In This Our Life

USA, 1942. Directed by John Huston. Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, George Brent, Dennis Morgan, Charles Coburn, Frank Craven, Billie Burke, Hattie McDaniel, Ernest Anderson.

John Huston’s second film as director, and an interesting one it is too. Opinions differ about whether Davis ruins it by giving an over-the-top performance – I’m inclined to say she doesn’t. Huston was quoted as saying he “let the demon go”, in a reference to her performance. She plays a spoilt young woman who ditches her own fiancé in favour of her sister’s husband – and that’s just for starters! By the end of the film it is clear her character is totally irredeemable – in fact, we are shocked by the depths to which she is prepared to sink to save herself. There is much to interest film analysts here – for example the psychological make-up of the family, with good sister de Havilland taking after her gentle father and Davis after her selfish mother. Then there’s the equally selfish and obnoxious Uncle William (Charles Coburn – brilliant) and his slightly sordid, lecherous relationship with Davis which has a whiff of incest about it – very daring for 1942. The final scene between these two is very powerful (and very unpleasant). Also notable for its time is the depiction of racism, with Ernest Anderson giving a fine performance as an intelligent young black man struggling against a system which will condemn him for a crime he didn’t commit simply by taking a white person’s word against his. The other point of interest for me was one of gender – the women are the strong characters here, and the men are mostly weak or ineffectual. Packed with interesting stuff and well worth a look.