Bette Davis Blogathon: My review of In This Our Life (1942)

My good friend Crystal Pacey is holding a Bette Davis blogathon and I so wanted to contribute to it. So here's a review of In This Our Life:

IN THIS OUR LIFE (1942) Top notch drama with Olivia de Havilland sharing the screen with grand diva Bette Davis. They play sisters who have conflicting love lives. That's putting it nicely as Bette is just a vixen who just wrecks everything in sight, even stealing her sister's husband. Bette is all volcano fury as Stanley Timberlake in this one while Olivia is the quieter sister Roy. Yes they have boy’s name which make them all the more unique. It's one hell of a movie. Bette and Olivia surround themselves with one heck of a supporting cast too. George Brent plays Craig Fleming (Stanley’s fiancée whom she dumps); Dennis Morgan plays Roy’s husband Peter, whom Stanley ends up stealing away. And co-starring Charles Coburn, Billie Burke, and Hattie McDaniel. Directed by the great John Huston. And a top notch music score by the legendary Max Steiner. This is one of my all time favorite films! A must see!

Both Bette Davis' and Olivia de Havilland's characters have masculine given names -- "Stanley" and "Roy," respectively. Interestingly, the film never hints that there is anything unusual about their names, nor does it offer any explanation.

Quotes:
Roy Timberlake: Parks are for the very rich or the very poor.

Asa Timberlake: In my day, we didn't talk much about happiness. If it came we were grateful for it. But we were brought up in the belief that there were other things more important. Old foogy fantastic notions such as duty and personal responsibility.

Stanley Timberlake: Craig, have dinner with me somewhere tonight. Please. I've got a reason.
Craig Fleming: I don't think we better Stanley.
Stanley Timberlake: Why not? You're afraid aren't you? Afraid of yourself. Afraid of what you might feel if you let yourself go. Why don't you admit the truth Craig? You've never gotten over me and you never will. You'd like to put your arms around me right now, wouldn't you? You'd like to kiss me, wouldn't you?

Here's the link to Crystal's awesome blog site where you will find more amazing things about Bette:
crystalkalyana