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Pros: A well directed film by Vincent Sherman. Cons: The film should have been made in technicolor. Bette Davis, and Miriam Hopkins, are back in the saddle again.This time with Old Aquaintance. Bette who plays the role of Kit Marlowe,returns to her home town to give a lecture only to be greeted by old friend Millie Drake,played by actress Miriam Hopkins. Things have changed since the last time they saw each other. Millie has married and is now pregnant with her first child. Kit first learns of the news from Millie's husband Preston Drake,played by John Loder.When Millie gets together with Kit, Kit is not so enthused about Millie having put out a best seller, becoming wealthy, and boasting about her success. As time progresses on, Millie, Preston, and their eight year old daughter Deirdre, played by actress Dolores Moran, are in New York City to attend the opening of Kit's play, which receives great reviews. Preston, now interested in Kit is troubled by Millie's continuous dominance over his shortcomings,and now wants out of the marriage. Millie now realizing that her success has helped destroy their marriage, she tries her very best to hold the marriage together. Preston, despondent and distraught over the rocky marriage, finds comfort in the bottle,which leads him to drink heavily. He then tells Kit that he is in love with her,replying that Millie will always be between them. Kit tries to patch up the marriage,but Preston leaves Millie after asking Kit to keep an eye on Deirdre.Many years later, during the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Kit joins the Red Cross and broadcast a request for money over the radio. Preston, who is now in the army, hears Kit's speech and telephones her. After many years apart from each other, they get together for a drink sending Rudd Kendall, played by Actor Gig Young, her younger lover, to fetch Deirdre as a suprise for Preston. Preston surprises Kit as well when he announces his engagement. The next day Rudd proposes marriage to Kit.But because of their age difference,Kit turns him down. Rudd then takes up with Deirdre and they fall in love. Kit wants to get back with Preston, but he's remarried and breaks the news to Millie that he was once in love with Kit. Millie outraged and overcome by jealousy,tells Deirdre about Kit's marriage plans and then accuses Kit of stealing her husband. Fed up with her friends mischievous ways, Kit gives Millie a thorough shaking,(something that Bette Davis had always wanted to do to her co-star rival Miriam Hopkins in real life).Rudd breaks the news to Kit that he's in love with Deirdre. Kit,shocked,pretends to be delighted and rushes off to make sure that a disillusioned Deirdre does not miss the chance for a happy marriage. Millie stops by Kit's Apartment to apologize and Kit forgives her. Millie then describes her new book, Old Aquaintance, about two longtime friends,and the two women drink to it. Aside from Bette's outstanding role performance in the film "The Old Maid", "Old Aquaintance",is Miriam Hopkins at her best.And Its no surprise here that Miriam got the better reviews for her role as Millie Drake. She plainly stole the show. Anyone interested in purchasing this movie,I recommend that you buy this studio dvd released.It has Author Boze Hadleigh talking with Director Vincent Sherman about the Movie in general,the Actors, and his relationship with Bette Davis.Also includes a vintage short,cartoRead full review
Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins--a pair of actresses who hated each other--re-mix their chemistry from The Old Maid in Old Acquaintance, an entertaining adaptation of John Van Druten's play. The action begins with Davis, a semi-famous author, returning to her small town and the home of old friend Hopkins. The later has opted for the settled life of husband and pregnancy, and she doesn't much hide her envy of Davis's success. Then the tables turn, as Hopkins pens a series of potboilers that sell much better than her friend-rival's. The movie keeps checking up on these two as the years pass, each wanting what the other has. It kicks around such staples as career vs. family, but what comes across most memorably in Old Acquaintance is the friendship between the two characters despite their rivalry; in that sense, the best scene in the film is the last scene. Hopkins has the flashy role, a silly ninny who seemingly never stops screeching, and Davis takes the more centered, self-effacing part. (By the way, Davis said that a scene in which she wears men's pajama tops caused a bit of a vogue at the time.) The men are in the background, although John Loder does a nice job of layering a gentle humor to Hopkins' long-suffering husband. Gig Young, in one of his earliest roles, is almost unrecognizable as a Davis paramour. Vincent Sherman (Mr. Skeffington) directed this example of the "women's picture," the kind of movie that kept Bette Davis the queen of the Warner Bros. lot. It was nicely remade by director George Cukor in 1981 as Rich and Famous, with Jacqueline Bisset and Candice BergenRead full review
