Movie audiences like a good cry, and there's nothing more touching than seeing the aging screen veterans in what is rumored to be their last film. Bette Davis and Lillian Gish were legends who had never worked together, and while the going was tough, the results were well worth it. If only Bette had been content with this and concentrated on her lecture tour, she wouldn't have to go through the fiasco that became "The Wicked Stepmother" and ended her career much more gracefully. But at least she bowed out of that before any more tackiness was added to the few scenes she did film, and here, she's giving the epitome of a delightfully feisty performance, a contrast to the subtlety and sweetness of on-screen sister Gish.
The story focuses on two elderly sisters (Davis and Gish) dealing with what might be their last summer on Maine, regretting the passage of time and the absence of whales who used to swim by closer to shore. Their idle days are pleasantly interrupted by old friend Ann Sothern and a dashing Russian aristocrat (Vincent Price) who is courting Gish. To top off the cast of veterans, there is also Harry Carey as their handyman, and together, there's over 300 years of combined film and T.V. experience and probably over 500 movies. It's Gish who wins the acting honors, her quiet dignity tempered with spirit. Sothern's great as a big flirt, an elderly version of her 1940's character Maisie.
Excellent production values include a gorgeous musical score, breathtaking outdoor scenery and an intelligent screenplay by David Berry from his own play. There's an early flashback sequence of the characters from years before but it is only there to show them when the whales appeared more frequently. Of course, the absence of the whales can be attributed to the disrespect of the environment, and their being mentioned at all is a metaphor as to the passage of time and to the changes the world sees through one person's long lifetime. While Gish was predicted to be nominated for this, she was overlooked in a very tough year for leading actresses, but Sothern was. Vincent Price had a few more films left under his belt (most memorably, "Edward Scissorhands"), but for the most part, this was an exit of five of Hollywood's longest running thespians.
The story focuses on two elderly sisters (Davis and Gish) dealing with what might be their last summer on Maine, regretting the passage of time and the absence of whales who used to swim by closer to shore. Their idle days are pleasantly interrupted by old friend Ann Sothern and a dashing Russian aristocrat (Vincent Price) who is courting Gish. To top off the cast of veterans, there is also Harry Carey as their handyman, and together, there's over 300 years of combined film and T.V. experience and probably over 500 movies. It's Gish who wins the acting honors, her quiet dignity tempered with spirit. Sothern's great as a big flirt, an elderly version of her 1940's character Maisie.
Excellent production values include a gorgeous musical score, breathtaking outdoor scenery and an intelligent screenplay by David Berry from his own play. There's an early flashback sequence of the characters from years before but it is only there to show them when the whales appeared more frequently. Of course, the absence of the whales can be attributed to the disrespect of the environment, and their being mentioned at all is a metaphor as to the passage of time and to the changes the world sees through one person's long lifetime. While Gish was predicted to be nominated for this, she was overlooked in a very tough year for leading actresses, but Sothern was. Vincent Price had a few more films left under his belt (most memorably, "Edward Scissorhands"), but for the most part, this was an exit of five of Hollywood's longest running thespians.