The Old Maid (1939)

Director:

Edmund Goulding

Writers:

Casey Robinson (screen play)
Zoe Akins (based on the play by: Pulitzer Prize)
(more)

Release Date:

2 September 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

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!

Plot:

The arrival of an ex-lover on a young woman's wedding day sets in motion a chain of events which will alter her and her cousin's lives forever.

Plot Keywords:

Wedding | Brother | Battle | Romantic Rivalry | Maid

Cast

Bette Davis	...	Charlotte Lovell
Miriam Hopkins	...	Delia Lovell
George Brent	...	Clem Spender
Donald Crisp	...	Dr. Lanskell
Jane Bryan	...	Tina
Louise Fazenda	...	Dora
James Stephenson	...	Jim Ralston
Jerome Cowan	...	Joe Ralston
William Lundigan	...	Lanning Halsey
Cecilia Loftus	...	Grandmother Lovell
Rand Brooks	...	Jim
Janet Shaw	...	Dee
William Hopper	...	John (as DeWolf Hopper)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rod Cameron	...	(scenes deleted)
Sidney Bracey	...	Charles - the Butler (uncredited)
Marlene Burnett	...	Tina as a Child (uncredited)
Frederick Burton	...	Mr. Halsey (uncredited)
Jack George	...	First Orchestra Leader / Violinist (uncredited)
Winifred Harris	...	Mrs. Halsey (uncredited)
Doris Lloyd	...	Miss Ford (uncredited)

Directed by
Edmund Goulding

Writing credits
Casey Robinson		(screen play)
Zoe Akins		(based on the play by: Pulitzer Prize)
Edith Wharton		(and the novel by)

Produced by
Henry Blanke	....	associate producer
Hal B. Wallis	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Max Steiner

Cinematography by
Tony Gaudio		(photography)

Film Editing by
George Amy		(film editor)

Art Direction by
Robert M. Haas		(as Robert Haas)

Costume Design by
Orry-Kelly		(costumes by)

Makeup Department
Perc Westmore	....	makeup artist
Helen Carpenter	....	wig designer (uncredited)

Production Management
Jack L. Warner	....	in charge of production
Al Alleborn	....	unit manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jack Sullivan	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
C.A. Riggs	....	sound

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Eugene Joseff	....	costume jeweller (uncredited)

Music Department
Leo F. Forbstein	....	musical director
Hugo Friedhofer	....	orchestral arrangements

Production Companies

• Warner Bros (presents) (as Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.) (A First National Picture)

Distributors

• Warner Bros (1939) (USA) (theatrical) (as Warner Bros. Pictures Inc.)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1992) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical) (35mm print)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2008) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Max Factor  wigs (uncredited)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Certification:

Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #5227) | Australia:PG | USA:TV-PG (TV rating)

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Warner Bros

Trivia:

Humphrey Bogart was originally cast as the male lead, but dismissed after four days' filming.

Goofs:

Continuity: The scene where Delia has come to the orphanage to speak with Charlotte, we can see Charlotte's sleeves change from rolled up to down several times within the shot.

Quotes:

Charlotte Lovell:She thinks I can't understand her. She considers me an old maid.
Delia Lovell Ralston:My dear.
Charlotte Lovell:A ridiculous, narrow-minded old maid. What else can she ever think of me?
Delia Lovell Ralston:Poor Charlotte.
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.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage (1983)

Soundtrack:

Silent Night, Holy Night

Bette is wonderful in period soap opera from Edith Wharton novel...

Bette Davis vies with Miriam Hopkins for the affection of George Brent in this film version of Edith Wharton's 'The Old Maid'. As hard as Hopkins tries, she can't steal the film from Bette -- nor Bette's daughter (Jane Bryan), the love child being brought up by Delia (Hopkins). Basically the story of Bette being unable to tell her daughter that she's her real mother.

There are some odd peculiarities about the film itself. George Brent makes a few brief appearances early in the film and then is suddenly killed off after going to fight in the Civil War. A montage shows the passage of time and suddenly we're given an abrupt change of scene and events before still another time transition. The continuity is choppy and leaves an unsatisfying impression of the film as a whole. It's as if events that should have been shown are compressed because of time constraints.

Bette Davis gives one of her more restrained portrayals, aging rather realistically, showing the loneliness of the embittered woman who is cheated out of marrying another man when her cousin Delia (Miriam Hopkins) discovers that she bore Brent's child.

The soap suds are pretty thick, all of them backed by a nice Max Steiner score and handsome sets and period costumes. Miriam Hopkins plays the selfish bitch with her customary skill and makes Davis seem even more sympathetic by comparison. I have seen this movie praised to the skies by some who consider it a work of art--but there are too many flaws, including a false and abrupt ending involving Bette Davis and daughter Jane Bryan, and time changes that seem more like a case of bad editing.

There are fine performances in supporting roles by Donald Crisp, James Stephenson, William Lundigan and Jerome Cowan under Edmund Goulding's tasteful direction.

A tear-jerker, 1930s style--but one that doesn't date too well.