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This is a charming movie featuring an nonmustached, gorgeous Errol Flynn and a young, lovely Bette Davis. Davis gives a wonderful ingénue performance as the less fortunate of three pharmacist's daughters who live and love at the turn of the century (with the action beginning with the election of Roosevelt and ending with the election of Taft). The Davis character marries Errol Flynn, who runs into trouble with employment and alcohol. The other two daughters stay closer to home and do better. Davis, however, is determined to stand by her man and make her marriage work.

It's delightful to see these stars in somewhat different roles than they would play later in their careers. They are ably supported by Anita Louise, Jane Bryan, Ian Hunter, Beulah Bondi, Lee Patrick, Dick Foran, Alan Hale, and Laura Hope Crewes.

The Warners film intended to be true to the book - however, the preview cards demanded another ending. I have to say, I like the changed ending as well.

Bette Davis (as Louise Elliott) is a Montana woman who marries San Franciscan sports reporter Errol Flynn (as Frank Medlin). Her sisters Anita Louise (as Helen), and Jane Bryan (as Grace) marry at the same time; the three sisters find wedded bliss is short-lived. Supporting floozies Lee Patrick and Laura Hope Crews are a very well-matched mother and daughter tag-team who befriend the deserted "Louise".

Whatever the film's original intentions may have been, it is really about ONE sister; naturally, it's the sister played by Bette Davis, and HER marriage to the character played by Errol Flynn. The stars are in fine form as the love-struck young couple who hit on hard times. Ms. Davis is refreshing as a housewife who becomes ill in a smoke-filled boxing arena, and Mr. Flynn is convincing as the husband who drinks to heal his wounded pride. Flynn asks a significant question about his character: why did marriage make his wife strong, and himself weak? Similarly, the objective of "The Sisters" as a film is strong, and the story weak. Yet, the production level is high; and, historical events like Presidential elections (Roosevelt, Taft) and the San Francisco earthquake are used to great advantage.

****** The Sisters (1938) Anatole Litvak ~ Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Anita Louise

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!

"The Sisters" is not seen often these days. It is a curiosity piece because it's a minor Bette Davis film in which she plays an ordinary woman, a departure from some of her other more intense dramas we are more accustomed to seeing. As directed by Anatole Litvak, the film doesn't show anything new.

The story about the Eliott sisters from Montana, is mildly interesting. The Eliott household is a happy one. We see them at the beginning of the film as they are preparing for the election night ball in their small town in which Theodore Roosevelt is the winner in the presidential race. The three sisters make a quite an attraction among the young male population because their good looks.

What appears to be a nice family when we first meet them, suddenly fades into memory as the three sisters go in different directions, as life intervenes along the way. Louise, the older sister, proves to be a survivor, if only she has to experience a lot in her own life before real happiness can be achieved. Helen, the beautiful middle sister, marries an older man who offers her security. Grace, the younger one, is the only one to stay in town and marries Tom.

Louise experiences the worst fate of all the sisters when she finds herself abandoned in San Francisco by her husband Frank. He wants to get away from the scene of his failure in order to prove himself worthy of Louise's love. By going overseas as a merchant seaman, he wants to see if he can make any good out himself. Louise is in the middle of the 1906 earthquake and loses all she had.

At the end, all sisters are back home on another election night ball as they watch Willliam Taft being proclaimed as president of the nation. Their lives come together at the end, as all find peace.

The most exciting time in the film centers around the vivid scenes of the San Francisco earthquake. It's done in a realistic manner. Louise is helped by the next door neighbor, a woman of easy morals, who turned out to be a real friend.

The performances are good, but don't expect any sparks from the subdued Louise of Bette Davis. Ms. Davis gives a nuanced performance. The problem is, one expected an over the top star turn by the actress, and her Louise is the epitome of common sense and kindness. Errol Flynn, as Frank, the deserting husband, is seen in a different role as well. He is not as dashing and debonair as in his signature performances, but in spite of playing against type, his take on Frank gives another dimension of his acting range.

The beautiful Anita Louise makes an interesting contribution to the film. Ian Hunter as the kind Mr. Benson, also adds to the picture. The wonderful Lee Patrick plays Flora, the good neighbor, with conviction. Donald Crisp makes another great appearance as Frank's friend. Henry Travers and Beulah Bondi are seen as the Eliott sister's parents. Jane Bryan, as Grace has some good moments, but she is eclipsed by the more interesting older sisters.

