The Old Maid (1939)

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When Zoë Akins' play The Old Maid (based on a novel by Edith Wharton) won the 1934-1935 Pulitzer Prize, the selection was roundly condemned by critics, who felt that Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour was more deserving, but had lost because of its lesbian theme. Certainly, Akins' story of the… More When Zoë Akins' play The Old Maid (based on a novel by Edith Wharton) won the 1934-1935 Pulitzer Prize, the selection was roundly condemned by critics, who felt that Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour was more deserving, but had lost because of its lesbian theme. Certainly, Akins' story of the relationship between two Southern cousins in the years between 1833 and 1854 is nothing spectacular. Delia Lovell marries James Ralston, leaving her old beau Clem Spender out in the cold. Delia's cousin Charlotte comforts Clem by spending the night with him. Charlotte becomes pregnant, secretly farming out her daughter, Tina, to another family. The years pass; Charlotte sets up a day nursery so that she may remain close to her daughter (still in the dark as to the true identity of her mother). Meanwhile, Charlotte has become engaged to Ralston's brother Joseph. The troublesome Delia, who discovers her cousin's secret, contrives to prevent Charlotte from marrying Joseph, then arranges to have Charlotte raise Tina as her niece rather than her daughter. More years pass; Tina regards Delia as her mama and Charlotte as just an "old maid." At Tina's wedding, Charlotte almost reveals the truth to her daughter, but.....It's all slick romance-magazine stuff, and hardly worthy of the Pulitzer. On the other hand, the film version of The Old Maid, starring Bette Davis as Charlotte and Miriam Hopkins as Delia, is a classic of its kind, and one of Davis' best vehicles. The story is given additional substance by moving the early scenes up to the time of the Civil War, making Clem Spender (George Brent) less of a cad by killing him off at Vicksburg, thus rendering it impossible for Clem to make an honest woman of Charlotte. From the vantage point of the 1990s, when film stars find it difficult to turn out more than one picture a year, it is incredible that The Old Maid was but one of four first-rate Bette Davis films to be released in 1939; the others were Dark Victory, Juarez, and The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 36 min.
Directed By: Edmund Goulding
Written By: Casey Robinson
Genres: Drama, Classics

In Theaters: Aug 16, 1939 Wide
On DVD: Apr 1, 2008
Studio: MGM Home Entertainment

Critic Reviews

Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion
A well-oiled assembly of betrayals, vendettas, and maternal passion plays
Steve Crum, Video-Reviewmaster.com
Bette Davis at the peak of her acting chops, a brilliant, melodramatic role.

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Featured Audience Ratings

Veronique K

"the old maid" is a tear-jerking melodrama about unrequited love and maternal sacrifice, another soap opera-alike flick to showcase bette davis' craftmanship. davis plays a woman who loves her best friend's former beau(george brent) whom she elopes with after he… More
"the old maid" is a tear-jerking melodrama about unrequited love and maternal sacrifice, another soap opera-alike flick to showcase bette davis' craftmanship. davis plays a woman who loves her best friend's former beau(george brent) whom she elopes with after he confirms her cancellation of their engagement. so davis takes over her best friend's former finacee and concieves of his child. later on davis constructs a orphanage to conceal the real identity of her own daughter. then her best friend adopts her child (seemingly just an orphan) so these two women together raise the child of the man they both love for years while davis remains disgracefully "the old maid" at the cost of another chance of potential marriage. but indignantly when her own child grows up, she resents davis' severe upbringing, deeming her real mother just her auntie charlotte, mocking davis as "the old maid"....at last, the child follows her adopted mom's advice to kiss her aunt on the cheek before she departs on the carriage with her groom after the wedding. undeniably, miss davis is a talented actress who is willing to uglify herself with elder-woman cosmetics to fit into the needs of the script. but the whole story is utterly over-sentimental with overlonged plot developments, dragged and delayed, just like accompanying your elder parents to watch a soap opera which you cannot wait for it to end! davis usually selects movies with hidden preachy messages to encourage female audience to be strong and courageous, and she shall be the representative of the new brave woman, a role model there to cheer women on their own stance to serve the puritanical feminine virtues. "the old maid" is too healthy to disgest into the stomach of every cynist or skeptist. you cannot help but exclaim "another chic flick!" personally i don't consider it defying to comply to a man's whimsical wills and devote your life to an obscured belief of love. maybe it's more fun to see a brittle joan crawford pose a gun and remark "the world ain't made for nice guys!" ha.
nefnie l

A well-done meloncholy drama of a lively young debutante turned bitter old-maid.