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| Bette Davis and George Brent |
When reporter Johnny Jones (George Brent) shows up on a yacht belonging to wealthy heiress Daisy Appleby (Bette Davis) hoping for a story, she mistakes him for a member of Society and begins to fall for him. But it turns out that Johnny isn't the only one who's playing a role. Daisy wants to keep unwanted suitors and fortune hunters away from her, so she importunes Johnny to wed her for a marriage of sheerest convenience. But when he learns that truth about Daisy, will everything blow up in her face? The Golden Arrow begins with possibilities but never recovers from its contrivances or the fact that it is never very funny. Davis and Brent give very good performances, as expected, and there is wonderful support from Catherine Doucet [These Three] as Miss Pommesby, who looks after Daisy, and Eugene Pallette [First Love] as Mr. Meyers. Dick Foran and Carol Hughes are also in the cast and are fine.
Verdict: One of those lousy movies Davis was always railing against early in her career. **.
Wow, George Brent made a LOT of movies with David, didn't he? I have never even heard of this one. My favorite is In This Our Life, with Olivia deHavilland.
ReplyDeleteBrent never became an iconic star, despite his many Warner brothers credits. That studio sure had a stable of very fine actors, and maybe that's why they all worked together in so many pictures.
I've heard that director William Wyler was "the one that got away" as far as Davis was concerned, but it would make more sense that it was Brent. While she didn't marry either of them I've no doubt she got a tumble now and then. "In This Our Life" is also one of my favorites, and Brent and Davis were famously paired in "The Old Maid," although he's killed off early in that one. (And let's not forget "The Great Lie" and I'm sure there were others.)
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