In This Our Life (1942)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

John Huston

Writers:

Ellen Glasgow (novel)
Howard Koch (screenplay)

Release Date:

16 May 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A young woman (Stanley Timberlake) dumps her fiancée (Craig Fleming) and runs off with her sister's (Roy Timberlake) husband (Peter Kingsmill)...

Plot Keywords:

Sister | Law Office | Hit And Run | Suicide | Dancing

Cast

Bette Davis	...	Stanley Timberlake
Olivia de Havilland	...	Roy Timberlake
George Brent	...	Craig Fleming
Dennis Morgan	...	Peter Kingsmill
Charles Coburn	...	William Fitzroy
Frank Craven	...	Asa Timberlake
Billie Burke	...	Lavinia Timberlake
Hattie McDaniel	...	Minerva Clay
Lee Patrick	...	Betty Wilmoth
Mary Servoss	...	Charlotte Fitzroy
Ernest Anderson	...	Parry Clay
William B. Davidson	...	Jim Purdy
Edward Fielding	...	Dr. Buchanan
John Hamilton	...	Inspector
William Forrest	...	Forest Ranger

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #7856)

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Warner Bros. was named to the Honor Roll of Race Relations of 1942 because of its dignified portrayal of African-Americans in this film. However, scenes in which Ernest Anderson's character was treated in a friendly fashion were cut for showings in the South to avoid offending those viewers. The film was initially disapproved for export by the Office of Censorship in Washington, D.C., because it suggests that the Negro's testimony would be totally disregarded by the jury when it was disputed by a white person, which, in the South at the time and for long afterwards, was true.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Stardust: The Bette Davis Story (2006) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Bridal Chorus (Here Comes the Bride)

Entertaining melodrama of sociopath and dysfunctional family

Bette Davis is perfectly cast here as a model sociopath - attractive, seductive, fawning - but always focused on her own needs and desires to the ultimate detriment of the feelings of others. I won't rehash the plot here. Although Davis gives a stellar performance, I feel she is overshadowed by the strong and intelligent performance of co-star, Olivia de Havilland. The entire cast works well together and Huston's direction is solid and brisk. The obvious lecherous physical attraction between Uncle William (Charles Coburn) and Stanley (Davis) is well handled. Two of their scenes together are brilliantly acted - in the middle of the film where Davis is trying to wheedle money from her uncle to relocate and close to the end when he is dying and she cruelly rejects him for choosing not to help her. Their ease with each other and playful repartee seems almost improvisational.

I was most impressed with the assured performance of the young African American actor, Ernest Anderson, who plays Parry - and does a beautiful job. This fine young actor made only 19 films, which stretched between 1942 (this was his first) and 1970, most of them "uncredited." Note he appeared again with Davis in WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? He lived to be 74 so must have either done little acting or primarily appeared on stage or television. It is sad that the racial prejudice rampant in the film seemed to have affected his own acting career- a poignant irony.

This is a grand melodrama and both fun and entertaining to watch. The script is pure Tennessee Williams plotting - without the poetry. A must for fans of either Davis or deHavilland.