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Housewife

  • 1934
  • Approved
  • 1h 9m
IMDb RATING
6.1/10
1.2K
YOUR RATING
Bette Davis, George Brent, Ann Dvorak, and John Halliday in Housewife (1934)
DramaRomance

Nan Reynolds encourages her copywriter husband Bill to open his own agency. Nearly out of business, he finally gets a client. Former girlfriend Patricia Berkeley writes a very successful com... Read allNan Reynolds encourages her copywriter husband Bill to open his own agency. Nearly out of business, he finally gets a client. Former girlfriend Patricia Berkeley writes a very successful commercial for the client and heats up their old romance. Wife and girlfriend battle over Bil... Read allNan Reynolds encourages her copywriter husband Bill to open his own agency. Nearly out of business, he finally gets a client. Former girlfriend Patricia Berkeley writes a very successful commercial for the client and heats up their old romance. Wife and girlfriend battle over Bill.

  • Director
    • Alfred E. Green
  • Writers
    • Manuel Seff
    • Lillie Hayward
    • Robert Lord
  • Stars
    • George Brent
    • Bette Davis
    • Ann Dvorak
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.1/10
    1.2K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Alfred E. Green
    • Writers
      • Manuel Seff
      • Lillie Hayward
      • Robert Lord
    • Stars
      • George Brent
      • Bette Davis
      • Ann Dvorak
    • 18User reviews
    • 9Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos9

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    Top cast34

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    George Brent
    George Brent
    • William Reynolds
    Bette Davis
    Bette Davis
    • Patricia Berkeley
    Ann Dvorak
    Ann Dvorak
    • Nan Wilson Reynolds
    John Halliday
    John Halliday
    • Paul Duprey
    Ruth Donnelly
    Ruth Donnelly
    • Dora Wilson
    Hobart Cavanaugh
    Hobart Cavanaugh
    • George Wilson
    Robert Barrat
    Robert Barrat
    • Sam Blake
    Joseph Cawthorn
    Joseph Cawthorn
    • Krueger
    • (as Joe Cawthorne)
    Phil Regan
    Phil Regan
    • Mike Hathaway
    Willard Robertson
    Willard Robertson
    • Judge Edwin A. Matthews
    Ronnie Cosby
    Ronnie Cosby
    • Buddy Reynolds
    Leila Bennett
    Leila Bennett
    • Jenny
    Harry Tyler
    Harry Tyler
    • Mr. Simmons
    Charles Coleman
    Charles Coleman
    • Bolton
    Corky
    • Buddy's Dog
    • (uncredited)
    Virginia Dabney
    Virginia Dabney
    • Girl in Nightclub
    • (uncredited)
    William B. Davidson
    William B. Davidson
    • Nan's Lawyer
    • (uncredited)
    Bill Elliott
    Bill Elliott
    • Clerk
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Alfred E. Green
    • Writers
      • Manuel Seff
      • Lillie Hayward
      • Robert Lord
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews18

    6.11.1K
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    Featured reviews

    6blanche-2

    B movie

    George Brent, Ann Dvorak, and Bette Davis star in "Housewife," a 1934 film done at Warner Brothers before they knew what they had in Bette Davis. Davis was pretty enough, with her blond hair and blue eyes, to be cast as an ingénue when she first got to Warners. When Warners realized she had some personality, they put her in films like this where she played stronger, ambitious women.

    In "Housewife," she plays Pat, who has always had a mad crush on Bill (Brent), but Brent is married to Nan (Dvorak), and they have a son. Apparently this doesn't matter to her or Brent, as he starts working late at the office and enters into an affair with her. In one party scene, it's pretty obvious that they're a couple - and that's in front of his wife. His wife, well played by Ann Dvorak, refuses to give him a divorce. He doesn't know what the big deal is, apparently forgetting they have a child. All very odd - or is it the script.

    This is a pretty typical and not very good B movie enlivened by the cast. I like Brent better without his mustache. Wonder why he grew one.

