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| Genre: | Drama |
| Year: | 1940 |
| Rating: | NR |
| Cast: | Anatole Litvak, Bette Davis, Charles Boyer, Jeffrey Lynn |
An incredibly long but never dull adaptation of the Rachel Field best-seller, All This and Heaven Too was based on a once-notorious European scandal. Star Bette Davis is first seen as a French schoolteacher in a 19th century American seminary. When her supervisor, minister Jeffrey Lynn, has questions to ask about her tainted past, Davis relates her story in flashback. She had been hired by French Duke Charles Boyer to be the governess for his children. Boyer's wife Barbara O'Neil was insanely jealous, so much so she inadvertently threw Boyer and Davis together. Davis was willing to leave rather than cause more discord, but the influential O'Neil vengefully refused to write a letter of recommendation (a bravura scene). Later, the impoverished Davis was arrested as an accomplice in the murder of Boyer's wife. The latter's position in French society stirred up volatile political ramifications, with Davis innocently in the center of the storm. Boyer committed suicide, exonerating Davis on his deathbed, but she had already been condemned in the court of public opinion. Disgraced, she left for America to start life anew, which brings us back to the present. Unable to continue running away from herself, Davis confesses her past indiscretions to her students--who promptly forgive her. Casey Robinson had a hell of a job adapting Rachel Field's cumbersome novel, but, by golly, he pulled it off. The performances in All This and Heaven Too are enhanced immeasurably by the lush Max Steiner musical score. Hal Erickson
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