Old Acquaintances a Story of Friends and Rivals

1943 Film Starring Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins a Character Study

Aug 20, 2009

Real life rivals Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins starred in Old Acquaintances, a 1943 movie about friendship and rivalry between novelists in sophisticated New York.

Old Acquaintances is a movie starring Bette Davie and Miriam Hopkins produced in 1943 by Warner Brothers. Davis and Hopkins, rivals in real life, portrayed novelists who became literary and romantic rivals in the elegant character study. Old Acquaintances includes Gig Young, John Loder, Dolores Moran, Phillip Reed, Roscoe Kams and Anne Revere.

Old Acquaintances is the story of childhood friends, Kit Marlowe (Bette Davis) and Millie Drake (Miriam Hopkins) who become rivals over a period of years. Of the two characters, Kit Marlow is the more likeable and much classier woman, and one might wonder why she maintains her friendship with conceited and irritating Millie Drake.

The film opens in the early 1930’s with Millie Drake ,a housewife about to have a child. Drake decides to follow in the footsteps of her friend, Kit Marlow a respected novelist. Millie Drake moves on to greater commercial success than her friend and flaunts her wealth. Millie becomes quite irritating as a she becomes conceited, arrogant and demanding.

Millie’s handsome husband, Preston Drake (John Loder) grows tired of her demanding behavior and leaves abruptly. He declares his love for Kit, who loves him but turns him down because of her loyalty to Millie.

Years later the characters come back in contact with each other and their relationships develop further. Millie shrilly and unfairly accuses Kit of ruining her marriage, leading to one of the movie’s best scenes, when Kit shakes Millie and leaves her wailing on the sofa. At this same time, Kit unwittingly becomes a romantic rival for a younger man, Rudd Kendall (Gig Young) with Millie’s daughter Deidra (Delores Moran).

Old Acquaintances ends as the two women have a champagne toast to the tune of Auld Lang Syne.

Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins

Bette Davis portrayed the classy dame to perfection, with only her large expressive eyes giving away her heartbreak in scenes where she experienced loss. Miriam Hopkins was not as easy to relate to, although her character was not especially likable, meaning that the actress did a terrific portrayal of a person with flaws.

According to information on TCM (Turner Classic Movies) the set of Old acquaintances was not a peaceful one. Marion Hopkins tried every trick she could think of to upstage Bette Davis. The two dueling divas generated sparks both off and on screen, producing a sophisticated movie that especially appealed to women.

Old Acquaintances is a black and white movie about sophisticated upper class characters in New York City. The movie was produced by Warner Brothers. Old Acquaintances was directed by Vincent Sherman. Henry Blank was the producer, with Jack L. Warner as executive producer.

Old Acquaintances is sometimes aired on TCM on cable TV and is also available on DVD.

The copyright of the article Old Acquaintances a Story of Friends and Rivals in Classic Film Dramas is owned by Christine Nyholm. Permission to republish Old Acquaintances a Story of Friends and Rivals in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.