Tish (1942)

A bossy, hard headed old maid (Marjorie Main) tends to stick her opinions and nose where it's not wanted. When she decides to break up her nephew's (Lee Bowman) engagement to a girl (Virginia Grey) she doesn't like and push him into the arms of another girl (Susan Peters), things don't go as planned. Based on a short story by Mary Roberts Rinehart and directed by S. Sylvan Simon (THE FULLER BRUSH MAN). Marjorie Main was a character actress and rarely starred in a film of her own (that would change with the Ma and Pa Kettle movies). TISH is one of the rare films all her own, it's even named after her character. This one is fitfully amusing and Main's bossy old maid is assisted by two spinster friends (Zasu Pitts, Aline MacMahon) who provide contrast (Pitts is ditsy, MacMahon is acidic) to contrast with Main's cantankerous virago. The movie takes a dark turn when a major character tragically dies. The film was a hit and I'm surprised that MGM didn't try to make a Tish series similar to the Maisie series. With Guy Kibbee and Richard Quine, who would quit acting to direct movies (BELL, BOOK AND CANDLE).