This is a film to watch Bette Davis and Errol Flynn playing roles that are completely different from others we are used to see them in.

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.

Bette Davis to me and many others is/was one of the greatest actresses of her time and still one of the greats, 'All About Eve', 'Now Voyager', 'Little Foxes', 'The Letter' and 'Jezebel' (all very good to masterpiece films) being especially great performances. Am also fond of Errol Flynn, though don't consider him as good an actor, with my first and favourite film of his being 'The Adventures of Robin Hood' (he's great in his other swashbucklers too).

There is a lot to recommend in regard to 'The Sisters'. It is not a classic by any stretch and not everything works, with the balance not being quite right. The biggest attraction though is Davis and Flynn, and 'The Sisters' does nothing to disgrace either of them and they are two of the main best things about the film. Neither at their best sure, but for anybody who likes or is a fan of either or both should find little reason to not watch this, even if it is just the once.

Davis doesn't disappoint, it is a restrained performance but a wholly riveting one. Flynn is dashing and charismatic and their chemistry is very sensitively written and acted. The production values are very handsome, time, effort and money and a huge amount of all three at that clearly went into them. The earthquake effects are still impressive and put a vast majority of earthquake effects in films today to shame. The whole earthquake sequence is very memorable.

Max Steiner's score is typically luscious and dramatic. The script avoids being too soapy, it's nicely directed and the story generally moves along nicely. The supporting cast are not exceptional but do more than competently, Lee Patrick standing out.

On the other hand, the supporting characters seem underdeveloped and sidelined in favour of Davis and Flynn. It was right for them to be focused on primarily, but it really shouldn't have been to the extent that there is not an awful lot else in characterisation that one remembers.

Also, the ending felt too pat and tacked on, not ringing true with what happened before in the story and like the writers were favouring star power over realism.

In summary, not great but worth seeing. 7/10

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.

When I discovered that there were a few films featuring my favorite actress of all time, Bette Davis, that I hadn't yet seen I jumped to find them. One of them is Anatole Litvak's 1938 film "The Sisters", starring Davis as Louise, a young woman in a small Montana town. She and her sisters Helen (Anita Louise) and Rose (Jane Bryan) are attending an election night ball for Theodore Roosevelt when Louise falls in love at first sight with Frank (Errol Flynn). The two run away to San Francisco, where he is a sports writer, and over the next couple of years the sisters' lives take different turns. Louise and Frank fall on hard times together due to his drinking problem and unemployment. Helen marries Sam (Alan Hale), a rich older man who knows it is simply a marriage of convenience, and Rose ends up marrying Louise's ex-boyfriend Tom, the one she left behind when she and Frank married. Throughout all of these problems, the sisters find that they are still there for each other, particularly when each of them has to deal with one crisis or another.

There's nothing particularly great about "The Sisters"; the acting is decent, the story is decent and pretty melodramatic at times, but there is nothing remarkable about it. I enjoyed the film for what it was – a typical 1930's Warner Bros. Melodrama, and admittedly, Bette Davis absolutely gleams in this film, made one year before she won the Oscar for "Jezebel" and just two years before her true heyday, the 1940's. I honestly wouldn't recommend this film to anyone but a solid Bette Davis fan, or a classic drama film lover. I personally love that genre, so I really enjoyed the film, but it wasn't a "great" production. 6/10 --Shelly

Despite the authentic period detail and a very well-staged, realistic earthquake scene that takes place late in this story of early San Francisco (but fails to wake up the sluggish plot), the tale itself is a weak one that gives neither BETTE DAVIS nor ERROL FLYNN very much chance to emote as their fans would like them to. Davis plays a loyal wife while Flynn is the family man who can't settle down. Both are professionally competent here, but seem to be fully aware of the script limitations imposed on their bland characters.

Nevertheless, it's nice to see a more restrained Davis playing a nice, normal woman for a change--but one would expect a few more sparks from their relationship than we get here. Their separation, after he goes off on a binge that takes him away for a four year period while he tries to find himself--and their ultimate reunion--is about all the plot has to offer in the quest for tracing the family history of three daughters who each experience their share of problems in choosing hasty marriages. Beulah Bondi and Henry Travers are their worried parents.

