- Actors: Bette Davis, Miriam Hopkins, George Brent, Donald Crisp, Jane Bryan
- Directors: Edmund Goulding
- Producers: Hal B. Wallis
- Format: PAL, Black & White, Full Screen
- Language English
- Subtitles: English
- Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Number of discs: 1
- Classification: U
- Studio: Warner Bros
- Run Time: 91 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B000WO6BES
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 24,167 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
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Reviews
SYNOPSIS: "She's such a sour old maid, who hates me because I'm young and attractive and in love!" Headstrong, beautiful Tina has nothing but disdain for her Aunt Charlotte. What could she know of a young girl's heart? A great deal, in fact. For unloved, unlovable Aunt Charlotte is really Tina's mother, whos romance with a Civil War soldier who didn't return resulted in Tina's birth and a lifetime of maternal sacrifice.
As Charlotee, Bette Davis gives one of her most nuanced performances aging from wide-eyed girl to grey-haired martinet. Miriam Hopkins provides effective counterbalance with her portrayal of Charlotte's effusive cousin who raises Tina. Two women, one child - and a brilliant example of melodrama as art.
ABOUT THE DVD: This is a release by WARNER HOME VIDEO for the UK market (Region 2 PAL format - which will play on all standard DVD players in the UK and the rest of Europe - buyers outside of Europe will need a multi-region player in order to play this DVD). The film is presented in its original BLACK & WHITE and FULL SCREEN (4:3 ratio) and runs for a total of 91 minutes. The AUDIO is the original ENGLISH language (there are also German and Spanish dubbed soundtracks on the disc) - SUBTITLES on the DVD are in English, German or Spanish - SPECIAL FEATURES on the disc include vintage newsreel, classic cartoons and film shorts (all from the year of the film's releae 1939), as well as the film's original theatrical trailer along with that of 'Confessions Of A Nazi Spy' from the same year.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Bette Davis stars in one of her most prolific roles in a period drama as Charlotte Lovell, a sincere and warm young woman who secretly gives birth to a child outside of wedlock to Clem Spender, a Lieutenant about go off to fight in the American Civil War whom her cousin Delia was once madly in love with. Clem unfortunately dies in the battlefield, leaving Charlotte to raise her daughter Tina on her own whilst running a Nursery for War Orphans where she can hide Tina so cleverly, that not even Delia realises the truth.
Before her wedding to Delia's brother-in-law Joe, Charlotte confesses the truth about Tina, prompting Delia to get involved in preventing the wedding from ever taking place. After Delia's husband Jim dies leaving her with a massive mansion with three young children, she invites Charlotte and Tina to move in, even offering to take Tina under her wing. Tina, being so young and unaware of her true relationship to Charlotte, somehow finds a mother in Delia, even calling her mummy, and just like her cousins, begins to refer to her true mother as "Aunt Charlotte".
But as Tina begins to grow up, becoming spoiled and increasingly attached to Delia, Charlotte begins to feel more and more distant from her, leaning towards a more stern and cold authority figure rather than the mother she really longs to be.
I'm not a huge fan of Bette Davis or her movies, but this one really caught me off guard; I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish and despite it being mostly a dialogue driven piece, it was quite gripping and engaging. At more than one point, I also had to dab at my eyes with a tissue for some truly heartbreaking scenes that were brilliantly acted.
I honestly did NOT expect to love this film so much, and I'm sure many people who enjoy a nice innocent and heart-felt story from an old classic black and white, are going to love it too.
Before her wedding to Delia's brother-in-law Joe, Charlotte confesses the truth about Tina, prompting Delia to get involved in preventing the wedding from ever taking place. After Delia's husband Jim dies leaving her with a massive mansion with three young children, she invites Charlotte and Tina to move in, even offering to take Tina under her wing. Tina, being so young and unaware of her true relationship to Charlotte, somehow finds a mother in Delia, even calling her mummy, and just like her cousins, begins to refer to her true mother as "Aunt Charlotte".
