Rent The Old Maid (1939)

Historical Melodrama. - The Old Maid review by Steve

Sentimental tearjerker set in Philadelphia during the Civil War. Bette Davis has a brief affair with a Union soldier (George Brent) who is killed in action. Their illegitimate daughter is raised as part of the family of a manipulative cousin (Miriam Hopkins). And Bette becomes the austere aunt of the girl who loves instead her assumed mother.

Bette grows old and shrewish, almost a monster. Davis was always better matched by another female star. No one cast Brent opposite her for sexual chemistry. Hopkins is a fine adversary, as she pecks away at her poor cousin's soul. This is something of a horror film, where the terror is for a woman is to grow old without a child or a husband.

And that brings a lot of suspense. Of course the main attraction is Bette's extraordinary star performance as she (tastefully) ages from a girl with dreams into an elderly woman driven by bitterness. She has a powerful, intimidating presence. There's a touch of the gothic in her, many years before Baby Jane.

It's a Civil War film about the home front made right at the start of WWII. So there's a premonition of new sacrifices to come.  Bette's usual costumer Orry-Kelly creates a riot of crinoline and lace. Corsets are tight and Max Steiner contributes a tender score. It's a handsome Warner Brother's production which is utterly conventional, but still a heartbreaker.