Bette and Errol have both given better performances in more detailed roles--and were fine a year later in their flashier costume roles as Elizabeth and Essex. This seems to be merely an attempt to work up some box-office interest in two of the studio's top stars while at the same time taking Flynn away from his swashbuckling roles. Then too, this might have been Jack Warner's promotional idea of working up audience interest in the two stars before presenting them in the lavish ELIZ. AND ESSEX the following year.

Unfortunately, all of the supporting roles are on the bland side except for Alan Hale, Sr. as a wealthy Irishman who marries Anita Louise, a lovely young thing who wants the security his wealth can provide. A plain looking Jane Bryan is totally wasted as the youngest sister who marries Dick Foran, both terminally bland in their respective roles. Donald Crisp is convincing as Flynn's loyal friend.

But whatever real interest the film has, it owes to the performances of Bette Davis and Errol Flynn who are able to give even this kind of weak material some substance and strength. Ian Hunter as Davis' understanding boss handles his meager assignment with customary charm and skill.

Negative note: Director Anatole Litvak should have toned down Lee Patrick's performance as an inquisitive chatterbox neighbor. Nice to see Laura Hope Crews (Aunt Pittypat from GWTW) as her fluttery mother.

Summing up: Whatever energy was put into this production, the end results are meager, even for Davis and Flynn fans.

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.

The Sisters (1938) is a little-known Bette Davis movie set in the Victorian era. Louise Elliott (Bette Davis) is expecting a proposal any minute but when she goes to celebrate the inauguration of Teddy Roosevelt, her mind changes when she meets the charming Frank Medlin (a young Errol Flynn). They elope to San Francisco and start their life together. Meanwhile, her two younger sisters back home are making decisions of their own.

This is a predictable story, yes, but that does not make it less entertaining. It was a sweet and hopeful movie. Bette Davis is just amazing in it as the sweet sister, hopelessly in life. Her accent is much changed from the last movie I saw her in. Errol Flynn is very dashing, but I can't help thinking he looks a little different from what I remember him as Robin Hood. His acting isn't the best, but he does his best with the material given to him. It's a little soppy at times (especally Flynn's lines) but it brings a smile to your face - it doesn't make you cringe.

Overall, a lovely little drama from start to finish. Bette Davis is her usual perfect, captivating self. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Probably a better name for this movie would have been "The Sister" as, although we are initially introduced to the three daughters of small-town pharmacist Henry Travers and his fretful wife Beulah Bondi, it pretty much concentrates on the story of the eldest sister, Louise, Bette Davis's character. The doings of the other two sisters flit in and out of the narrative, but in truth, it's pretty much all about Bette.

Adopted from a popular romantic novel of the day, the timeline is framed by the elections of the first two US presidents of the 20th Century, Teddy Roosevelt and William Taft, in 1904 and 1908, as well as bracketing the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. Punctuated throughout by close-ups of introductory chapter pages from the original book, no doubt to indulge the novel's fans although possibly for expository purposes too, what we have here is a glorified period soap-opera.

It has to be said right off that the attitudes shown in the film to women are very condescending indeed. One sister enters into a loveless marriage with a wealthy older man, presumably to keep her from remaining on the shelf, the other forgives her husband for running around with another woman even as we learn that the same scarlet woman has had flings, it seems, with every other so-called respectable male in the town. Talk about sauce for the gander.

Which brings us round to Bette, who's swept off her feet by Errol Flynn's handsome, ne'er-do-well sports reporter who breezes into town to meet up with his censorious old chum played by Donald Crisp. Soon enough, the star-crossed couple marry and set out for San Francisco, but naturally Errol can't change his wicked, wicked ways and before you can say Jack Daniels, is hitting the bottle and generally wallowing in self-pity, the final straw apparently being when his long-suffering wife takes the initiative and actually gets a job to earn the money her husband is drinking away. The very thought of a woman working and being the main breadwinner in a household! It all ends up a little too happily with a patched-on ending which apparently contradicts that of the novel.

