January 26 movie: That Certain Woman. There are a lot of things about old movies which I can overlook. Put aside my modern sensibilities and accept the movie for what it is and the time. I can't do that with movies where a couple split up, and the woman's life is ruined, and the man goes on his merry way without ever giving her a second thought, and she's supposed to quietly endure it as a test of her .. devotion I guess. Bonus points if she gives up her child to him, ostensibly so the child will have a better life, except there was nothing wrong with the life she would have given it. And eventually they reunite, and he's so sorry about the years she suffered, and that makes it all okay. I can't stomach that, and it's all over this movie.
In other words, this movie sucked. Bette Davis stars as the long-suffering woman, a grown-up Sara Crewe. Henry Fonda is her boyfriend, the heel. No, he's not a heel. It's worse: he's weak. He abandons Bette Davis, puts her through hell, simply because he lacks a spine. And she puts up with it because she wuvs him. Ugh. Also stars Ian Hunter as Ralph Bellamy.
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