The daring nature of this film becomes evident in an early scene where we learn that old Uncle William (Charles Coburn) has the hots for his niece "Stanley" (Bette Davis), and she plays him for all she can get financially...shades of Lillian Hellman! Director John Huston handles it well, getting this past the censors...I imagine that some movie-goers didn't quite get the implication. But watch the faces of the other characters in the early scene in the parlor! Charles Coburn, one of my favorite character actors, is a totally unlikable character here...not only a lecher, but clearly a business cheat. But he's awfully good at it, partly because he plays the role with suitable restraint to make it believable! But, in the end, the old man is devastated when he learns he has only months to live. Justice is done for one evil-doer in the story.
Another actor playing against type is Dennis Morgan, who plays a non-singing, non-comedy role quite well as "Roy's" (Olivia deHavilland's) philandering husband...in love with Bette Davis (Olivia's sister), no less...who he runs away with and marries. Morgan has some atypically strong scenes in this film, but his character commits suicide as a result of depression because of the marriage. Justice is done again.
Apparently Bette Davis wanted to play the good sister, but that role went to Olivia deHavilland, mirroring her type-casting after GWTW just 3 years earlier (although she is neutrally good and practical here).
George Brent is fine playing the "good guy" married to Davis, the later dating the good sister, though this is not one of his more prominent roles, although he is featured more late in the film and the ultimate good guy lawyer who saves the young Black man.
Bette Davis and Dennis Morgan get married, but of course, Bette Davis turns out to be just as bad a wife to Morgan as she was to George Brent, who begins dating Olivia deHavilland. Ultimately, and I do mean ultimately, Davis is in a hit-and-run car accident which results in the death of a child, but she accuses a "colored boy" -- actually a man -- who worked for their family for years and is now studying to be a lawyer and working in George Brent's law office. It has been said that those who live by the sword die by the sword. In this case we can paraphrase and say that those who kill by their speeding auto will die by their own speeding auto. Justice is done once again.
Frank Craven is excellent as the father of Davis and DeHavilland. Ernest Anderson, as the young Black man is excellent, and though his role is relatively small, it is crucial to the plot. I would imagine Billie Burke was disappointed in her role as the invalided mother. Disappointingly, Hattie McDaniel's role here as not a maid but a mother is minor.
There are some other interesting appearances in the film. Walter Huston, the director's father, has a cameo as a bartender. John Hamilton -- Perry White in television's Superman plays a police inspector.
This is a good film with good acting by all concerned. And it's worth watching at least once. But it's not a pleasant film. Bette Davis' and Charles Coburn's characters are so unlikable that one cannot have any sympathy toward them. I enjoyed the film and think it was done well, and it's now on my DVD shelf. I enjoy it more since reading the Pulitzer Prize winning novel.
Another actor playing against type is Dennis Morgan, who plays a non-singing, non-comedy role quite well as "Roy's" (Olivia deHavilland's) philandering husband...in love with Bette Davis (Olivia's sister), no less...who he runs away with and marries. Morgan has some atypically strong scenes in this film, but his character commits suicide as a result of depression because of the marriage. Justice is done again.
Apparently Bette Davis wanted to play the good sister, but that role went to Olivia deHavilland, mirroring her type-casting after GWTW just 3 years earlier (although she is neutrally good and practical here).
George Brent is fine playing the "good guy" married to Davis, the later dating the good sister, though this is not one of his more prominent roles, although he is featured more late in the film and the ultimate good guy lawyer who saves the young Black man.
Bette Davis and Dennis Morgan get married, but of course, Bette Davis turns out to be just as bad a wife to Morgan as she was to George Brent, who begins dating Olivia deHavilland. Ultimately, and I do mean ultimately, Davis is in a hit-and-run car accident which results in the death of a child, but she accuses a "colored boy" -- actually a man -- who worked for their family for years and is now studying to be a lawyer and working in George Brent's law office. It has been said that those who live by the sword die by the sword. In this case we can paraphrase and say that those who kill by their speeding auto will die by their own speeding auto. Justice is done once again.
Frank Craven is excellent as the father of Davis and DeHavilland. Ernest Anderson, as the young Black man is excellent, and though his role is relatively small, it is crucial to the plot. I would imagine Billie Burke was disappointed in her role as the invalided mother. Disappointingly, Hattie McDaniel's role here as not a maid but a mother is minor.
There are some other interesting appearances in the film. Walter Huston, the director's father, has a cameo as a bartender. John Hamilton -- Perry White in television's Superman plays a police inspector.
This is a good film with good acting by all concerned. And it's worth watching at least once. But it's not a pleasant film. Bette Davis' and Charles Coburn's characters are so unlikable that one cannot have any sympathy toward them. I enjoyed the film and think it was done well, and it's now on my DVD shelf. I enjoy it more since reading the Pulitzer Prize winning novel.