As we begin our filmography of Bette Davis films, we’ll start with a Pre-Code from 1933, Robert Florey’s EX-LADY. For those of you who have not taken my Pre-Code course or those who simply need a reminder, let’s start with a little refresher of what exactly a “Pre-Code” is.
Pre-Code cinema (1929 – 1934) refers to a very specific timeline in film history when the advent of sound technology revolutionized the motion picture industry, and the Production Code was very loosely applied or ignored entirely. It ended in the summer of 1934 when mounting pressures from religious organizations forced the hands of studios to enforce the strict rules of morality. During the Pre-Code years there were many on-screen examples and depictions of sex, violence, alcohol/drugs; including suggestions of nudity, extra-marital sex, and storylines that rebelled against the traditional conventions of marriage. Most importantly, it was the most liberated time in cinema history as seen in narratives for women’s roles. Stories often centered on, or were driven by, the female characters- depicting them as complicated, empowered, career-focused, and on equal footing as their male counterparts.
EX-LADY is a perfect example of a Pre-Code film, specifically challenging the views on gender roles of men and women, and marriage. From the onset, Bette Davis’s “Helen” is depicted as an independent, talented, confident woman who loves her career and doesn’t see the point of marriage. She is happy with the arrangement of having a sexual partner in “Don” (Gene Raymond) but believes marriage would only ruin their already perfect relationship. Her parents are less than thrilled with Helen’s modern views of sex. Her father calls his daughter, “cheap,” and stresses over how she may be perceived by society. Practical Helen replies calmly and assuredly that she has no desire to change her mind. (For now …)
However, Don is also nudging Helen to embrace the concept of marriage. Helen eventually does warm up to the idea of marital bonds (or, is she compromising for his sake?); and interestingly, it is Helen who proposes. In no time, Don is building up resentments, stressed, and has wandering eyes following their honeymoon that didn’t seem to be the case before they tied the knot. Is a dating experiment the best path for this couple?
For Bette, this was early in her career at Warner Brothers, but it was also the last picture release for producer Darryl F. Zanuck before he left WB to form 20th Century Pictures (he’d later merge with Fox to become 20th Century-Fox). He had a dispute with Harry Warner’s decisions to severely cut salaries to face the Depression era budgeting. Zanuck handed director Robert Florey this directing assignment only a matter of hours before shooting began, with no preparation to indicate if this was more a comedy or drama tone. The entire film was shot in eighteen days.
Just four months prior to filming production on EX-LADY, Bette Davis married her high school sweetheart, “Ham” Nelson. She was a virgin and raised with puritanical views on sex. The irony is, Bette’s own views on sex at this point in her life would be starkly naïve and old-fashioned compared to her character, “Helen.” And yet, her views on being a career woman mirrored Helen’s. Her own duality to work as a major Hollywood star on the Warner Brothers lot, then come home to be ‘suzy homemaker’ would become an ongoing internal conflict for decades to come.
Ham would soon realize that when you marry a rising Hollywood star, it came with a full package- including Bette’s insatiable reading (Ham would later cite as a reason for their divorce), and a house full of Davis women. Newlyweds Bette and Ham, mother Ruthie, and sister Bobby all lived together. They moved around frequently, as the restless nomads the Davis women were accustomed; that is, until Bobby had a nervous breakdown. After that, Ruthie moved Bobby back East, to be with family in Massachusetts. Ham was the true naivete if he thought he’d finally get Bette all to himself. Whether she admitted to herself, the work would always come first.
Writers Edith Fitzgerald’s and Robert Riskin’s story was an unproduced play in 1930. It became Archie Mayo’s ILLICIT (1931), starring Barbara Stanwyck, James Rennie, Ricardo Cortez, and Joan Blondell. This film is a remake of ILLICIT.
Born in Paris, France in 1900, Director Robert Florey started as a silent film writer and director of short films. In the 1930s and 1940s, he directed the Marx Brothers in Cocoanuts, and a consistent stream of mostly mediocre films. Beginning in the early 50s, he began directing television, which was very successful for him and the bulk of his career until his death in 1979. His last work as a director was for an episode of “The Outer Limits” in 1964. He is also noteworthy for his writing contributions for MURDERS In THE RUE MORGUE (1932, screenplay adaption), FRANKENSTEIN (1931, uncredited contributor to treatment) and BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935, uncredited, story) and more.
