I would hardly call this highly inflammable Bette Davis film a romantic drama, more a very dark drama of a woman's descent to find love or lust at whatever cost. There is nothing romantic about it as it deals with moral degradation! Fannie (Davis) gets involved with a certain Mr. Skeffington whom she does not love one iota. And so the film begins chronicling one affair after another. It's all a pathetic attempt to hold onto something we all lose as time slips by. But hold on! There is a double twist at the end of this very elegant period piece showcasing Bette and the unique talent of Claude Raines who probably remains to this day one if not the greatest of all Hollywood character actors. The conclusion of Mr. Skeffington is shocking, my word for it. You undoubtedly can find a much better adjective to describe the situation. The double twist involving the two characters will blow your mind, as it were! Were the film re-made today, the flood gates would burst forth with sex. In 1944, the film was a giant hit yet with the severe film code of the era everything had to be said and done by suggestion. Be that as it may, the film worked and proved that a depraved life style need not depend on gratuitous sex, language and compromising situations. I actually prefer this style of film making to the overblown sexual films of today which often become overly needy for the very seedy, seamy side of life. One need not show every sexual positon known to man.
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