They Were Sisters

I once read an article which stated that Phyllis Calvert and Peter Murray-Hill would have been "Britain's Nick and Nora" had they made more films together. On seeing them act separately in films, I took that commentary to be a bit too hopeful. Then, I saw "They Were Sisters". And - move over Myrna and Bill! When together, Phyl and Peter did not seem at all like they were acting, they were just a happily married couple bantering, teasing the other lightly and ad-libbing as if they were not in a movie at all, but just out for a weekend picnic. Their scenes together were by far the movie's best.

At the other end of the scale is James Mason and Pamela Kellino (later Pamela Mason). They were playing father and daughter in the movie, and if you hadn't known about their off-screen relationship, seeing the way they interacted on the screen would have been a bit worrying.

With the wrong actors, "They Were Sisters" could have easily been a ridiculous farce, and at times it does begin to stray towards over-acting. But with the right actors, including the three youngest children, it comes across perfectly and is a movie well worth watching. 10/10

"They Were Sisters", a lush, Black and White studio film, has the cream of post-war British acting talent (Phyllis Calvert, James Mason, Anne Crawford.) You will need to get over the hurdle of tolerating that late 1940s bright, British way of talking, only nowadays to be heard in reduced form from the Queen. Also, accept and get used to the slightly wooden "Peter and Jane" style child actors - then you'll see a great weepy melodrama.

James Mason is deliciously malevolent and controlling of his drippy, sweet, doormat of a wife, the fragile Dulcie Gray. This sister's marriage troubles are timeless - what we would nowadays see as coercive control, or "gaslighting". Her sister Vera, played by that specialist of a high-maintenance woman, Anne Crawford, has a marriage more particular to the upper middle-class of the middle years of the century: a spoilt trophy wife, like a character from Noel Coward who's strayed into a melodrama, but still highly entertaining for it. The perfect, third sister Lucy has the perfect marriage, except she cannot have children, and so dotes on her sisters' neglected children. We're not great ones for family dramas like this nowadays, being rather individualistic and focussed on our ability to choose whether we marry and whether children quite fit our modern, choice-filled lives, so it is a refreshing pleasure to see this sisters' family drama, let's say from a "family" era.

Interestingly the wicked James Mason character's seventeen year old daughter is well played by Pamela Kellino, his future wife and already thirty in this picture - one of those actresses like Alicia Silverstone who seem able to play teenagers into their thirties. James Mason seems to have shown up as his smooth self in so many anonymous films that I'm inclined to avoid him; that's a bit absurd, because he's in so many good ones, in particular this one: see what he's made of here.

Give this great film a chance: if you can accept the accents and jauntiness and stop noticing them, it's a great melodrama, and the softer amongst you might finish up blubbing - maybe not quite "Wonderful Life" territory, but could be tear jerking.

Possibly the most compelling, if not nauseating depiction of non-physical domestic abuse that I've seen. Also, it seems about as clear as it could be at the time the film was made that the James Mason character is having a sexual relationship with his daughter, and the dynamic in their relationship is sometimes a bit too real to watch. James Mason seemed to get typecast in this sort of role for a while, probably because he's so good at it.

Phyllis Calvert is lovely and sympathetic and, aside from the children and the dog, is the only one to really cheer for. Although most female viewers will be lured in by James Mason's disturbingly alluring cruelty, they will probably find it quite ugly by the end. Being set in the more modern day, with Mason in a suit and driving a car, instead of a period costume and a horse, makes this story all the more unpleasant. Worst of all is the casting of Mason's real-life wife Pamela as his eldest daughter (!) Unless this was a rare glimpse of him breaking character with the camera rolling, his physical affection with her in their many shared scenes surely indicated incest. Eww! Her performance doesn't give that impression, but then she wasn't much of an actress. Allegedly her character is mature, yet she calls him "Daddy" throughout. His poor on- screen wife and children suffer his endless verbal and emotional abuse. He even threatens the poor dog. The most entertaining scene for me (as an American) was when the young son is playing with a new gun, and Cruel Papa Mason says he MAY have to take that away from him. Unlike the villain you loved to hate in The Man in Grey and The Wicked Lady, here his villain is more like alcoholic pervert uncle-by-marriage who manages to ruin every family gathering. You'll applaud Phyllis Calvert's kind- hearted character but won't find any redeeming value in Mason's villain.

If you have seen "The Man in Grey (1943)" and enjoyed it, you should take the time and trouble to seek out this forgotten gem from 1945 for it again stars James Mason playing a sadistic, manipulative husband, albeit in modern dress.Alongside, it tells the story of three very different sisters at a time between the two world wars.The story also follows their respective marriages and the type of husbands they wed.

Phylis Calvert (Lucy) plays a "goody two shoes" sister who has tragically lost a daughter but has a very supportive, understanding husband.A very sexy Anne Crawford plays a promiscuous wife (Vera) who finds her husband boring and looks for affairs on the side.To be fair to her character, she did say to her fiancé that she did not love him before they wed.Nevertheless they have a daughter together.There is a brief sexy scene where Vera is putting on her stockings which is far more daring than you will see in American films of the time with the Hays Censorship Code in place.I have quite a collection of films of this vintage and the only equivalent film I can think of is the Madeleine Carroll/Robert Donat scene in the Scottish hotel bedroom from "The 39 Steps" (1935).As an aside, if you would like to see another performance by Anne Crawford, seek out "Millions Like Us" (1943).

Finally Dulcie Gray plays (Charlotte) the passive victim-type sister who marries "Geoffrey" (James Mason) at his sadistic best.They have an elder daughter and a younger son and daughter who come to despise their cruel, manipulative father.You may smile at their frightfully refined, polished accents (presumably taught at stage school) but this is one of the charms I find from films of this time.Another reviewer commented on the near incestuous relationship hinted at in the film with his elder daughter played by his later real wife, Pamela Mason. Good must triumph in these morality films of the time.No, I won't provide a spoiler.I do know that I have my wife's attention with a film such as "They Were Sisters" if I dare to speak during it and she cuts me off.This was no exception!!