For those unfamiliar with Gene Raymond (“Don”), he is recognizable for other 30s and 40s films, but more notable for being the spouse to actress/soprano Jeanette MacDonald. They were married from 1935 to her death in 1965. MacDonald was very popular as the sugar-sweet, on-screen MGM musicals partner to Nelson Eddy—and off-screen, too. While married to Raymond, MacDonald had a twenty years-long, secret love affair with Eddy. Raymond was considered as bisexual, who was known for his affair with Olathe, Kansas-born actor Buddy Rogers. As was often done in Old Hollywood, the marriage of convenience was a smoke screen. MacDonald died of heart failure at the age of sixty-one, while many fans say it was literally a broken heart from the many years of being forced to endure the secrecy of her true love. Nelson died only a couple years later.
This film’s premiere was upstaged in the Hollywood tabloids by news of Joan Crawford’s announcement of her divorce from Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. For weeks, headlines focused solely on the Crawford-Fairbanks salacious details, which sacrificed the publicity to promote EX-LADY. As a result, Bette claimed this picture was a flop, which Bette blamed directly on Crawford. Truth is, this film did make a profit, albeit a modest one. (It cost $115,000 to make and took in more than $283,000.) Ambitious Bette wanted a great deal more. Many consider this to be birth of the lifelong feud between the two. Or perhaps, their rivalry likely began when both were sleeping with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
Many questions and thoughts to consider as we study this film:
- Are there ‘wolves’ equally pursuing both Helen and Don?
- Are each Helen and Don justified in their jealousies?
- Was Helen right all along? Or was Don?
- Does this film paint a positive or negative view on marriage? On relationships? On sex outside of marriage?
- Did Helen derive her views on marriage from observing her parents?
- Speaking of Helen’s parents, in what ways does this film take on a transition between Old World and New World regarding morality?
- Does “Peggy” take on the more masculine stereotype of a philandering spouse?
- Helen’s line that their unconventional arrangement was a “noble experiment” is code for Prohibition.
- Was Frank McHugh’s character the real savior and hero? Does he bring a neutral presence of equality so neither Helen nor Don is taking a step back of sacrifice for the other? In other words, the ending is a compromise on truly equal terms.
What do we notice about a young Bette, in contrast to her future appearance and acting style? (This will become more apparent as we explore her latter films.) Notice her hairstyle (the platinum blond starlet look that the studios preferred), her voice, her tone, and her mannerisms. Could this be restraint based on ‘relatively’ inexperienced acting, or at the behest from the director, or perhaps Bette’s own interpretation to portray a practical, calm, and soft-spoken Helen?
Pre-Code moments:
- What non-verbal cues do we first see that Helen and Don are having a non-marital sexual relationship? (ex. Don’s own key in the lock, shadow of him in the bedroom getting undressed as her father looks on…)
- “Red letter A” circles on the dating calendar. As a nod to the ‘Scarlett Letter,’ this clearly indicates every time they have sex.
- What other clues do you see as a Pre-Code moment?
Why did I choose this film to begin our Bette Davis series? For all its shortcomings, the biggest takeaway, and why we’re studying EX-LADY, is because we can see the fledging potential in Bette here. While not her first film, nor even her first film with Warner Brothers, it is considered her first starring role. And while this role holds back so much of the true Bette brilliance that we know is on the horizon, this is the perfect spot to begin our journey.
CAST and CREW:
Bette Davis – Helen Bauer
Gene Raymond – Don Peterson
Frank McHugh – Hugo Van Hugh
Monroe Owsley – Nick Malvyn
Claire Dodd – Iris Van Hugh
Kay Strozzi – Peggy Smith
Director – Robert Florey
Writers – Edith Fitzgerald (story), Robert Riskin (story), David Boehm (screenplay)
Produced by – Lucien Hubbard (supervising producer, uncredited), Darryl F. Zanuck (producer, uncredited)
Cinematography – Tony Gaudio
Editing – Harold McLernon
Art Direction – Jack Okey
Costume Design – Orry-Kelly
Costume Jeweller – Eugene Joseff
Music – Leo F. Forbstein (director, Vitaphone Orchestra)
Release date – May 15, 1933
Filming location – Warner Brothers studios, Burbank, CA
Filming dates – Dec. 12, 1932 – Dec. 31, 1932
Sources:
- “Dark Victory, The Life of Bette Davis.” By: Ed Sikove. Henry Holt and Co. 2007.
- “The Lonely Life.” By: Bette Davis. GP Putnam’s Sons. 1962.
- Maceddy.com, “Jeanette MacDonald-Nelson Eddy love story featured in Oman newspaper!” May 24, 2013.
- IMDB
- Vieira, pp 220 -221; Warner Bros. accounting sheet dated April 6, 1933