Housewife (1934)

A housewife (Ann Dvorak) pushes her husband (George Brent) to leave his advertising job where he's treated poorly and start his own business. Eventually, he does and the business is a great success but the marriage starts suffering when he becomes lovers with the advertising copy writer (Bette Davis) who works for him. Directed by Alfred E. Green (THE JOLSON STORY), this is a trite and dreary domestic drama that wastes its talented cast. Is there anything more annoying than a clinging vine wife (Dvorak) who continually puts up with abusive behavior from a boorish husband instead of booting him out the door? As the office femme fatale, there's not much that Bette Davis can do with the role but go through the motions but she's always watchable, even in an insipid movie like this. Dvorak, as always, is appealing but Brent's character renders him unappealing and we're also stuck with one of those "cute" child actors that Hollywood foisted on us in its "golden age", Ronnie Cosby as their son. For nostalgists and Davis completists only. With John Halliday and Ruth Donnelly.