    Pure soap opera and not of the highest quality, with a silly ending. But no Bette Davis fan will want to skip her earlier efforts; it makes one appreciate what came later.
    Michael_Elliott

    Fair Film

    Housewife (1934)

    ** (out of 4)

    Boring melodrama from Warner has a copyright expert (George Brent) becoming successful and leaving his wife (Ann Dvorak) for a vamp (Bette Davis). If you watch Turner Classic Movies late at night of early in the morning then you'll discover all sorts of lesser known titles and this is one of them but it's also like most of the melodramas they show. The film is predictable from start to finish if you've seen at least one movie like this. The film takes place in the pre-code era but sadly the movie doesn't try to do anything dangerous and instead just plays everything pretty straight. The story is your typical dumb guy gets famous an leaves for someone he thinks is better than his wife but none of this works and it just leads to one of the dumbest endings in film history. I'm really mixed when it comes to Brent because he's really hit and miss with me. I'd have to call his performance here one of the misses because he's really bland throughout and doesn't bring any energy to the role. Davis is somewhat better in the film but the screenplay doesn't do her character any justice. Dvorak is the best thing in the film but again, she isn't given too much to do.
    5Art-22

    Bette Davis as the other woman in this otherwise routine domestic melodrama.

    Until Bette Davis makes a play for George Brent, this film drags badly. Even then, there's little zip in the screenplay although it does become more interesting. Davis had a crush on Brent in high school but left for New York once he married Ann Dvorak, and now is hired as the chief advertising copywriter at the unheard of salary of $25,000 per year by the advertising firm where Brent works. (Brent earns $2,100 a year as office manager.) When Brent quits at the urging of Dvorak and starts his own firm, Davis is lured back to work for him and the trouble starts. This was the type of role Davis could eat up if it were in the hands of more capable screenwriters and the mores of the 30's permitted it. Then it might have been called "Homewrecker," with the emphasis on Davis rather than Dvorak. Still, it's fun to watch the stars and is a good example of an early Bette Davis film.
    4bkoganbing

    No Occupation, Just A Housewife

    Housewife is the kind of film that drive feminists absolutely mad in presenting the woman as fit to be nothing more than the one who keeps home and hearth for the husband. It must have been especially galling for Bette Davis who definitely did not fit the mold of the message of this film.

    Bette's not in the title role, she's the infamous 'other woman' of this Warner Brothers soap opera. The title role is played by Ann Dvorak, wife of George Brent, mother of Ronnie Cosbey. She tells Brent that he's not exactly showing a certain amount of get up and go needed to succeed in the world. That sends Brent off in the direction of Davis who is a career woman who just started working at Brent's advertising agency.

    In the meantime Dvorak ain't taking this philandering lying down, she shows she's got some worldly ways after all and even gets an admirer in the person of John Halliday sniffing around.

    But this is 1934 so films like this can only follow certain specific formula guidelines. All these people are so terribly civilized about all this infidelity.

    1934 was the year Bette Davis finally got a breakthrough part in Of Human Bondage. Yet Warner Brothers would still cast her in fluff like Housewife. No wonder she took off for Great Britain.
    5Doylenf

    Sappy soaper seems a lot longer than its running time...

    GEORGE BRENT has a hard time making a living in HOUSEWIFE, married to ANN DVORAK and falling in love with a working girl he knew years ago--BETTE DAVIS in this flimsy soaper from Warner Bros.

    Nothing much happens of much consequence except that for awhile Brent thinks he's in love with Davis, a hard-working office gal who takes his mind off his marriage to Dvorak, but doesn't stand a chance by the time the script gets to the tacked on happy ending after a brief courtroom scene.

    The main acting chores go to Ann Dvorak and she does a good job of playing the loyal wife who helps her hubby up the ladder of success and sees him turning to a new love before things get patched up rather hastily.

    George Brent does his usual good-natured job as the leading man who is caught between his loyal wife and "the new kid in the office" who has her own plans for their future. The courtroom ending seems tacked on and things are resolved in rather hurried fashion for a happy ending.

    Nothing much, just a programmer for three dependable Warner workers early in their respective careers.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      This film has been preserved by the Library of Congress.
    • Goofs
      Early in the film when Bill goes into Sam Blake's office, he is shown opening the office door twice between shots.
    • Quotes

      Patricia 'Pat' Berkeley: Well, I've done all right. I suddenly found out I had some brains and decided to use them.

    • Connections
      Referenced in The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson: Bette Davis/Richard Pryor (1983)
    • Soundtracks
      Cosmetics by Duprey
      (1934) (uncredited)

      Music by Allie Wrubel

      Lyrics by Mort Dixon

      Sung by Phil Regan at a radio rehearsal

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • August 11, 1934 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Una mujer de su casa
    • Filming locations
      • Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA(Studio)
    • Production company
      • Warner Bros.
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 9m(69 min)
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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