Maggie and Pete and blackmails Maggie, expecting to have the child and Pete back."The Great Lie" is an exaggerated melodrama with Bette Davis, Mary Astor and George Brent. Pete is a shallow character that does not work and leaves Sandra in a ridiculous way to stay with Maggie. The rivals do not have much reason to be with Pete. The conclusion is dull, with Pete giving up of his son. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "A Grande Mentira" ("The Great Lie")

I liked this film right off. Very well done but at this time Bette Davis had so many dramas being released there are too many that are better...or stand out more...than this one.A fairly free-spirited guy who thinks he got married to a famous concert pianist has been told by his Lawyer that the marriage didn't take cause she wasn't fully divorced until the next week. He takes a few minutes and decides to go visit his on again-off again girlfriend to see what she thinks. She already knows he's married from the society papers but he doesn't tell her the marriage was null and void. He still loves his old girlfriend but decided he should tell the other girl to marry him again and tells her to meet him on a certain day. She can't cause she has a show to do but does have time to get married if she hurries but...she doesn't show up. He marries his old girlfriend instead.Soon after he gets involved in some flying and cartography and his plane crashes over the jungles of Brazil. His would have been wife tells his new wife she's pregnant by his baby. From this is where the real story starts. I would love to sit here and tell you more but it would really just be cheating. You have to see the story line itself to believe it. This is where 2 fantastic actresses make this thing really work.This is a really well done film. Well acted all the way through. I can see why Bette Davis' favorite actor to work with was George Brent cause they really have decent chemistry on screen. The real star in this to me is Mary Astor. She has a smallish role in this but very pivotal as the spoiled/bratty pianist who tries to control everything...and if not, hell hath no furry. She really lights up the screen with her nastiness in this. She's top notch.A film without a doubt worth a look but there are many others that work better from Ms. Davis during this time period...like Mr. Skeffington, Now Voyager or Old Maid. This film is no slouch but when you watch these others and compare, you'll see what I mean.

Pete (George Brent) gets married to concert pianist Sandra (Mary Astor) but their union isn't legal so he re-arranges another wedding date. However, Sandra already has commitments on that day which, quite rightly, she fulfils. I'm not sure why Pete has a problem with this but he does and off he goes to marry previous lover Maggie (Bette Davis) instead. The script then throws us by killing off Pete. However, Sandra has become pregnant by him and Maggie proposes a deal which becomes the Great Lie. Maggie will keep the child as her own while securing Sandra financially and no-one outside these two women should know anything of the deal. Well, guess what ?...Pete is not really dead and returns to Maggie where he assumes that she is the mother of his son. At this moment, Sandra appears back on the scene.....The story is complete tosh. No way would a normal woman want to bring up a child that is not only not her own, but also belongs to her main love rival. It would be far more realistic to see her murder the baby. On the flip side, no way would a mother give up her baby to her main love rival - she'd abort or put it up for adoption rather than hand it to someone that she hates. The story of the Great Lie is ludicrous. But it doesn't matter coz it makes for great watching. And this is down to the two women Bette Davis and Mary Astor. Their sparring is very entertaining and continues throughout the whole film. Mary Astor takes the usual Bette Davis role and has great fun with the cutting one-liners. Her piano playing scenes at her concerts are a bit suspect but she manages to make what could be a very irritating bitchy character completely watchable and will have you thinking "oh good, she's back!" instead of "Oh no, not that annoying woman again".The black cast at Maggie's home are completely annoying but they do sing a nice song on Pete and Maggie's wedding night. It's followed by a boy singing a crappy song but thankfully, they cut that one short. Despite the stupid storyline, the film is very watchable, especially whenever Davis and Astor have scenes together, and I anticipated a different ending - eg, Davis has no option but to kill Astor and thus preserve the Great Lie. Well, that's not what happens!

To my mind this film is perfect - a classic example of what the studio system of the golden years of Hollywood could achieve. Strong direction, witty dialogue, beautiful music, sublime cinematography, crisp editing, gorgeous production design and costuming, brilliant performances - every element of this film is perfect.Add to all that the daring (for its day) story-line, Bette Davis at the height of her dramatic powers and at her most beautiful, and Mary Astor delivering what I think is one of the great screen performances of all time, and you have a very special film indeed.Although the film may seem to have dated elements, especially in the depiction of the African-American characters, if you let yourself watch the film with 1941 eyes you will be richly rewarded. Besides which the wonderful Hattie McDaniel brings so much depth to what could have been a simple stereotype.As you can tell, I love this film. I understand Bette Davis and Mary Astor loved working together - and you can see that on the screen. The scenes between the two of them are electric, with so much being said beyond the words. Thank God Astor won an Oscar for her work here. She truly deserved it.