Housewife (1934)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Alfred E. Green

Writers:

Manuel Seff (screenplay) &
Lillie Hayward (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

11 August 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Nan Reynolds encourages her copywriter husband Bill to open his own agency. Nearly out of business, he finally gets a client...

Plot Keywords:

Minstrel Show | Child | Drunkenness | Dog | Divorce

Cast

George Brent	...	William Reynolds
Bette Davis	...	Patricia Berkeley
Ann Dvorak	...	Nan Reynolds
John Halliday	...	Paul Duprey
Ruth Donnelly	...	Dora Wilson
Hobart Cavanaugh	...	George Wilson
Robert Barrat	...	Sam Blake
Joseph Cawthorn	...	Krueger (as Joe Cawthorne)
Phil Regan	...	Radio Singer
Willard Robertson	...	Judge
Ronnie Cosby	...	Buddy Reynolds
Leila Bennett	...	Jenny
Harry Tyler	...	Mr. Simmons
Charles Coleman	...	Bolton

Runtime:

69 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #57) | USA:TV-G (TV rating)

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Both Lee Phelps (Court Clerk) and Lester Dorr (Chauffeur) are in studio records/casting call lists for their roles, but they did not appear or were not identifiable in the movie.

Quotes:

Patricia 'Pat' Berkeley: Well, I've done alright. I suddenly found out I had some brains and decided to use them.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Bette Davis: A Basically Benevolent Volcano (1983) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Cosmetics by Duprey

the type of fluff that drove Bette Davis mad!

In biographies of the life and career of Bette Davis a lot of space is devoted to her dissatisfaction with her contract with Warner in the 1930s. Her feeling was that all too often, she was asked to perform in meaningless fluff that only stifled her career. Well, having seen most of Ms. Davis' films, I can definitely understand her frustration. For every good film she did during this time, she was dumped into several completely forgettable and hastily written B-quality films.

Having said all that, this movie is a prime example of the crap that Ms. Davis was given. Here she plays a home-wrecker but is essentially limited to looking nice in a dress and being a plot device--not a real character. And, the actual plot itself is pure soapy hogwash about selfish jerk Brent and his wife, Dvorak, who loves him in spite of his being a selfish jerk. Ho-hum. There's really more to it than that, but who really cares!? The film mercifully ends, but on a sour note that is completely contrived and does nothing to help this soggy film.

PS--an odd note is the "adorable" little guy that plays Brent and Dvorak's son. Despite this movie taking place over what would seem a few years, their kid never ages and it's really creepy. He also gets run over, but like the Energizer Bunny, he keeps going. Perhaps the child is demonic? I dunno--I just know that continuity was a serious problem with the ragamuffin.