Housewife

Making this fluff melodrama must have been quite a comedown for Davis, having just completed Of Human Bondage. She liked working with Brent very much...perhaps it was the principle of opposites, which they essentially were, acting-wise. There was certainly no danger of him ever stealing a scene from her. He and Ann Dvorak were certainly well-matched as a married couple--both pretty and not terribly interesting. High point: the quite amusing radio broadcast rehearsal.

There was something about this that felt half-hearted. The acting was never great even if George Brent did look like a weak sap according to his role and Bette Davis was in "prototype-Bette Davis" mode showing some color in her personality. But I guess it always was a lower priority production. The story is a typical struggling family that wants a better life and gets it, but the success goes to the mans head and the family has new problems. Hardly original, but decent enough for what it was.