Mr. Skeffington: Suite (1944)

Sections
1. Forsaken
2. Finale

Notes
For Bette Davis, Mr. Skeffington (Warner Bros., 1944) was an acting triumph and proof again that she was more interested in being and actress than in being merely popular. Fanny Trellis is a beauty, who, marries the gentleman of the film's title (Claude Rains) for money and proceeds to live a selfish life, involving many lovers. An attack of diphtheria leaves her an ugly, disfigured woman made more so by the excessive use of cosmetics. "Forsaken" unsparingly points up Fanny’s dilemma — the realization, upon seeing her reflection in the mirror, that her beauty is gone and that former suitors now visit her only because they think she still has money. Both actors were nominated for Oscars for their tour de force performances.

In musical terms, Franz Waxman saw the character of Fanny like the Marschallin in the Richard Strauss opera Der Rosenkavalier. Waxman chose this selection, the most unusual cue written for a Davis film,to be atonal, long before avant-garde music reared its head in Hollywood.