Rent The Great Lie (1941)

Musical Soap. - The Great Lie review by Steve

Musical melodrama which sets Bette Davis' wealthy landowner up against the Oscar winning Mary Astor as a celebrated concert pianist. So there's plenty of rousing Russian classics on the soundtrack to stir the emotions. George Brent is the (unconvincing) playboy aviator that the two divas fight over, but it's really all about the female stars.

Following Brent and Astor's swanky New York wedding they discover that her divorce wasn't finalised and the new marriage is void. So he flies south to marry an old flame (Bette) instead, before crashing his plane in Brazil on secret government business. When Astor discovers she is pregnant, Davis takes her to a shack in the Arizona desert to secretly give birth so Bette can keep the baby in return for dollars.

Which is a hell of a pitch! It starts off as screwball, with Brent plainly uneasy in Cary Grant's shoes, then turns into pure soap. Most of the fun is courtesy of the two female leads wringing all the showbiz out of the preposterous set up. Bette's Maryland mansion is staffed by African American character actors and while there isn't much dignity in their roles, Hattie McDaniel handles the comedy with expertise.

But this isn't so bad it's good. The events happen within the conventions and locations of classic Hollywood melodrama and it succeeds on those terms. It's extraordinarily entertaining, and for that we thank the stars, Max Steiner's soundtrack, Orry-Kelly's gowns and director Edmund Goulding for spinning magic out of such an outrageous premise.