The Sisters

Errol Flynn and Bette Davis did the first of two films together in The Sisters and curiously enough it followed landmark films for both of them, The Adventures of Robin Hood for Flynn and Bette's second Academy Award winner, Jezebel.

It was an interesting project for both, but fell somewhat flat at the box office. Still it's not a bad film at all and for Flynn it was an attempt to expand his range as player.

Bette's usual shtick is held firmly in check my director Anatole Litvak. She's one of three daughters of Henry Travers and Beulah Bondi of Broken Bow Montana and the action of the film takes place between Election Day of 1904 and 1908. Shortly after the first election where all three encounter the men they would marry.

For Jane Bryan it's Dick Foran, a proper young man of business who soon becomes president of the bank and they settle down to a nice middle class existence. It's only threatened when Foran falls victim to the town tart briefly, one of many men in the area.

For Anita Louise, she's a naughty flirt who likes romance, but also likes her creature comforts. She marries Alan Hale who's the wealthiest guy in town, who's also a widower looking for a trophy wife. She lucks into the best of both worlds when he dies leaving her well provided for and free to pursue love in comfort.

But the main plot revolves around Bette Davis who marries newspapermen Errol Flynn, a charming, but essentially weak character. He likes to drink and carouse and even impending fatherhood doesn't put a damper on that. He leaves her, purely coincidentally right in the middle of the San Francisco Earthquake.

Some don't like Flynn's performance, but I think he did fine in the role. The problem was that the brothers Warner filmed two different endings and gave into public opinion in the one you see. Flynn, by the way thought they did the wrong thing. Without giving it away, the ending should have resembled one they gave Four Daughters which was also produced by them in 1938.

Despite the fact that Errol and Bette hated each other they got through the film and it's not bad. Look also for good performances from Donald Crisp as Flynn's sportswriter friend and Ian Hunter who gives Bette a job after Flynn leaves her and loves her as well.

This is a most excellent drama, set in San Francisco from 1904 to 1908, with the great earthquake of 1906 at its center. While the business failure of Flynn's character is a little unrealistic, both he and Bette Davis play sympathetic characters; they made me feel the disappointment of people who expect a lot out of Life and then suffer through its hardships.

The scenes of the earthquake are terrific - don't miss the seemingly ENDLESS shaking and destruction of Bette's rented room, as her neighbor comes screaming into the room looking for comfort, and the indoors gives way to the OUTDOORS! Very nice effects for 1938, 60+ years before computer imaging! That part of the story seems all the more poignant to me, now that we know the death figures were faked - at least 10 times as many died as the officials admitted.

I won't give away the ending, but it was satisfying and made me glad to have seen the film. Do catch it on Turner, which runs it a couple times per year.

This movie is about three affluent sisters, the men they marry and the result this has on their lives. The focus in particular is on Bette Davis and her unwise choice of Errol Flynn for a husband. This SHOULDN'T come as a big surprise to the audience, as this sort of behavior is more expected from the real-life Flynn than the other male leads! The other sisters have differing success with their love lives, though through it all they have a strong sense of family and decency.

The movie scores high marks for excellent acting, writing and production values. While not the best Warner Brothers has to offer, it certainly is among their better efforts.

A very watchable chick flick, with a marvelous Bette Davis, and a mundane Errol Flynn. Chick flick (a damnable moniker) is modern shorthand for movies that deal with female themes, relationships, romance, and emotions, which this movie has in abundance. But this film is wonderful; and at the very least is a time capsule preserving 1938 attitudes of turn of the 20th Century history. (From one who has been in a few earthquakes, trust me, the San Francisco Quakescenes are very well done). The story is about the wooing and wedding tales of three sisters, and focuses primarily on the Bette Davis character's romance with Errol Flynn. Davis is pushing the outside of the envelope for a great performance (more than the script gives her),and Flynn is a handsome but uninspired scarecrow. He did not have to reach very far to find the serious minded, alcoholic, sexually confused, and restless soul that he plays here. What spills out is drab. Still, even when he was mediocre, he was special.

I found it difficult to turn this one off, as the production values are superb. The set director does an incredible job of decoration, placing the story in the era. The cinematography and lighting are exceptional. And the makeup! The characters are full of detail from the period, right down to the grease on the face of the automobile drivers. A film lovers film. Don't miss this.

Big sister Louise from small-town Silver Bow, Montana, falls in love instantly with dashing sports reporter Frank from San Francisco. The year is 1904, and Roosevelt is getting re-elected. The couple elope and try to eke out a living in the big city, but he is restless and nothing comes of his writing ambitions, and their marriage looks like it is failing ...

There is nothing great or everlasting about 'The Sisters', but you might want to watch it for its stars. Bette Davis is resourceful and unassuming as Louise, a far cry from her Jezebel of the following year.

So that leaves Errol Flynn, the very young Errol Flynn, but nevertheless an actor of such abundant charisma that you quite understand how Louise's heart skips a beat, and how her dancing gets out of sync, as she gazes at him at their first meeting. Frank is the quintessential reckless, impetuous and fundamentally enchanting man about town, earnest in love, but quick to give up on all he holds dear. It goes without saying that he looks stunning, with his exquisite bone structure and muzzled up hair. How could Ian Hunter ever hope to compete? Director Anatole Litvak does provide a few touches to redeem this otherwise quite pedestrian romantic melodrama. The earthquake was well done, and the cunning way the sisters conspire to rid the town of the local tramp by telling their menfolk, "We consider it a community problem". Point taken!