Apart from the excitingly realistic earthquake scene, a couple of voguish montage sequences and chaste sister Louise's unusual encounter with the local madame, I felt that director Anatole Litvak seemed rather constrained by the confines of the source material, subsiding too easily into a cosy, episodic, linear approach to the narrative. Davis enlivens things with a typically sparky performance but Flynn somehow never seems to engage with a part that on the face of it seems to reflect some of his real-life character traits. Travers and Bondi are appealing as the girls' parents, but neither of the other two sisters or their various beaus made much of an impression on me, which perhaps explains why none of them, male or female are much remembered today.

Still, in their different ways, the star-power of Flynn and Davis goes a long way but I've seen both in better movies than this.

Myron Brinig's novel becomes curious Warner Bros. vehicle for Errol Flynn and a very demure Bette Davis, playing a young couple in 1904 Montana who elope and settle in San Francisco. Davis' younger sisters find husbands too, but Bette suffers the most as her husband (established as a drinker early on) neglects her, comes home soused, causes her enough stress to lose their baby, and eventually hops a steam-ship to Singapore. The wobbly-thin, sentimental material gets goosed by some good acting, yet the film never arises above the standard "woman's picture" level. Bette, wearing aprons over tidy dresses and beaming with wifely pride, is hardly the same girl audiences saw in "Jezebel" that same year; she's obviously an actress of great magnitude, yet she's reigned in too tightly here (and the masochistic role of Louise doesn't offer her much, anyway). Boyish Flynn manages a sensitive on-screen duet with Davis, although this union isn't an entirely convincing one. OK production (including an earthquake sequence), several enjoyable supporting performances and bits of knuckle-biting melodrama. **1/2 from ****

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.

Begins well but after an hour or so, losses steam. Still worth watching for Errol & Bette along with solid Supporting Cast but the Hollywood ending is crass. Almost laughable. Errol was right: should have stayed with ending in the book. They could pull that off now but not back then.

Well done effects on San Francisco earthquake scenes. Flynn delivers some wickedly cool romantic lines but one could say Errol's acting really didn't venture far from real life. Henry Travers steals every scene. Alan Hale a delight, as always, along with Beulah Bondi.

One great Flynn line:

Do you want to hear the story of my life?

No, but it's exciting!

Hadn't got any point to it but it might serve as a warning to you.

Wow. This is the embodiment of the phrase "Women's Picture." In case you don't know, a Woman's Picture was this thing rampant from the late '30's to the '40's that starred Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Irene Dunne, or a handfull of other female stars of the same stature. Very sappy, very melodramatic, but with enough redeeming value to still be loads of fun 65 years later.

Still, I maintain that Bette Davis was always much better when she played a bitch. I mean really. Don't you want to chuck something at poor old Louise in this movie? When she looks all smug at Errol Flynn (who is quite tasty in this) when he wants to know how she bought their Charlie Brown Christmast tree and goes "With pennies and nickles!" or something to that effect with her voice going up about as high as possible with the phrase "pennies and nickles!" Ugh, you want to hit her.

But aside from that, a very good movie, although one must wonder why Warner Bros. kept insisting that Jane Bryan looked like someone who could be related to Bette Davis, since she played her sister in this and "Marked Woman," and she played her illegitimate daughter in "The Old Maid."

A 1938 family melodrama starring Errol Flynn & Bette Davis revolving the love lives of 3 sisters at the turn of the last century beginning in all places a presidential inauguration ball. Following Davis & Flynn principally where his sports writer soon goes to pot when his writing career doesn't pan out. Davis ends up getting a job at a department store where she thrives as Flynn wallows in drink, feeling sorry for himself. Things come to a head when the tragic San Francisco earthquake hits trapping Davis in her building while Flynn tries to get back Stateside after he decides to become a merchant seaman. Ending where we began, at another president's celebratory gala, all the stories are wrapped up in a typically neat fashion. Not a bad film but it does suffer from being adapted, possibly from an important novel of the time by Myron Brinig (complete w/visual pages flashing on the screen when a new chapter begins), shoehorned into a slim running time which makes the finished product feel stuffy & compromised but the actors do acquit themselves well & if you get caught up in the sweep of things, then you're in luck. Also starring Donald Crisp as a friend of Flynn's, Henry Travers as the paterfamilias & Alan Hale Sr. As an older suitor of one of Davis' sisters.