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In This Our Life |  | Director: John Huston
Actors: Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, George Brent, Dennis Morgan, Charles Coburn
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
Buy New: $9.99
as of 9/7/2010 07:28 EDT details
New (5) Used (6) from $9.50
Seller: dallas_texas_media
Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 15522
Format: Black & White, NTSC
Languages: English (Unknown), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 97 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
UPC: 085391203087
EAN: 0085391203087
ASIN: B00170DEAA
Theatrical Release Date: 1942
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
AN AUTHENTIC REGION 1 DVD FROM WARNER BROTHERS.
SYNOPSIS:
What Stanley Timberlake wants, she takes. So, on the eve of her marriage to another, she runs off with her sister's husband, the first of many betrayals that lead to disaster... and to a compulsively watchable brew of deceit, racial bigotry, latent incest and violent death.
Two-time Best Actress Oscar winners and lifelong friends Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland square off as sisters (guess who's the bad one) in In This Our Life, a must-see for fans of melodrama at its juiciest. Director John Huston, fresh from his The Maltese Falcon success, includes a cameo role for his father Walter, just as he did in Falcon. And Max Steiner's powerful music underscores the film's driving emotional force.
BONUS FEATURES:
* Commentary by film historian Jeannine Basinger
* Warner Night at the Movies 1942 short subjects gallery:
o Vintage newsreel
o Technicolor patriotic short March On, America!
o Technicolor musical short Spanish Fiesta
* Classic cartoon Who's Who in the Zoo
* Trailers of In This Our Life and 1942's Desperate Journey
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 12
 Bette Davis, how can you go wrong February 2, 2010
Terra D. Beezel (WV USA)
My collectio is growing and growing and Bette Davis never lets me down...if you don't have a Bette Davis collection..START ONE..lol.
 Second-rate Davis is still pretty good. November 7, 2009
Westley (Stuck in my head)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland star as sisters in 1942's "In This Our Life." Adapted from the Pulitzer-winning novel by Ellen Glasgow, the movie follows the scheming, seductive Stanley Timberlake (Davis) and the havoc she wreaks on her family, including her "good," stoic sister Roy Timberlake (de Havilland). (Interestingly, the movie never mentions why they have male names). The sisters come from a neurotic, weak branch of their family. The Timberlakes lost most of their money and the family business has been taken over by the Fitzroy branch of the family. Fortunately, Stanley has old Uncle William Fitzroy wrapped around her finger - the two are disturbingly close. It becomes clear that what Stanley wants, Stanley gets. Within the first few minutes of the movie, Stanley has jilted her fiancée, Craig (played by the always reliable George Brent), and stolen her sister's husband, Peter (played by the handsome Dennis Morgan), leaving the already weakened family totally gutted. Soon Roy turns to Craig for comfort, which seems destined for tragedy.
Davis and de Havilland were two of the biggest stars of the 1940s, and they had worked together once before on "The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex." They were apparently friends and worked together years later on the ghoulish "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte" (1964). The movie is only the second by director John Huston (following "The Maltese Falcon"), and one can view many of his trademark touches. The topic matter is relatively rare for him - "In This Our Life" is the kind of 1940s so-called "woman's picture" that one would expect from a George Cuckor. However, Huston approaches his work here with gusto and flair, which keeps things moving along quickly. Perhaps a bit too quickly; the film attempts to pack in a number of subplots and isn't able to do all of them justice. Likewise, the storylines are sometimes choppy and lurch forward in time without much hint as to how things changed. In addition, the subplot concerning the family's young African-American helper (Parry) is given somewhat short shrift. However, the sensitivity with which this plotline is handled is somewhat atypical of movies of this period.
Allegedly, Davis was fond of trashing "In This Our Life," which perhaps is not surprising considering the many unkind reviews of her performance, which often teeters on going over-the-top. Yes, this is a Davis performance where she bugs her eyes, shouts, and flounces a lot - the kind of on-screen behavior that subsequent impersonators have seized upon. However, the role and Huston's direction veer toward melodrama, so I don't think that Davis' performance is inappropriate here. Instead, it helps contrast very starkly her character with de Havilland's controlled Roy. De Havilland does a great job, and the film is stocked with first-rate character actors, including Charles Coburn (as the somewhat lecherous Uncle William), Billie Burke (as the neurotic mother), and Hattie McDaniel (as Parry's distraught mother).
"In This Our Life" is an interesting movie, made all the more intriguing by the inclusion of a subplot that is quite sympathetic (for its time) toward African-Americans. The film is several notches below the best work of Davis and de Havilland, but seeing the two of them work together is fascinating. Their contrasting acting styles could have been rather jarring but ends up working for the movie. The DVD extras include an illuminating commentary track by film historian Jeanine Basinger. I don't always listen to these historical commentaries as they can tend to be pedantic, but this one is particularly well-done.
I love Bette Davis - she does such great b*tch! September 24, 2009
Terry M. Callen (Gloucester City, NJ United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I think the film was ahead of its time in the manner in which it dealt with race relations. It also got very close to talking about incest (Stanley's creepy relationship with her Uncle William).
I love pretty much everything Bette Davis is in, but she does great b*tch in this film.
Olivia DeHavilland was so beautiful in this, George Brent (as always) was wonderful and Dennis Morgan played the cheating husband destroyed by the object of his desire perfectly. Billie Burke played the whining hypochondriac mother to the hilt.
Terrific movie!
Just TRY To Look Away September 8, 2009
G. Simon (Portland OR)
What's to say? It's episodic, melodramatic, over-wrought, over-done - even over-cast and yet, it's a must. After 4 years of 'holding it back' in A Picture after A Picture, Bette Davis explodes all the nasty, evil, selfish, juicy goodness that only she can truly deliver in a performance Jane Hudson and Margo Channing would applaud. Who makes movies like this? And why? I guess because as it turns out, I'm not the only person who finds this a devilishly guilty pleasure of the highest order. Forget the story, the direction or the men in this film (except Charles Coburn) and sink your teeth into the performances of Davis, De Haviland, Hattie McDaniel and in a superb change-of-pace, Billie Burke. Forget that the film was a gigantic hit in it's original release and garnered much better reviews than I imagined.If you need justification to buy an old movie - it's the earliest film I can think of that deals with modern civil rights issues (although only as a sub-plot - why deal with bigotry when there are husbands to steal???? Run, don't walk to this one. Definitely a Top Ten Bette Davis Film - that's saying a lot considering she did 50 plus films and had 10 Oscar nods.
In this our life - movie September 3, 2009
Ceircie
I really enjoyed this movie. I like Bette Davis anyway and this movie portrays her as a selfish and vindictive person who will stop at nothing to get her way. After stealing her sister's husband and causing him to commit suicide, she then trys to go after her old boyfriend, who is interested in her sister now. After hitting someone with her car, she trys to put the blame on a black law student whose mother is a long time friend of the family.
The entire cast is excellent and this movie moves quickly to the chase. I would buy it again.In This Our Life
Showing reviews 1-5 of 12
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