Honestly, movies just don't feel this heavy anymore. If you sit down to watch All This and Heaven Too, you’re not just watching a 1940s melodrama; you are stepping into a suffocating, high-stakes domestic thriller that happens to be dressed in 19th-century lace. It's a massive film. It’s long, it’s expensive, and it stars Bette Davis and Charles Boyer at the absolute peak of their powers. But what really sticks with you isn't just the star power. It's the fact that this story is based on a real-life scandal that actually brought down a government in France.
Most people think of old Hollywood as "safe." This movie is anything but safe. It deals with emotional neglect, class warfare, and a murder so grisly that it shocked the world in 1847. When Warner Bros. released the film in 1940, they were betting big on the popularity of Rachel Field’s novel. They won that bet. The film was a smash, earning three Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. But looking back today, the movie is a fascinating case study in how we view "the other woman" and the slow, agonizing rot of a loveless marriage.
The Real Blood Behind the Screen
You can't talk about All This and Heaven Too without talking about the Duc de Praslin. In the film, Charles Boyer plays the Duke as a man trapped. He’s stuck in a marriage to a woman, the Duchesse de Praslin (played with terrifying intensity by Barbara O'Neil), who is obsessed with him to the point of psychosis. Enter Henriette Deluzy-Desportes. That’s Bette Davis. She’s the new governess. She’s kind. She’s competent. Naturally, the children love her, and the Duke finds in her the peace he can’t find in his wife.
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The movie plays it as a "pure" love. They never even touch, really. It’s all in the eyes. But in real life? History is a bit messier. When the Duchess was found hacked to death in her bedroom in August 1847, the scandal was so massive it actually helped fuel the fires of the French Revolution of 1848. People hated the aristocracy already. Finding out a Duke might have murdered his wife because of a governess was the tipping point. The film hides some of that political grit to focus on the romance, but the tension is still there. You feel the walls closing in on Davis’s character.
It’s a masterclass in pacing. Director Anatole Litvak doesn’t rush. He lets the silence in the hallways of the Praslin estate do the heavy lifting. You hear the rustle of silk and the ticking of clocks. It’s eerie.
Bette Davis vs. Barbara O’Neil: A Study in Contrast
Bette Davis is weirdly restrained here. Usually, Bette is all fire and popping eyes, right? Not in All This and Heaven Too. She plays Henriette with this incredible, quiet dignity. It’s almost frustrating to watch. You want her to scream back at the Duchess. You want her to defend herself. But she stays poised. This was a specific choice by Davis to show that Henriette’s only power was her reputation. If she lost her temper, she lost her job, and in the 1840s, a governess without a job was basically a ghost.
Then you have Barbara O’Neil.
She is the secret weapon of this movie. O’Neil was only 30 when she played the Duchess, even though she was playing the mother of several children and the wife of the much older Boyer. She received an Oscar nomination for this role, and she deserved it. Her portrayal of jealousy isn't cartoonish. It’s pathetic. She makes you feel sorry for her even as you hate her. She’s a woman who is literally starving for affection and decides that if she can’t have it, she will burn the whole house down. It’s a performance that feels very modern. It’s about mental health and toxic attachment.
Why the title sounds so strange
"All this, and heaven too." It sounds like a Hallmark card, but it’s actually a quote about the luxury of having a good life on earth and a spot in the afterlife. In the context of the film, it’s heartbreaking. It’s the idea that these two people—the Duke and the Governess—could have had a simple, happy life if they weren't shackled by their social status.
The Production Value of 1940
Warner Bros. didn't skimp. This was their big "prestige" move. The sets are opulent, almost to the point of being distracting. But that’s the point. The wealth is a cage. Max Steiner wrote the score, and if you know Steiner (the guy who did Gone with the Wind), you know he loves a sweeping theme. The music follows Bette Davis like a shadow. It swells when she’s with the children and turns jagged when the Duchess enters the room.
The cinematography by Ernest Haller is another standout. He uses deep shadows. This isn't a bright, happy movie. Much of it takes place in dimly lit rooms or at night. It feels noir-ish before noir was even a solidified genre. There’s a specific scene where the Duke is standing in the doorway of his wife's room, and the lighting makes him look like a phantom. It’s beautiful and deeply unsettling.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Ending
If you haven't seen it, I won't spoil the very last frame, but I will say this: people often remember it as a tragedy. And it is. But it’s also a story about survival. Henriette Deluzy-Desportes didn’t just disappear into history. She moved to America. She married a minister. She became a respected member of society in New York.
The movie frames the story as Henriette telling her past to her students. It’s a framing device that works because it gives the audience a sense of closure. We know she makes it out. The Duke? Not so much. The ending of the film leans into the "noble sacrifice" trope that was popular in the 1940s, but the real history is a bit more cynical. The real Duke took arsenic to avoid a public trial.
The Legacy of the Governess Trope
All This and Heaven Too basically set the template for the "mysterious governess" subgenre that we see in things like Jane Eyre adaptations or even The Sound of Music (though much darker). It’s about the person who sees everything but is supposed to say nothing.
The film also challenges the idea of the "femme fatale." Henriette isn't trying to steal a husband. She’s trying to do her job. The tragedy is that her mere presence—her sanity and her kindness—is enough to drive the existing cracks in the marriage into a full-on canyon.
Practical Takeaways for Classic Film Fans
If you’re going to watch this, do it right. This isn't a "background noise" movie.
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- Watch the eyes. Specifically Boyer’s. He says more with a glance at Davis than most actors do with a five-minute monologue.
- Pay attention to the children. The kids in this movie are actually treated like characters, not props. Their bond with Henriette is what makes the Duchess’s jealousy feel so earned.
- Contrast it with The Letter. Also released in 1940 and also starring Bette Davis. In The Letter, she’s the "bad" woman. In this, she’s the "good" woman. Seeing them back-to-back shows you why she was the queen of the Warner lot.
How to Experience the Film Today
You can usually find it on Turner Classic Movies or for rent on the major digital platforms. It hasn't been "restored" to death, so it still has that gorgeous, grainy 35mm look.
To truly appreciate the depth of the story, you might want to look up the actual Praslin murder case. It’s one of those instances where the truth is actually weirder than the Hollywood version. For example, the real Duchess wrote over 200 letters to her husband during their marriage, most of them begging for his love. Knowing that makes the scenes between Boyer and O'Neil hit ten times harder.
This film reminds us that the "good old days" were often filled with the same messy, complicated, and sometimes violent emotions we deal with today. It just had better costumes.
If you're looking to expand your 1940s cinema knowledge, your next move should be tracking down a copy of the original Rachel Field novel. It provides the interior monologues for Henriette that the movie can only hint at. After that, watch the 1940 version of Rebecca. The two films make a perfect double feature of gothic domestic tension. Use the Criterion Channel or specialized library databases like Kanopy to find high-quality transfers that preserve the original shadow work of Ernest Haller. This is a film that demands to be seen in the highest resolution possible to catch the subtle costume details that telegraph the characters' shifting social status.
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Fact Check Note: The Praslin murder occurred on August 17, 1847. The Duke died on August 24, 1847. These events are accurately reflected in the historical context of the film's narrative.