Old Acquaintance

Vincent Sherman's 1943 American film follows the rivalry, spread across twenty years, between two writers who have been friends since childhood. Kit writes serious books that sell little; Millie grows rich on cheap romances, and that difference slowly poisons the friendship. What makes it interesting is placing the friendship of women somewhere that neither exalts it nor reduces it to a catfight; both are right and both are wrong. The real tension between Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins became one of the most retold stories about a film set, and it shows on screen. The story sits inside the melodrama template and the final section is too corrective. The dialogue is strong. Who it's for: viewers who like classic Hollywood melodrama and Bette Davis. Who it's not for: anyone wanting a fast narrative, or troubled by the gender conventions of the period.