Bette Davis to me and many others is/was one of the greatest actresses of her time and still one of the greats, 'All About Eve', 'Now Voyager', 'Little Foxes', 'The Letter' and 'Jezebel' (all very good to masterpiece films) being especially great performances. Am also fond of Errol Flynn, though don't consider him as good an actor, with my first and favourite film of his being 'The Adventures of Robin Hood' (he's great in his other swashbucklers too).
There is a lot to recommend in regard to 'The Sisters'. It is not a classic by any stretch and not everything works, with the balance not being quite right. The biggest attraction though is Davis and Flynn, and 'The Sisters' does nothing to disgrace either of them and they are two of the main best things about the film. Neither at their best sure, but for anybody who likes or is a fan of either or both should find little reason to not watch this, even if it is just the once.
Davis doesn't disappoint, it is a restrained performance but a wholly riveting one. Flynn is dashing and charismatic and their chemistry is very sensitively written and acted. The production values are very handsome, time, effort and money and a huge amount of all three at that clearly went into them. The earthquake effects are still impressive and put a vast majority of earthquake effects in films today to shame. The whole earthquake sequence is very memorable.
Max Steiner's score is typically luscious and dramatic. The script avoids being too soapy, it's nicely directed and the story generally moves along nicely. The supporting cast are not exceptional but do more than competently, Lee Patrick standing out.
On the other hand, the supporting characters seem underdeveloped and sidelined in favour of Davis and Flynn. It was right for them to be focused on primarily, but it really shouldn't have been to the extent that there is not an awful lot else in characterisation that one remembers.
Also, the ending felt too pat and tacked on, not ringing true with what happened before in the story and like the writers were favouring star power over realism.
In summary, not great but worth seeing. 7/10
There is a lot to recommend in regard to 'The Sisters'. It is not a classic by any stretch and not everything works, with the balance not being quite right. The biggest attraction though is Davis and Flynn, and 'The Sisters' does nothing to disgrace either of them and they are two of the main best things about the film. Neither at their best sure, but for anybody who likes or is a fan of either or both should find little reason to not watch this, even if it is just the once.
Davis doesn't disappoint, it is a restrained performance but a wholly riveting one. Flynn is dashing and charismatic and their chemistry is very sensitively written and acted. The production values are very handsome, time, effort and money and a huge amount of all three at that clearly went into them. The earthquake effects are still impressive and put a vast majority of earthquake effects in films today to shame. The whole earthquake sequence is very memorable.
Max Steiner's score is typically luscious and dramatic. The script avoids being too soapy, it's nicely directed and the story generally moves along nicely. The supporting cast are not exceptional but do more than competently, Lee Patrick standing out.
On the other hand, the supporting characters seem underdeveloped and sidelined in favour of Davis and Flynn. It was right for them to be focused on primarily, but it really shouldn't have been to the extent that there is not an awful lot else in characterisation that one remembers.
Also, the ending felt too pat and tacked on, not ringing true with what happened before in the story and like the writers were favouring star power over realism.
In summary, not great but worth seeing. 7/10