But as Tina begins to grow up, becoming spoiled and increasingly attached to Delia, Charlotte begins to feel more and more distant from her, leaning towards a more stern and cold authority figure rather than the mother she really longs to be.
I'm not a huge fan of Bette Davis or her movies, but this one really caught me off guard; I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish and despite it being mostly a dialogue driven piece, it was quite gripping and engaging. At more than one point, I also had to dab at my eyes with a tissue for some truly heartbreaking scenes that were brilliantly acted.
I honestly did NOT expect to love this film so much, and I'm sure many people who enjoy a nice innocent and heart-felt story from an old classic black and white, are going to love it too.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Bette Davis delivers an unforgettable performance in a quite wonderful film. If only they DID make 'em like this anymore... but who cares when we can watch superb drama of this quality whenever we choose? And yes, it certainly is one of those films that can be enjoyed many times.
The DVD itself is thoughtfully packed with several very good bonus features that are well worth a viewing, and allow you to re-create an authentic "Night at the Movies" type experience from 1939. Well done Warners, great way of providing extra value.
The DVD itself is thoughtfully packed with several very good bonus features that are well worth a viewing, and allow you to re-create an authentic "Night at the Movies" type experience from 1939. Well done Warners, great way of providing extra value.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
If you consider the great films starring Bette Davis you think `All About Eve' or `Now Voyager', one film that I had never heard of was `The Old Maid' and until I saw it I did not realise it was at least on a par with the best of her work. Davis stars as Charlotte a naïve woman who falls for the man her cousin Delia has shunned. He dies during the American Civil War, but not before leaving Charlotte pregnant and unwed. What follows is the next 20 years of Charlotte's life and how it intertwines with the successful Delia. Can these two women, once the best of friends, ever truly get along again?
`The Old Maid' is what is known as an old fashioned `women's picture', as it has an almost exclusive female cast with female issues. However, as a bloke I found the film truly compelling. There are no good characters or bad characters, just fate and flaws. Director Edmund Goulding suitably balances your allegiances to both Delia and Charlotte, one minute taking one characters side, the next the other. What this leads to is some of the most powerful angst I have felt in a long time from a film. The mid to late 19th Century setting means that the situations the characters get themselves into feel truthful; the film would not have worked if made today, or even to an extent, when the film was shot in the late 1930s.
As always Davis is a compelling lead, she is able to switch from naïve innocent to hard done Aunt with effortless ease. Miriam Hopkins is also superb as Delia, a character that could have been unsympathetic, but in many ways she becomes the real heroine of the piece. Director Goulding does a great job of putting the excellent script onto the screen and the recent conversion is a crystal clear one that has an added extra of recreating the full 1930s cinema going experience by putting film shorts and cartoons on before the film, if you wish to see them.
`The Old Maid' is a film that not only holds up for fans of black and white picture or Bette Davis fans, but any lover of a good story and brilliant actresses.
Sammy Recommendation
`The Old Maid' is what is known as an old fashioned `women's picture', as it has an almost exclusive female cast with female issues. However, as a bloke I found the film truly compelling. There are no good characters or bad characters, just fate and flaws. Director Edmund Goulding suitably balances your allegiances to both Delia and Charlotte, one minute taking one characters side, the next the other. What this leads to is some of the most powerful angst I have felt in a long time from a film. The mid to late 19th Century setting means that the situations the characters get themselves into feel truthful; the film would not have worked if made today, or even to an extent, when the film was shot in the late 1930s.
As always Davis is a compelling lead, she is able to switch from naïve innocent to hard done Aunt with effortless ease. Miriam Hopkins is also superb as Delia, a character that could have been unsympathetic, but in many ways she becomes the real heroine of the piece. Director Goulding does a great job of putting the excellent script onto the screen and the recent conversion is a crystal clear one that has an added extra of recreating the full 1930s cinema going experience by putting film shorts and cartoons on before the film, if you wish to see them.
`The Old Maid' is a film that not only holds up for fans of black and white picture or Bette Davis fans, but any lover of a good story and brilliant actresses.
Sammy Recommendation
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