Steinesongo Too many fans seem to be blown away

Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Benas Mcloughlin Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

preppy-3 Film follows the friendship of two friends from 1924 to 1943. One is "Kit" Marlowe (Bette Davis) who writes serious books that never make money. The other is Mildred Drake (Miriam Hopkins) who writes pulp novels by the dozens...and makes tons of money. Also involved is Preston Dake (John Loder) Mildred's husband, her high strung daughter Deirdre (Dolores Moran) and Rudd Kendall (a ridiculously young Gig Young) who wants to marry Kit.Next to "Now Voyager" this is my favorite Bette Davis film. It's beautifully done with a good script, direction and acting. It's never dull and the passing of years is done great. Hopkins is WAY over the top here screeching most of her lines, marching across a room, arms flying, eyes wide open...but it fits her character. Davis is much more low-key and it works beautifully. The contrasts of the two characters is right on target. It's well known that the two actresses hated each other but it actually helps the movie. At one point Davis has to calmly reach out and grab Hopkons and shake her violently. It's a GREAT scene. The supporting cast is good too except for Loder. WAY too wooden in his role. Still this is a great movie well worth catching. Updated and remade in 1981 as "Rich and Famous". That's also a good movie but not as good as this one.

Alex da Silva The film follows the relationship between Kit (Bette Davis) and Millie (Miriam Hopkins) who are both friends and authors with different styles. We span 20 or so years of their lives and their relationships with Millie's husband Preston (John Loder), Millie's daughter Deirdre (Dolores Moran) and Kit's partner Rudd (Gig Young). The film explores the avenues of career woman vs family woman.The film starts badly with the men being portrayed as comedy/ineffectual numbskulls and Miriam Hopkins's screeching voice irritating the hell out of the viewer. The film is boring - it gets better in the 2nd half but it's all still a load of tosh. Bette Davis is good, though, apart from her awful habit of saying "Dahling". You want to shout out "Oi....Davis....the word is Darling!"This is a film for women. It's not bad, it's just boring.

Poseidon-3 After having gone head-to-head in "The Old Maid" a few years prior, Davis and Hopkins teamed up for round two in this film. It's a credit to both actresses that, despite their intense loathing for one another, they were able to convey warm and deep friendship on screen when it was called for, even embracing fondly when the touch of one probably repulsed the other. Davis plays a somewhat dowdy, earthy authoress who comes back to her hometown amid much flurry to visit her old school chum Hopkins. Davis writes critically-acclaimed, but lackluster-selling, books yet can't seem to find a man to share her life. Hopkins, on the other hand, has an affectionate husband (Loder) and is about to have a baby, but has no outlet for her own creativity. When Hopkins writes a tacky novel and it's a runaway best-seller, the dynamic between these old friends shifts and before long they are engaged in a rivalry and an unstated game of one-upmanship. The years flow by and, though Davis is still a respected writer and playwright, Hopkins has achieved extraordinary fame and success in her field. When Loder comes between the ladies and Hopkins' daughter Moran, as well, the sparks begin to fly, though never without a certain touch of humor. Davis enjoyed portraying a fairly realistic character in this go-round and came up with the notion that she would wear men's pajama tops to bed as a revealingly quirky trait. Though, as the film wears on, she is given a rather silly grey streak in her hair and becomes more mannered, it's still a well-drawn, interesting performance. Hopkins in at full tilt throughout and gives a zesty, energetic portrayal. One hopes that she was in on the joke of her heavily neurotic and over-the-top character. She provides a lot of the comic content with her exuberant bitchery. Loder gives a friendly, solid, if unspectacular performance. Young appears late in the game as Davis' younger suitor and is very handsome and effective. Moran is also mostly appealing and attractive, though she would exit the business before too long after marrying a producer. Revere shows up in a small, but amusing, role as a reporter. The story is an intriguing one, though there are a few head-scratching elements (such as how Moran has no recollection of what her father looks like when they meet after a lengthy separation.) Also, due to U.S. involvement in WWII coming about after the source play's debut, a bit of patriotic sentiment was incorporated into Davis' role to help assuage the potential fluffiness of such a piece in a time of war. In fact, the initial choice for director turned the project down because he didn't think audiences would care about "two bitches" bickering when there's a war on! Fortunately, the film was made as it's a fascinating thing to see these enemies working their craft together with Davis underplaying and Hopkins overplaying and somehow providing a tasty piece of entertainment in the process. Davis would have other nasty rivalries and issues with female stars after this such as with Susan Hayward in "Where Love Has Gone" and, infamously, Joan Crawford in "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?"

FilmOtaku Long before "Beaches" and "The Turning Point", there was the film "Old Acquaintance" (1937?). Focusing on the familiar theme of longtime friendship that is tainted by jealousy and competition, one of the most remarkable things about it is that Davis actually plays the "nice" one this time around. "Old Acquaintance" begins with Kit (Davis), a writer who turns out books that appeal to female intellectuals, returns home to visit her old friend Millie (Hopkins). Kit and Millie basically grew up together, and despite Kit's seriousness and drive and Millie's concern for all things material, the two have forged a friendship that is pretty tight. When we first meet the two, Millie, married and pregnant with her first (and only) child, decides that she too can become an authoress, only she is going to write what she thinks the public wants; torrid potboilers (ala Danielle Steel) that are high on the sappy melodrama, and low on the substance meter. When Millie finds eventual success and becomes extremely wealthy, churning out book after book, her husband Pres (Loder), and child, Didi begin to feel neglected and eschewed, thanks to Millie's highly materialistic and "queen bee" attitude. They both turn to Kit, who has managed to stick around through all of this, Pres falling in love with her, and Didi looking to Kit as a surrogate mother. Despite Kit having reciprocal feelings for Pres, she insists that they can never come to fruition since Millie is her best friend, so he divorces Millie and leaves. Years later, still a success, Millie finds out that Kit and Pres were in love at one point, and despite the fact that neither followed through with their feelings, Millie blames Kit, now an accomplished and respected playwright, eventually turning Didi, now in her late teens, against her. The drama is further heightened when Kit finally agrees to marry Rudd (Young), her younger lover, right when he meets and falls in love with Didi, causing further conflict and heartache until Kit and Millie are left with the prospect of only being left with the other, despite their serious issues over the years.I really enjoyed "Old Acquaintance" because it had all of the elements of a great melodrama; back-stabbing, unrealized and tragic love, Bette Davis. Whether she is playing the good soul or the evil one (most likely the latter), Davis does drama the best, and "Old Acquaintance" is a fine example of her work. Hopkins, who I previously have seen playing fairly harmless and airy characters in ("The Heiress") as well as endangered and misunderstood (the wrongfully accused school teacher in "These Three") really rolls up her sleeves and digs into this part with obvious relish. She is fantastic, and while you spend most of the movie hating her, you can't help but admire how well Hopkins performs the role. The supporting cast of Loder and Young are fairly solid, and Loder in particular is great as the put-upon, romantic and downtrodden husband. Part of you wants to smirk and call him a wuss and part of you wishes you could date him.The story itself is full and solidly carries itself well from the beginning of the film until the end. Coupled with good acting and a couple of great slaps courtesy of La Davis, "Old Acquaintance" was a good, meaty film that I watched with great relish, wondering where it had been for the last 20 years I have spent watching all things classic film, and in particular, Bette Davis. There was nothing stupendous about "Old Acquaintance" that made me speak in tongues or anything, but it is a wonderful film that has fallen into relative obscurity over the years that deserves to be seen and enjoyed. 8/10 --Shelly