Film
In This Our Life
A portrait of selfishness in wartime America. Bette Davis plays a woman so consumed by her own desires that she destroys everyone near her—her sister, her family, her lover—with a casual cruelty that feels almost casual. It's a character study dressed as melodrama, uncomfortable and magnetic, about what happens when one person's appetites are given no restraint.
If you liked this
All About Eve1950
A scorching dissection of ambition and ego wrapped in velvet. Bette Davis at her imperious best, watching someone hungrier than her claw toward fame. Witty, vicious, and endlessly quotable.
But It's theatrical in a way that can feel mannered on first watch. The pacing wobbles. Some of the dialogue lands harder in the theatre than on screen.

The Old Maid1939
Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins in a generational clash that spans decades. A woman's life sacrificed for another's ambition, told with genuine pathos. Davis dominates every frame.
But It's deeply sad without ever lifting. The plot can feel overly schematic—sacrifice and regret, over and over. Not for a night when you need hope.

Jezebel1938
Davis as a Southern belle whose willfulness brings ruin on everyone around her. Visually sumptuous, dramatically fierce, and she owns every scene. The yellow fever plot feels almost secondary to her orbit of destruction.
But Aged badly in its racial politics. The pacing is slow even by 1938 standards. Some viewers find her character too exhausting to sit with.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from In This Our Life
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Minnie and Moskowitz1971
Both center on a woman whose appetites and class put her at odds with those around her, but Cassavetes asks what happens if that woman actually has to sit with the consequences and change.
John Cassavetes' film about a widowed heiress and a parking-lot attendant—class collision, raw emotion, and two people accidentally healing each other. It's messy and alive and heartbroken in ways 1942 couldn't be. Watch for what happens when selfishness meets real tenderness.
But It's plotless in the way Cassavetes films are plotless. The acting is deliberately unglamorous and sometimes hard to listen to. It's an hour longer than it needs to be.

More like this (8)
Now, Voyager1942
A woman transforms from neurotic spinster to confident independent. Tender and romantic without being saccharine. Paul Henreid is a dream. One of Davis's most beloved performances, and deservedly so.
But The first act is almost unbearably painful as character setup. Modern viewers sometimes find the ending too resigned—she gets wisdom instead of the man.

The Letter1940
Davis as a woman who commits murder and lies to cover it up, watched constantly by her unforgiven husband. Morally murky, psychologically complex, filmed with noir shadows and tension. Utterly gripping.
But It's cruel and there's no redemption anywhere. The portrayal of a Thai woman is deeply offensive by any standard. Very hard to watch at times.

Deception1946
A postwar melodrama where Davis plays a woman torn between two men, one a composer with dangerous secrets. Orchestral, operatic, genuinely unexpected in where it goes. Davis at full theatrical tilt.
But Critics have been unkind to it for decades. The plot involves some real leaps of logic. Can feel overwrought if you're not in the mood for full melodrama.

Dangerous1935
An early Davis vehicle about an aging actress who destroys a young man with her manipulations. Strange and personal, the kind of early '30s drama that feels half-improvised. Her Oscar win was deserved.
But It's slow and very much of its era. The cinematography is flat. The supporting cast is barely present. Some plot threads evaporate.

The Star1952
A faded Hollywood actress, desperately broke, trying to climb back up. Davis is raw and unglamorous here, and the film doesn't let her off easy. A character study with real bite and sadness.
But It's genuinely bleak. The recovery arc is non-existent. Some find it too punishing, a great actress being made to suffer for the camera.

Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte1964
A Southern Gothic mystery where Davis plays a woman haunted by a real or imagined past murder. Effectively creepy, smartly plotted, with excellent support from Olivia de Havilland (her co-star here too).
But It's a thriller more than a character drama. The twist is visible if you're paying attention. Some of the B-movie elements haven't aged gracefully.

Damage1992
Both examine how one person's refusal to deny their appetites can hollow out an entire family. But where Davis's character is frantic and dramatic, Damage shows destruction as something quiet and considered.
A bourgeois man's infidelity unravels his entire life with surgical precision. Based on Josephine Hart's novel, it's a British counterpart to the American melodramas of the '40s—the same machinery of desire and ruin, but grittier and colder. Absolutely hypnotic.
But Very sexually explicit in ways that can feel gratuitous. The characters are almost impossible to like. It's bleak in an unflinching way that many find punishing.

A Woman's Face1941
Both films use female selfishness as the engine of destruction, but Crawford's film ties it specifically to appearance and power—she only becomes predatory after gaining beauty, making the film an ironic commentary on what society teaches women to want.
Joan Crawford as a scarred woman who undergoes surgery and becomes beautiful—and then becomes a blackmailer. It's a psychological thriller dressed as melodrama, about identity and the power beauty grants you. Crawford is fierce and morally slippery.
But The premise depends on outdated ideas about beauty and happiness. The resolution is clunky and sentimental. The pacing drags badly in the middle.

People
Cast
Bette DavisStanley Timberlake Kingsmill
Olivia de HavillandRoy Timberlake
George BrentCraig Fleming
Dennis MorganPeter Kingsmill
Charles CoburnWilliam Fitzroy
Frank CravenAsa Timberlake
Billie BurkeLavinia Timberlake
Hattie McDanielMinerva Clay
Lee PatrickBetty Wilmoth
Mary ServossCharlotte Fitzroy
Ernest AndersonParry Clay
William B. DavidsonJim Purdy
Directing
- Jack SullivanAssistant Director
- John HustonDirector
Writing
- Ellen GlasgowNovel
- Howard E. KochScreenplay
Production
- Hal B. WallisExecutive Producer