Davis who was not especially beautiful in the classical sense of beauty ruled Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s, playing tough women who chose their careers and their own desires over sacrificing for men or children or the social and economic benefits of a well protected family home. Davis who was very popular with the mostly female audience "never pretended to be dumb, or a little girl."
In the 1930s cinema tough and independent women were often nasty leading to the effect that they could rightfully be punished. Bette Davis was "the prototype of the "Hollywood Bitch."
Her characters wanted more often victimizing a weak man with her behavior finally backfiring on her. In particular, her role as Julie Marsden in the 1938 movie "Jezebel" is the quintessential Bette Davis character. A calculating tough, aggressive and complex character who decides to break the social roles of the South in the 1850s and to have it her way, even if it means the destruction of relationships, of other people or of herself. As it is in the case of Hepburn, also Davis' roles to a great extent reflect her own persona. In spite of her professional success, Davis was so unhappy about the roles Warner Bros. kept offering her, that in 1936 she moved to England and -- unsuccessfully sued the studio before the English High Court in order to break out of her contract. Davis is quoted to have said about feminism long before it became popular to discuss it in the decades to follow the 1930s, "When a man gives his opinion, he is a man. When a woman gives her opinion she's a bitch."
List of References
Barsanti, C. (6 September 1999). The Women. (pp. 1 -- 4).
Derived 17 August 2011 from www.filmcritic.com/reviews/1939/the-women.
Collins, L. Katherine Hepburn. (pp. 1 -- 12).
Derived 17 August 2011 from www.esc.edu > File Cabinet > Student Submissions.
Digital History: Hollywood as History. (2011). (pp. 1 -- 20).
Derived 17 August 2011 from www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/hollywood_history.cfm
Dirks, T. The History of Film: The 1930s, Part 3. (pp. 1-3).
Derived 17 August 2011 from www.filmsite.org/30sintro2.html.
Free Dictionary: Entry on "Will Hays." Derived 17 August 2011 from freedictionary.org
(27 March 2008). Where have all the strong women gone? (pp. 1 -- 3).
Derived 17 August 2011 from www.independent.co.uk > ... > Commentators > Johann Hari.
Hollywood in the Depression. (2000). (pp. 1 -- 3).
Derived 17 August 2011 from xroads.virginia.edu/~ug02/film/hollywooddepression.html.
Felstead, A.-L. (2004). Hollywood women -- part 1: icons. (pp. 1 -- 6). Derived 17 August 2011 from www.orsonwelles.co.uk/HollywoodWomen1.htm
Johnson, M. (2003). One of a Kind. (pp. 1-4).
Derived 17 August 2011 from www.marilynjohnson.net/one_of_a_kind____a_tribute_to_katharine.
Pravadelli, V. (20 May 2011). Cinema and the Modern Woman. (pp. 1 -- 22).
Derived 17 August 2011 from media.wiley.com/.../Chapter%2031%20- ...
See Digital History: Hollywood as History, p. 1.
Digital History: Hollywood as History, p. 1
See The Free Dictionary "Will Hays."
Quoted in Digital History: Hollywood as History, p. 1, 10.
Hollywood in the depression (2000), p. 1,
Dirks, T., p. 1, 2.
See Digital History: Hollywood as History. (2011), p. 1, 10.
Paravadelli, V. (20 May 2011), p. 1, 3.
Felstead, A.-L. (2004), p. 1, 2.
Collins, L., p. 1.
Felstead, A.-L. (2004), p. 1, 6.
Digital History: Hollywood as History (2011), pp. 1, 11.
Paravadelli, V., p. 1, 7.
See Pravadelli, V., p. 1, 3.
Paravadelli, V. ibid.
Paravadelli, V. ibid.
Paravadelli, V. ibid.
Barsanti, C. (6 September 1999), p. 1, 4.
D.W. Griffith (January 22, 1875 -- July 23, 1948) was a premier pioneering American film director.
Paravadelli, V. ibid quoting: Ryan, M. (1976). "The Protection of a New Womanhood: The Movie Moderns in the 1920s." In Friedman, J.E. & Shade, W.G. (eds), Our American Sisters: Women in American Life and Thought. (pp. 366-384). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
See Collins, L., p. 1, 7.
See Collins, L., p. 1, 8.
See Collins, L. ibid.
See Hari, J. (27 March 2008), p. 1.
Johnson, M. (2003), p. 1, 2.
Johnson, M. (2003), p. 1, 2.
Collins, L., p. 1.
Hari, J. (27 March 2008). p. 1.
Paravadelli, V. (20 May 2011), p. 1, 15.
See Hari, J. ibid.
