The Old Maid (1939) / Warner Bros
Directed By: Edmund Goulding / Film based on the book by Edith Wharton
Starring: Bette Davis, Miriam Hopkins & George Brent
Taglines:
"Vividly, unforgettably, a woman's love starved soul is revealed. All those strange secrets she locks in her heart ... moments of rapture and of heartbreak ... longings that no man can fathom. Of these has the year's finest picture been woven!"
Quotes:
Charlotte Lovell: She thinks I can't understand her. She considers me an old maid.
Charlotte Lovell: Oh, but you needn't pity me. Because she's really mine. If she considers me an old maid, it's because I've deliberately made myself one in her eyes. I've done it from the beginning so she wouldn't have the least suspicion. I've practised everything I've ever had to say to her, if it was important, so that I'd sound like an old maid aunt talking. Not her mother.
Plot:
Delia (Hopkins) and Charlotte (Davis) are both head strong sisters whom are in love with the same man, Clem (Brent). Clem dies in the Civil War and has left Charlotte with a daughter whom have never married prior to him leaving. Both sisters end up living together in a grand mansion with Delia adopting Charlotte's daughter. What a lovely film that is acting wonderfully by both Bette Davis & Miriam Hopkins whom never got along on set due to prior personal issues.
Hi Antonio!
ReplyDeleteSuch great words, thank you for discovering my blog and loving it soo much!!! If you ever have any ideas for films to highlight, genres, actors, directors etc let me know...I am always open to suggestions!
Age of Hollywood's Golden peaked in 1939, with the launch of several classics such as ... With the Wind, The Wuthering Heights and The Wizard of Oz. Bette Davis worked hard this year. Appeared in four productions: The Old Maid, Juarez, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex and Dark Victory.
ReplyDeleteThe Old Maid is an indispensable film for anyone who is a fan of the actress in which she co-stars with Miriam Hopkins, his main rival at the time. Hopkins resented the fact that Davis had won the Oscar for Best Actress for Jezebel, role originally played by Hopkins on Broadway. She was also convinced that Davis had had an affair with Anatole Litvak, during his marriage to the director.
The Old Maid is set during the American Civil War, a time of rigid moral rules. The story focuses on the suffering of Charlotte Lovell (Bette Davis), who is prevented from taking his daughter Clementine (or "Tina") to be a single mother. The dramatic load is strengthened by the the adulthood of the girl, the daughter of Love dispute with his cousin Delia (Hopkins).
Bette Davis convinces with a tough performance, but moving to communicate over the rough surface, a deep tenderness, the heartbroken mother.
Miss Hopkins offers a softer characteristics than that provided for by Casey Robinson script, suggesting a hidden evil character in a charming way.
Age of Hollywood's Golden peaked in 1939, with the launch of several classics such as ... With the Wind, The Wuthering Heights and The Wizard of Oz. Bette Davis worked hard this year. Appeared in four productions: The Old Maid, Juarez, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex and Dark Victory.
ReplyDeleteThe Old Maid is an indispensable film for anyone who is a fan of the actress in which she co-stars with Miriam Hopkins, his main rival at the time. Hopkins resented the fact that Davis had won the Oscar for Best Actress for Jezebel, role originally played by Hopkins on Broadway. She was also convinced that Davis had had an affair with Anatole Litvak, during his marriage to the director.
The Old Maid is set during the American Civil War, a time of rigid moral rules. The story focuses on the suffering of Charlotte Lovell (Bette Davis), who is prevented from taking his daughter Clementine (or "Tina") to be a single mother. The dramatic load is strengthened by the the adulthood of the girl, the daughter of Love dispute with his cousin Delia (Hopkins).
Bette Davis convinces with a tough performance, but moving to communicate over the rough surface, a deep tenderness, the heartbroken mother.
Miss Hopkins offers a softer characteristics than that provided for by Casey Robinson script, suggesting a hidden evil character in a charming way.