Housewife: A vintage look at ambition and jealousy

Is this thing worth your time?

If you like movies where people talk fast and wear sharp suits, you’ll probably have a good time with Housewife. It’s a bit of a relic, sure, but the tension between the two leads is surprisingly sharp. If you’re allergic to 1930s melodrama or moralizing about 'the right way to be a wife,' maybe skip it. Otherwise, pull up a chair.

Nan Reynolds is the kind of character who spends way too much energy fixing her husband's life. Ann Dvorak plays her with this restless, twitchy energy. You can tell she’s exhausted before the movie even really gets going.

Then there’s Bette Davis as Patricia. She breezes in, and suddenly the whole movie wakes up. She’s not playing a villain, exactly, but she’s definitely not there to be a friend. The way she looks at Bill? It’s pure trouble.

The advertising world stuff is pretty funny if you think about it. It’s all 'big ideas' and frantic pacing. It feels a bit like a less cynical cousin to Flattery, where everyone is just trying to climb a ladder that might not actually go anywhere.

There is this one scene in an office—I think it’s halfway through—where the dialogue just snaps back and forth like a tennis match. It goes on a bit long, but you don't really want it to end. It’s the kind of writing that makes you wonder if people actually talked like that, or if we just lost the art of the comeback.

Bette Davis is just magnetic here. Even when she’s just holding a cigarette, she’s doing more work than half the cast combined. It reminds me a little bit of the way she commanded the screen in Beauty and the Boss, just total control.

The whole 'wife vs. career woman' thing gets a bit dusty by the end. It’s got that weird 1930s habit of trying to tell you exactly how to feel about a marriage. Some of the resolutions feel like they were tacked on because the studio head demanded a 'happy' ending. It’s a shame, because the movie is smarter than its final act.

• That one hat Bette Davis wears in the second act is truly something else.
• The office set looks suspiciously like it was recycled from another film, but maybe I’m just being petty.
• Bill is a bit of a snooze, isn't he? It’s funny how the women are the only ones with a pulse.

It’s not perfect. It’s not even trying to be. But it’s got enough grit to keep you watching. Not every movie needs to be a masterpiece to be worth a watch on a Tuesday night.