SERIOUS SPOILERS AHEAD, SO READERS BEWARE...
So who or what is Bedelia ? A charming, civilized woman very much in love with her doting husband ? Or is there something worse - something much worse - in her history and background ?
The answer here is "yes", since Bedelia is a black widow of uncommon enterprise and cruelty.
"Bedelia" is an interesting movie, in the sense that it boasts a black-hearted femme fatale and places her in a comfortable, respectable upper-class setting, far removed from cursing ruffians and ill-lit alleys. It also places her in a domestic setting : there's a lot of talk about preparing meals, receiving guests, caring for the sick, taking good care of hubby. People interested in feminist analysis could write a whole library about this very topic. Does Bedelia kill in order to achieve respectability-plus-domesticity ? Or in order to rebel against it ? Or is she just an extreme product, or by-product, of this kind of system ?
So it's a pretty good movie, with a fine performance by Margaret Lockwood as the beautiful but twisted anti-heroine. However, the movie could have become even more absorbing by focusing more on the psychology of the characters and less on the various frocks and smocks. (Nothing wrong with a nice costume, but here there's a bit of a fashion overload.)
So who or what is Bedelia ? A charming, civilized woman very much in love with her doting husband ? Or is there something worse - something much worse - in her history and background ?
The answer here is "yes", since Bedelia is a black widow of uncommon enterprise and cruelty.
"Bedelia" is an interesting movie, in the sense that it boasts a black-hearted femme fatale and places her in a comfortable, respectable upper-class setting, far removed from cursing ruffians and ill-lit alleys. It also places her in a domestic setting : there's a lot of talk about preparing meals, receiving guests, caring for the sick, taking good care of hubby. People interested in feminist analysis could write a whole library about this very topic. Does Bedelia kill in order to achieve respectability-plus-domesticity ? Or in order to rebel against it ? Or is she just an extreme product, or by-product, of this kind of system ?
So it's a pretty good movie, with a fine performance by Margaret Lockwood as the beautiful but twisted anti-heroine. However, the movie could have become even more absorbing by focusing more on the psychology of the characters and less on the various frocks and smocks. (Nothing wrong with a nice costume, but here there's a bit of a fashion overload.)