This 1938 release, starring Bette Davis and Henry Fonda, is set in New Orleans in the 1850s. The main story focuses on a willful young woman who refuses to follow antebellum conventions and loses her love interest because of her actions. A yellow fever epidemic, which occurred periodically as the virus was brought from the West Indies through shipping and travel, creates dramatic tension for the character. It also shows how the disease was understood in the antebellum period.
The film discussion will consider the historical setting and what was believed to cause the disease in the mid-19th century period in which the film is set, as well as social conventions and film standards of the period in which the film was made.
Discussion panelists include:
Jeanne Ewert, American and English literature, film and folklore librarian, Library West
James Liversidge, Popular culture collecitons curator, Special and Area Studies Collections
Kelley Sams, Visiting research scholar, Center for the Arts in Medicine
Nina Stoyan-Rosenzweig, Senior Associate in Libraries, Health Science Center Library
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