Review of In This Our Life (1942) by William D — 16 Jun 2012

Director John Huston's second film (after "The Maltese Falcon") was a "women's picture," believe it or not, but it has his masculine, maverick stamp all over it. It's depressing to me that so few people remember "In This Our Life." I had never heard of it until two weeks ago!

I suspect the major reason it has been ignored (suppressed?) is that it challenged white audiences to look at their racism. Quite a ballsy thing to do in 1942, especially given the fact that the United States had just entered World War II. Perhaps understandably, white Americans were in no mood to be criticized at the time of their supreme sacrifice.

I can understand that it was too tough to be appreciated in the 1940s, but why hasn't it been rediscovered since? Perhaps there's something about it that still cuts too close to the bone for white Americans. Let's not forget that most still live in all-white communities and wouldn't sell their house to a black family.

Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland star as sisters in a charming small town. De Havilland has recently gotten married, and her sister (Davis) seduces the husband and runs off with him! And that's just in the first half-hour. Davis's character reveals more and more layers of narcissism and treachery.

There are hints of an unwholesome aspect to Davis's relationship with her uncle. Then in the last half-hour there is the cherry on her loathsome cake. She frames a young black man for a crime she commits. This young man is a servant who is practically part of the family and is struggling to put himself through law school. His mother, incidentally, is played by Hattie McDaniel, who just a couple years earlier had made history as the first black actor to win an Oscar (for "Gone With the Wind").

"In This Our Life" is not a great film, but it has so much merit. Its disappearance from film history is a gross injustice.