In Freundschaft verbunden (1943)

In Freundschaft verbunden: Directed by Vincent Sherman. With Bette Davis, Miriam Hopkins, Gig Young, John Loder. Old friends Kit Marlowe and Millie Drake adopt contrasting lifestyles: Kit is a single, critically acclaimed author while married Millie writes popular pulp novels.

“Chatty, entertaining and well-acted drama with comedic trimmings has lifelong friends Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins both becoming writers: Davis, the literary authoress who charms the critics but canu0026#39;t score a bestseller; Hopkins, the fluttery, popular novelist of romantic fiction. Director Vincent Sherman does a good job at bringing this all to a boil, and yet thereu0026#39;s too much breathless soap opera packed into the last act (the fault of the screenwriters, working from a play) and it eventually becomes fatiguing. Still, Hopkins does a high-wire act with her performance that is quite nimble (sheu0026#39;s pitched very high but is never grating). Davis starts off very fresh and natural, but as her character ages and becomes glamorously middle-aged, Betteu0026#39;s affectations and mannerisms tread a self-parody; sheu0026#39;s good throughout the film, yet one longs for more of that earthy quality she displays in the filmu0026#39;s first hour. A fine u0026quot;womanu0026#39;s pictureu0026quot; nevertheless, with some unusually good dialogue and well-paced sequences. *** from ****”