Since I have already critiqued the VHS version of this film, the reason I am offering this review of the DVD is to comment on the "Special Features" included on this DVD. The 'featurette" I am questioning in particular is "Stars on Horseback." Though it is an interesting brief overview of just that, actors who made film scenes on horses. Since there were no horses or even as much as a single discussion about a horse in "Old Acquaintance," it is curious as to why the featurette is on this particular DVD! Though it is nice to own it, since it's a collectible vintage documentary of sorts, it could have been more appropriate to have it on the "Dark Victory" DVD since horses played more than a big part in that film. Bogart's role was the horse trainer! Davis was on horseback. Anyway, to give a quick summary of the film, Kit Marlowe (Bette Davis) and her life long chum (in the film) Millie (Miriam Hopkins) (in real life, Hopkins felt rivalrous towards Bette Davis & Davis found Hopkins to be pretty much a nightmare to work with), meet up after Marlowe is a celebrated scholarly author, in Millie's hometown. Through 20 years of being a loyal friend to Millie, Davis is accused by Millie of having ruined her private life with her estranged husband and estranged daughter, to whom Millie paid so little attention and gave so little affection. You'll have to see the rest to know the outcome~Read full review
I love Bette Davis movies. This one is one of her best! She plays a very good character this time, Kit Marlowe, who is a famous author of upscale novels and plays. Kit's tacky childhood friend Millie Drake (Mildred Hopkins) also becomes a famous writer like Kit, but Millie's work is more into the romance novel genre, while Kit is into plays and New York Times Best Sellers. While Millie is into making money and spending money, Kit unintentionally attracts Millie's husband, Preston, and daughter, Deedy. A classic line is born when Kit utters "There are some things that a friend just doesn't do" when Millie's husband tells her of his love for her and proposes marriage to her. In the end, Kit humbles herself again in regard to her younger boyfriend, Rudd Kendall, played by Gig Young. I won't tell you what happens. You will have to watch the movie. It is a good one. In the end Kit and Millie sit by a fire and sing "Auld Lang Syne" on New Year's Eve--still friends. I have read Bette Davis' biography by Charlotte Chandler, "The Girl Who Walked Home Alone." In it, Bette names Mildred Hopkins as her hated enemy--not Joan Crawford. You can sort of see this personal dislike in this movie. So it is ironic that the movie ends with the two still as friends. This movie has been acclaimed as a Best Picture omission for 1943. Bette was not nominated for this movie, because "Now Voyager" came out the same year, and Bette was a Best Actress nominee for "Voyager". No one has ever been nominated in the same category twice in the same year. Bette also was quoted in another book by Christopher Nickens ("Bette Davis: A Biography in Pictures") that Kit is the character of all her movies that she is most like in person. Although this movie is little known, it is a must-see if you are a Bette Davis fan.Read full review
If you love Bette Davis, if you love the persona and history of Bette Davis, then "Old Acquaintance" will be forever one of your favorites. It co-stars Miriam Hopkins who, while not the equal caliber of Miss Davis in acting ability, was still one of the most hated off screen rivals. One of the reasons perhaps was that Davis had an affair with Hopkins's fiance about eight years before this picture was made. Then Bette did the film version of "Jezebel" which starred Hopkins on Broadway. This is colorful background for the film which really lets it fly! The final confrontation between the two old "friends" ending with Davis shaking Hopkins and Hopkins disolving in a tantrum is a classic. Bette underplays, playing the "good girl" in this one and Hopkins goes way over the top playing the tempermental gal pal of many years. The usual stock characters from Warners are on hand, including a very young and handsome Gig Young. While this is not a great picture, it is a good one and a lot of fun.Read full review