Housewife (film)
Encyclopedia
Housewife is a 1934
American
drama film
directed by Alfred E. Green. The screenplay by Manuel Seff and Lillie Hayward
is based on a story by Hayward and Robert Lord
.
) struggles to run the household on her meek husband Bill's (George Brent
) meager salary as an office manager. She urges him to apply for better jobs elsewhere, but he is disinclined to take risks, and his lack of ambition is placing a strain on their marriage.
Pat Berkeley (Bette Davis
), who attended high school with Nan and Bill, is hired by his firm as an advertising copywriter, and her success prompts Nan to coerce her husband into asserting himself with his boss. When he fails to spark any interest with his ideas, Bill succumbs to his wife's suggestion that he start his own agency using the money she has managed to save. Spurred by Nan, he steals a major client from his former firm and hires Pat to help him handle it. Complications arise when the feelings the two had for each other years before are reignited and they embark upon an affair. Nan becomes aware of their relationship but chooses to ignore it.
Bill announces he wants a divorce. When Nan refuses to grant him one, he angrily leaves the house and accidentally hits their son Buddy (Ronnie Cosby) with the car, seriously injuring him. Months pass, Buddy recovers, and Bill and Nan's divorce is in its final stages. Hearing Nan's court testimony, Bill realizes how good she is as a wife and mother and how much he loves and needs her, and the two decide to reconcile.
Although Variety
called it "satisfactory entertainment," when asked about the film in later years, Bette Davis responded, "Dear God! What a horror!"
1934 in film
-Events:*January 26 - Samuel Goldwyn purchases the film rights to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from the L. Frank Baum estate for $40,000.*February 19 - Bob Hope marries Dolores Reade...
American
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Alfred E. Green. The screenplay by Manuel Seff and Lillie Hayward
Lillie Hayward
Lillie Hayward was an American film actress and later screenwriter whose Hollywood career began during the silent era and continued well into the age of television...
is based on a story by Hayward and Robert Lord
Robert Lord
Robert Lord was an American screenwriter and film producer. He wrote for 71 films between 1925 and 1940. He won an Academy Award in 1933 in the category Best Writing, Original Story for the film One Way Passage...
.
Plot
Nan Reynolds (Ann DvorakAnn Dvorak
Ann Dvorak was an American film actress.Asked how to pronounce her adopted surname, she told The Literary Digest: "My name is properly pronounced vor'shack. The D remains silent...
) struggles to run the household on her meek husband Bill's (George Brent
George Brent
George Brent was an Irish film and television actor in American cinema.-Early life:He was born George Brendan Nolan in Raharabeg, County Roscommon on the opposite bank of the River Shannon from the town of Shannonbridge, County Offaly, Ireland, the son of a British Army officer.During the Irish...
) meager salary as an office manager. She urges him to apply for better jobs elsewhere, but he is disinclined to take risks, and his lack of ambition is placing a strain on their marriage.
Pat Berkeley (Bette Davis
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
), who attended high school with Nan and Bill, is hired by his firm as an advertising copywriter, and her success prompts Nan to coerce her husband into asserting himself with his boss. When he fails to spark any interest with his ideas, Bill succumbs to his wife's suggestion that he start his own agency using the money she has managed to save. Spurred by Nan, he steals a major client from his former firm and hires Pat to help him handle it. Complications arise when the feelings the two had for each other years before are reignited and they embark upon an affair. Nan becomes aware of their relationship but chooses to ignore it.
Bill announces he wants a divorce. When Nan refuses to grant him one, he angrily leaves the house and accidentally hits their son Buddy (Ronnie Cosby) with the car, seriously injuring him. Months pass, Buddy recovers, and Bill and Nan's divorce is in its final stages. Hearing Nan's court testimony, Bill realizes how good she is as a wife and mother and how much he loves and needs her, and the two decide to reconcile.
Cast
- George BrentGeorge BrentGeorge Brent was an Irish film and television actor in American cinema.-Early life:He was born George Brendan Nolan in Raharabeg, County Roscommon on the opposite bank of the River Shannon from the town of Shannonbridge, County Offaly, Ireland, the son of a British Army officer.During the Irish...
as William Reynolds - Bette DavisBette DavisRuth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
as Patricia Berkeley - Ann DvorakAnn DvorakAnn Dvorak was an American film actress.Asked how to pronounce her adopted surname, she told The Literary Digest: "My name is properly pronounced vor'shack. The D remains silent...
as Nan Reynolds - John HallidayJohn HallidayJohn Halliday was an American actor of stage and screen, who often played suave aristocrats and foreigners....
as Paul Duprey - Ruth DonnellyRuth DonnellyRuth Donnelly was an American stage and film actress. Her father was the mayor of Trenton, New Jersey....
as Dora Wilson - Hobart CavanaughHobart CavanaughHobart Cavanaugh was an American character actor in films and on stage.Born in Virginia City, Nevada, Cavanaugh made his film debut in San Francisco Nights...
as George Wilson - Robert BarratRobert BarratRobert Harriot Barrat was an American stage, motion picture, and television character actor.-Career:Born in New York, Barrat's theatrical debut was in a stock company in Springfield, Massachusetts...
as Sam Blake - Joseph CawthornJoseph CawthornJoseph Cawthorn was an American stage and film comic actor....
as Krueger (as Joe Cawthorne) - Phil ReganPhil Regan (actor)Phil Regan was an American singer and actor, who later served time for bribery in a real estate scandal.Regan was born in 1906 in New York. He worked as a detective on the NYPD, before his singing was overheard by a radio producer at a party. This earned him the nickname "The Singing Cop"...
as Radio Singer - Willard RobertsonWillard RobertsonWillard Robertson was an American actor. He appeared in 146 films between 1924 and 1948. He was born in Runnels, Texas and died in Hollywood, California.-Selected filmography:*Graft *Shanghaied Love...
as Judge - Ronnie Cosby as Buddy Reynolds
Critical reception
Frank S. Nugent of the New York Times observed, "A characteristic of a poor boxer is that he telegraphs his punches. In Housewife . . . the dramatic punches are not merely telegraphed, but radioed. About the most unexpected element of the film is the bewildering regularity with which the unexpected fails to happen . . . Mr. Brent and Miss Dvorak do as well as any one might expect, but Miss Davis is a trifle too obvious as the siren."Although Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
called it "satisfactory entertainment," when asked about the film in later years, Bette Davis responded, "Dear God! What a horror!"