The same year as her Oscar winning role in "Jezebel" and the Oscar nominated family drama, "Four Daughters", Bette Davis was one of three daughters in this sensational sleeper. Along with Jane Bryan and Anita Louise, Davis is the daughter of stern, judgmental (but still loving) Beulah Bondi and the plain spoken, more understanding Henry Travers, simple folk in a small Montana town. One sensational night, Davis meets San Francisco based sports writer Errol Flynn who proposes without even thinking about the words coming out. Bryan marries the man of her dreams (Dick Foran) and starts a family, while Louise agrees to marry the much older Alan Hale Sr. who gives her everything she wants even though he knows she doesn't love him. Davis relocates to San Francisco and goes through every possible turmoil imaginable, even finding herself in the middle of the great earthquake of 1906. Through correspondence, the sisters all express their individual problems, including Bryan who believes that her husband is cheating on her. This leads to a great scene where the three sisters confront three other men allegedly involved with the unseen woman. What works about this drama is not just the great Bette Davis and the very complicated Errol Flynn, pretty much the same lovable cad as John Garfield's in "Four Daughters". That sensational Warner Brothers sound comes through in the lush musical score, aided by the lush sets and costumes, and fantastic special effects for the earthquake sequence.A great supporting cast including Donald Crisp as the adviser pal to Flynn, Lee Patrick as the irritating but likable chatterbox neighbor of Davis and Flynn, and Ian Hunter as Davis's understanding boss makes this truly an underrated gem. This starts on the day of Theodore Roosevelt's presidential election, deals with the rise of automobiles as the main method of transportation, and ends with the election of President Taft. It shows that as the world changes, so does family.

. . . please please PLEAE do NOT confuse viewers by posting actual lingering shots of chapter-opening pages, leaving them on-screen long enough for even watchers WITHOUT a "pause" function to take in sentences which completely confuse folks just wanting to watch a flick (and who would have BOUGHT THE BOOK, if that was their intention). It's okay to have some fine print in your opening credits to specify what connection, if any, your film has to a printed story (often of the same name as the motion picture). But it's probably NEVER smart to reduce your feature film to Kindle-like marginalia on an interactive E-book page. That's essentially what Warner Bros. does in adapting its version of Myron Brinig's novel, THE SISTERS. This movie begins with a lingering shot of the novel's first page, followed by many other such static "scenes." About 54 minutes, 5 seconds into SISTERS we're up to "Chapter 12." However, more than 26 minutes later (or at 1:20:25, to be precise), we're back at "Chapter 10"! Worse yet, the first sentence of this EARLIER chapter is "Two years passed." Did Warner Bros. just slip into a TIME MACHINE when no one was looking?! What the heck just happened, and WHEN are we?! THE SISTERS teaches us that Charles W. Fairbanks was America's Vice President from 1905-1909, and that James S. Sherman held that job for the following four years--but not much else.

The Sisters (1938) Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Anita Louise. Jane Bryan, Henri Travers, Buelah Bondi. A wonderful "Matinee' Ladies" film. I was a young girl and would come home from school and there would be my Mom and a friend or two talking about the movie they had seen that afternoon at the downtown movie palace where a Bette or Loretta or any of the other "women-who-suffer" latest film was playing. This one has small town in Montana women, finding the men who will become their partners in life. Bette picks bounder Errol, who she sticks by through thick and thin, even the San Francisco earthquake. Bette suffers the most, but it is the sister who stays in Montana who finally brings them all back together, to help her solve a scandal involving a local femme fa tale who is after the youngest sister's banker husband. The episodic film has major time shifts bookended by the Presidential elections and large celebration balls. The final one with Taft beating Teddy Roosevelt has a lovely shot of each of the women coming from different parts of the ballroom as the camera follows each to the center where they meet and as the celebration goes on, they stand with their arms around each others waist, as the camera tracks back and up. They are highlighted in a glow, and it is just a very moving, lovely end to the film. All three actresses have never been filmed more beautifully. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030755/

"The Sisters" is not seen often these days. It is a curiosity piece because it's a minor Bette Davis film in which she plays an ordinary woman, a departure from some of her other more intense dramas we are more accustomed to seeing. As directed by Anatole Litvak, the film doesn't show anything new.The story about the Eliott sisters from Montana, is mildly interesting. The Eliott household is a happy one. We see them at the beginning of the film as they are preparing for the election night ball in their small town in which Theodore Roosevelt is the winner in the presidential race. The three sisters make a quite an attraction among the young male population because their good looks.What appears to be a nice family when we first meet them, suddenly fades into memory as the three sisters go in different directions, as life intervenes along the way. Louise, the older sister, proves to be a survivor, if only she has to experience a lot in her own life before real happiness can be achieved. Helen, the beautiful middle sister, marries an older man who offers her security. Grace, the younger one, is the only one to stay in town and marries Tom.Louise experiences the worst fate of all the sisters when she finds herself abandoned in San Francisco by her husband Frank. He wants to get away from the scene of his failure in order to prove himself worthy of Louise's love. By going overseas as a merchant seaman, he wants to see if he can make any good out himself. Louise is in the middle of the 1906 earthquake and loses all she had.At the end, all sisters are back home on another election night ball as they watch Willliam Taft being proclaimed as president of the nation. Their lives come together at the end, as all find peace.The most exciting time in the film centers around the vivid scenes of the San Francisco earthquake. It's done in a realistic manner. Louise is helped by the next door neighbor, a woman of easy morals, who turned out to be a real friend.The performances are good, but don't expect any sparks from the subdued Louise of Bette Davis. Ms. Davis gives a nuanced performance. The problem is, one expected an over the top star turn by the actress, and her Louise is the epitome of common sense and kindness. Errol Flynn, as Frank, the deserting husband, is seen in a different role as well. He is not as dashing and debonair as in his signature performances, but in spite of playing against type, his take on Frank gives another dimension of his acting range.The beautiful Anita Louise makes an interesting contribution to the film. Ian Hunter as the kind Mr. Benson, also adds to the picture. The wonderful Lee Patrick plays Flora, the good neighbor, with conviction. Donald Crisp makes another great appearance as Frank's friend. Henry Travers and Beulah Bondi are seen as the Eliott sister's parents. Jane Bryan, as Grace has some good moments, but she is eclipsed by the more interesting older sisters.This is a film to watch Bette Davis and Errol Flynn playing roles that are completely different from others we are used to see them in.