It kills me when some reviewers of this dynamic masterpiece mouth the same criticisms of Bette's detractors: that she overacts like heck and chews up the scenery. Bette is mainly responsible since she always attacked "In This Our life" and "Beyond the Forest" as "lousy movies." And people who've never even seen either one just go on parroting her opinion. Well, Bette was never the best judge of her work. "In this our Life" contains her most electrifying performance besides that of Rosa Moline in "Beyond the Forest." She brilliantly creates the portrait of a psychopathic Southern Belle. Her final scene with her lecherous uncle (Charles Coburn) is one of the most powerful scenes in movie history. I watched this on the big screen of the old Regency Theater here in Manhattan and the packed theater were simply galvanized by this sequence and everything else about In This Our life. What's especially memorable is the seedy, decaying house she and her sister (Olivia d'Havviland" live in. The introduction of the racist angle where Bette tries to blame her killing of a pedestrian on an innocent young black guy is still shocking. NO wonder it's gained such a strong following among modern black viewers. This is one of my all time favorite classics from Hollywood's golden age. Bette is the greatest and you'll never forget her here in one of her greatest performances. Just try to find any actress today who could do what she did in the final close-ups of her in the death car. Bravo Bette! And to director John Huston who let her do it her way.
Review of In This Our Life
