Billie Burke | Hollywood Yesterday

George Brent, Bette Davis, Olivia De Havilland, Frank Craven, and Billie Burke

One of my favorite Bette Davis performances and one of my favorite Frank Craven performances happen in the same film, the wonderful drama In This Our Life (1942, directed by John Huston).

While Olivia de Havilland, George Brent, Billie Burke, Charles Coburn, Dennis Morgan, and Hattie McDaniel are all wonderful (as always), Bette Davis and Frank Craven are the movie’s driving force. Truth be told, Bette Davis is positively mesmerizing in this film – you cannot take your eyes off of her. Every movement, expression, and gesture scream film-noir siren and she is delicious in the classification.

Bette Davis, Billie Burke, and Frank Craven – In This Our Life

While this film isn’t considered a film-noir, I’ve always wished it were for the mere reason that it would have put her up there in the ranks of the great film-noir actresses Lauren Bacall, Gloria Grahame, Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Crawford, and Claire Trevor. Not that the iconic Bette needs to be at the top of yet another list – she has an insane number of them as it is!

If you’ve never seen In This Our Life, I hope you’ll find it soon and enjoy one of the iconic Bette Davis’ best performances. You can find In This Our Life (Amazon link) on dvd or watch the drama on Prime Video.

Dennis Morgan, Bette Davis, and Olivia de Havilland – In This Our Life

Myrna Loy, William Powell, and Billie Burke

The Great Ziegfeld (1936) was directed by Robert Z. Leonard and boasted a fantastic cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Luise Rainer, Frank Morgan, Fanny Bryce, Reginald Owen, Virginia Bruce, and Ray Bolger.

Myrna Loy portrayed the lovely Billie Burke and was a wonderful choice for the role. William Powell was also great in his role as Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. Then again… these two were never anything but extraordinary in anything they ever did, were they?

I also love Luise Rainer in the role of Anna Held – two very under-appreciated actresses, ironically.

Billie Burke and Myrna Loy

Something I have often noticed when looking at pictures of the delicate beauty of Billie Burke is how much she reminds me of Carole Lombard. The coloring is obviously very similar and they were both petite but there’s also something unique in the eyes, a mix of softness and strength that’s difficult to pull yourself away from.

The fact that Myrna Loy, honestly, resembled Billie Burke very, very little (if any at all) and yet made the role and movie work is a huge testament to Myrna Loy. I always respected her as an actress and, yet, this role in one of her less-popular films really brought it home to me – she was extraordinary.