MovieChat Forums > The Sisters (1938) Discussion > Bette and Errol Flyn make a good team!!

Bette and Errol Flyn make a good team!!

posted 18 years ago by Rob_Dan
11 replies | jump to latest

I love this film, I think Bette Davis and Errol Flyn make a great team together.
They have good chemistry. wish they could have made more films!!

[–] pwbri 16 years ago

Very true. They did of course make another film: The Private Lives Of Elizabeth And Essex which, unlike The Sisters, is available on dvd.
The Sisters is a lovely classic film featuring Davis and Flynn at their most gorgeous. They are supported by a sublime cast of character actors, including Beulah Bondi and Donald Crisp. The lovely Anita Louise and Jane Bryan (still alive and hopefully happy). To say nothing of the delightful Henry Travers and Harry Davenport. And did I mention Alan Hale? There are more.

I hope this film is going to be a part of the next Davis box set. It really deserves top class treatment by Warner Brothers.

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] scarletto_hare 15 years ago

I think their hatred for one another prevented any further films other than Elizabeth and Essex from being made. Also I think their hate for each other in real life gave them better chemistry on screen.

"The only Abnormality is the incapacity to love"

[–] Xcalat3 15 years ago

Perfect Chemistry

When there's no more room in hell, The dead will walk the earth...

[–] InLikeFlynn91 14 years ago

Besides Olivia, Bette Davis was next in line with chemistry. Although Errol was so fantastic he could have fallen in love with a cucumber. :)

“If there's anyone listening to whom I owe money, I'm prepared to forget it if you are”-Errol Flynn

[–] powersroc 13 years ago

As many folks know,Bette & Errol did not get along at all.Olivia De Havilland who was friends to both Flynn & Davis said in an interview that when Bette was into her 70s,she & Olivia watched "Elizabeth & Essex" together.Davis studied every scene very carefully that she & Flynn did together.When the film was over she told Olivia that she(Bette)was wrong about everything regarding Flynn.That he was indeed a terrific actor after all.

[–] jawebster2000 13 years ago

I too, had heard that story but did not remember in as great detail as you told it. I'm glad you brought it up, especially after hearing over and over again, about how much they disliked each other. In this movie, Flynn played Flynn before he was Flynn.

[–] netshopper-2 12 years ago

At one point, Warner's was trying to package them for Gone With the Wind. Davis did not want Flynn as her Rhett.

[–] judith-mcgee1025 12 years ago

Thanks to TCM I finally saw "The Sisters". Ms. Davis and Mr. Flynn were excellent in Litvak's "The Sisters"; less so in their next film "The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex." By Ms. Davis' own admission as I remember it, perhaps the former film was made during a happier time in her life, and the latter at the end of a long series of star-making films, after which she took a well-deserved time off. I also seem to remember that she had concerns about his taking acting (or many other things) seriously; the question of billing in the Litvak film was also a concern. During a TV interview in the 1960s or 70s I remember her saying that he was a better actor than she originally judged.

[–] mdonln 8 years ago

I guess I'm alone on this one but I didn't think the Bette Davis and Errol Flynn pairing worked that well. I had a hard time seeing them opposite each other in these roles. I also saw the Elizabeth and Essex one and thought there too they were all wrong for each other but in that one it was easier to take because the relationship was awkward in itself.

I didn't know the two actors did not get along but now that I've heard that I can believe it. I can't imagine two people more different. Naturally, I didn't know either of them personally so I base this on what I've learned of them. It was nice of Davis to finally acknowledge she was wrong about Flynn but it sounds like too little too late. He was long dead by the time she supposedly said this so little good it did him. I've read that a lot of his problems, and he had many, stemmed from issues in his life and career. Attitudes like hers probably didn't help.

Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan. [Tarzan and his mate]

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]