The second that William married Bettina I knew she'd have to die. I'm not being melodramatic just truthful this movie was made and takes place in the early 20th century; no one got divorced back then, the only way that marriage was going to break up was for either William or Bettina to die. I only hoped for Susie's sake that it would be Bettina. Although, with the careless fashion that William treated her love and sacrifices it might have been better for Susie, if William was the one to die. Susie believed that her happiness was directly related to William, this displays the mindset of the time that women need men to be happy, and is proved as the movies "happy ending" has Susie marrying William, and though it is no longer the mindset of the American public that a women needs a man to be happy, it is still a myth perpetrated by Hollywood as most films still contain this classic "happy ending". If William had died and was out of the picture Susie might have been able to live her life for herself, instead of for William. Throughout the movie every action Susie makes is directly related to William. Whether she's selling her cow to send him to school, or protecting his wife, all her choices are made with William in mind. We never see what Susie wants, besides of course, her desire to marry Williams, which might just have stemmed from a childhood crush; that would have passed if she had not made it her life goal to make sure William got everything he wanted. We learn very little about Bettina except that she's selfish and thinks only of herself, a direct opposite to Susie, who cares only for William and her Aunt. This comparison between Bettina and Susie is alluded to several times throughout the movie, each time with Susie coming out on top. I believe the director did this to keep us from bonding with Bettina, so we would not care when she died and resent Susie her happiness. All in all not a bad movie, pay special attention to the title cards they're hilarious.
Review of True Heart Susie
