Continuing my study of the films of 1938, I move now to "Jezebel," another Best Picture nominee beaten by "You Can't Take It With You." Like "Robin Hood," "Jezebel" is good but not great. The Best Picture nominees from 1938 continue to disappoint.

Bette Davis, who won her second and final Best Actress Oscar for "Jezebel" (she won her first just a few years before for "Dangerous," a film that no one remembers), plays an upper-class southern woman in the 1850s who is so feisty and obstreperous that her fiance (played by Henry Fonda) is encouraged to give her a whipping. He does not.

Whenever she doesn't get her way, she throws a tantrum like a spoiled child. Her biggest stunt comes when she appears at a ball in a red dress, a color only worn by harlots. She so embarrasses her fiance that he breaks off their engagement and abandons her. The film then cuts to one year later, when he returns to visit accompanied by his new wife, and all hell breaks loose again.

I was moderately entertained throughout "Jezebel." The script is dignified and intelligent, as is the direction of William Wyler. The black-and-white cinematography is competent but nothing special. I cannot give the film more than a 7. I was not enraptured by a single scene and didn't care that much one way or the other whether Davis's character got what she wanted or not.

I'm quite amazed that I'm finding the Best Picture slate from '38 to be so mediocre.