There’s
nearly as much to the story behind the making of Old Acquaintance as there is to the movie’s story. The most notorious
being that the two female leads loathed each other. Maybe it was because Bette Davis
had had an affair with Miriam’s husband during production of another movie some
time before. They were pros when the camera rolled. And no doubt, their
off-screen relationship helped with their on-screen performance. Old Acquaintance easily passes the
Bechdel Test. The women have names, they talk to each other, and their
conversation isn’t about men. Men are a topic a portion of the time, but a
great deal of the conversation has to do with careers and life goals. I noticed
something else about the men. There’s hardly a scene where two of them are in
the same room, let alone talking to each other. And something I found very
interesting is that the main male characters in the story bear a strong
resemblance to each other with slicked back hair, pencil mustaches, and wry
smiles. When the war comes around, they become even more identical. The dialog
is well written, so much so that the audience is tuned into the dialog,
listening for the carefully selected words. When a blunt statement is finally made, it’s almost a shock as well as a catharsis. Old Acquaintance is a well-told and
visually strong movie that’s become a staple amongst classics. And while I have
fun with it in the strip, this film truly does show off Bette Davis’s eyes.
