The third Bette Davis collection is hit-and-miss.

“Watch On The Rhine” is a melodrama set during WWII in which a man named Kurt moves to the United States with his family. Later on we learn that Kurt is an anti-Nazi leader and that this gets him in hot water.

 

The premise sounds intriguing on paper, but the film never really comes together. There are moments of memorable drama near the end, but mostly the bad accents and the talky and rant filled dialogue hamper the overall movie.

 

“In This Our Life” is a wicked story of a greedy woman named Stanley who is on the verge of marrying a man, but decides to dump him and steal her sister’s hubby instead. From there on out, we get an un-Hollywood like story of crazed romance, murder, and an innocent man being framed.

 

I may be in the minority here, but this is my favorite film of the set. It’s such a deranged, risqué movie with a deliciously evil performance by Bette Davis. I firmly believe Davis is at the top of her game when she plays a villain because she really gets to sink her teeth into these roles, unlike her parts in one of the many formulaic melodramas she starred in.

 

The soap opera drama “The Great Lie” is the weak link of this set. Unless you enjoy two women bickering and yelling at each other and vying for the affection of a pilot, you are advised to avoid it. Otherwise, you’ll end up like me and begin shouting “Shut up!” at the screen multiple times.

 

The story of “The Old Maid” revolves around a woman named Charlotte who slept with a civil war soldier and had his child (Tina) after he died. Of course, no one knows that Charlotte is a mother, so she decides to keep it a secret forever from everyone including Tina herself.

 

The first half of “The Old Maid” will literally drive you bonkers. You’ll be hard pressed not to gag at the stagey, sentimental, overly dramatic dialogue or laugh at how every situation is treated like a crisis. Thankfully, the second half improves mostly due to Bette Davis’s incredible character transformation from a young woman to an old maid.

 

Tired of reading about a melodramatic Bette Davis film? Too bad! “Deception” is another one. This one revolves around two war torn lovers (Karel and Christine) who reunite and eventually marry. What Karel doesn’t know is that Christine is hiding a dark secret.

 

“Deception” is not a good movie by any means. When you see scenes in which a character strangles someone and then says “Forgive me, I am not myself” and a person being shot and saying “You fool,” you can’t help but shake your head. The only redeeming quality of this Hollywood hokum is Claude Raines as a controlling, snobby, upper class composer.

 

Academy Award nominee “All This, And Heaven Too” is another dark love story about a Duchess who becomes insanely jealous of a governess whom has caught the eye of her husband Duc de Praslin.

 

I’m not quite sure why this flick was given so many awards. It’s an overlong fairly predictable forbidden love melodrama full of shouting kids and sentimental weepy scenes. I will say that Bette Davis acts her heart out here with a gentle, touching role.

The picture and sound vary from film to film. Generally, the fullscreen video quality is decent despite some grain. However, "All This, And Heaven Too" is in decidedly worse shape than the rest of the films.

The Dolby Digital Mono audio tracks are as clear as they can be.

Deception:
* "Deception" and "A Stolen Life" trailers, a 2 1/2 minute newsreel, and a 7 minute Porky pig cartoon called "Mouse Menace."
* "Movieland Magic" is a goofy 16 1/2 minute musical short about the life of a movie star.
* "Facing Your Danger" is a 10 minute color short about the Grand Canyon.
* Commentary by film historian Foster Hirsch- This is probably the best commentary of the bunch as his analysis never comes off as snooty.

All This, And Heaven Too:
* Trailers for "All This, And Heaven Too" and "Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet," a 1 minute newsreel, a 6 1/2 minute Porky pig cartoon titled "Porky's Last Stand," a 7 minute Daffy cartoon called "Hollywood Daffy," and a 20 minute short titled "Meet The Fleet."
* 12/15/1941 LUX Radio Theatre Broadcast- Fun extra for old radio program junkies.
* A pretentious commentary from author Daniel Bubbeo.

The Old Maid:
* Trailers for "The Old Maid" and "Confessions Of A Nazi Spy," a 1 minute newsreel, a 10 minute docu on "Sword Fishing," a 7 minute Porky Pig cartoon called "The Film Fan," a 21 minute corny color short called "Lincoln In The White House," and a 7 1/2 minute Porky Pig cartoon called "Kristopher Kolumbus."

The Great Lie:
* A newsreel (3:30), "The Great Lie" and "Strawberry Blonde" trailers, "Porky's Pooch" (7:00), a short film named "Polo With The Stars" (9:00), a courtroom/crime short by the name of "At The Stroke Of 12" (20:30), and a horse short called "Kings Of The Turf" (9:30).

In This Our Life:
* "Desperate Journey" and "In This Our Life" trailers, a 7 minute newsreel, a Porky cartoon called "Who's Who In The Zoo" (7:00), a 19 minute color ballet short called "Spanish Fiesta," and a 20 1/2 minute history lesson called "March On, America!"
* A sleep inducing commentary by film snob Jeanine Basinger.

Watch On The Rhine:
* An 11 1/2 minute newsreel about bombs, trailers for "Watch On The Rhine" and "Mission To Moscow," a 9 1/2 minute musical short ("Ozzie Nelson And His Orchestra), a 6 1/2 minute Porky and Daffy cartoon ("The Wise Quacking Duck").
* Commentary by another snobby film buff by the name of Bernard Dick. Where do they dig up these people?