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The Old Maid (1939)
In director Edmund Goulding's family-based, melodramatic
tear-jerker set during the Civil War (1860s) and after, adapted from
Edith Wharton's novel:
- the main characters: Delia Lovell Ralston (Miriam
Hopkins), who after spurning cad and suitor Clem Spender (George
Brent) who had returned after a two year absence, chose to marry
socially-respectable, munitions manufacturer James "Jim" Ralston
(James Stephenson); her worried cousin Charlotte Lovell (Bette
Davis) commiserated and slept (off-screen) with Delia's rejected,
hot-headed and impulsive ex-beau Clem and became impregnated
- soon after, Lt. Spender departed from the train station
(after leaving a tearful Charlotte) to fight as a Union soldier in
the Civil War (and die) at the Battle of Vicksburg in 1863, while
Charlotte secretly became an unmarried mother
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Delia's Marriage Announcement to Socially-Respectable
James Ralston
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On Her Wedding Day, Delia Spurned Ex-Beau Clem
Spender
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Worried Charlotte Returning Late at Night After
Commiserating - and Sleeping With Clem
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- in 1866 in Philadelphia, Charlotte set up the Charlotte
Lovell Nursery for War Orphans, a day orphanage for over 20 children,
where she could secretly care for her illegitimate daughter - love
child and "foundling" Clementina "Tina" (Marlene
Burnett as young child) (named after Clem!)
- the scene of Charlotte's wedding day in June of 1866
to be held at the Ralston mansion, when Charlotte - about to marry
Joseph "Joe" Ralston (Jerome Cowan), her cousin's brother-in-law,
became concerned about giving up her nursery to be dutiful and obey
her future husband; she confessed to Delia the existence of a love
child in the nursery: "I will not give up my own baby....I call
my own baby my baby...I had to hide her. What else could I do?";
Delia was worried that Charlotte's fiancee would not accept the news
of an illegitimate child: "What reason could I give?...He'd
never forgive you. You know it. If it comes to that, what decent
man do we know who would?"; Charlotte admitted her sinful decision
to sleep with a man she had loved since childhood: "I loved
him. I'm not pretending it wasn't a sin. He was lonely and unhappy
before he went away...he never knew. You see, he never came back.
He never will"; Delia suddenly realized that Charlotte had sexual
relations with her cast-off suitor Clem who died at Vicksburg, and
she named 'Tina' after him; Delia was sarcastically spiteful: "Our
little Charlotte with her good deeds. Her haven for destitute children.
Twenty children to hide one child,"
causing Charlotte to wish she had never divulged her secret
Charlotte's Confession on Wedding Day about "Foundling"
Tina
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"I call my own baby my baby"
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Delia Stunned at the News of Charlotte's Baby
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Delia - Realizing Charlotte Had Been Impregnated
By Her Ex-Suitor Clem
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- the conniving and selfish-minded Delia set about
to tell Charlotte's secret to her fiancee Joe, to discourage him
from marrying Charlotte for the sake of the Ralston's reputation:
("Better lose him than deceive a man into a marriage. A man
you don't even love"); Charlotte vowed: "I'll be a good
wife to him. He'll never be sorry he married me" - but Delia
was intent on cornering Joe (and his brother Jim, her husband)
and insisting that he not marry her:
"Charlotte isn't entering into this marriage honorably...She
can't marry you. She can't marry anyone now"; instead of revealing
the real reason, Delia stressed the common rumor that Charlotte was "sick" and "unhealthy" after
a trip West five years earlier, when she had contracted "lung
trouble" and was now coughing ("That sickness has come
back on her. That's why she can't ever marry anyone"); even
Delia's husband concurred: "You can't marry her. It wouldn't
be a marriage. You'd both be miserable and you wouldn't dare to have
children. You'd better face it, Joe" - Joe called off the marriage without ever
knowing about Charlotte's illegitimate child
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Delia to Joe: "Charlotte Isn't Entering Into
This Marriage Honorably"
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Joe Calling Off the Marriage: "Charlotte,
I release you"
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- with her marital plans ruined, Charlotte retreated
into seclusion ("shut...away from the world"), reappearing
only six months later when a letter informed her about Delia's
husband's serious horse-riding accident; while speaking to Joe
at the Ralston mansion about her health, Charlotte realized that
he had been talked out of marriage to her - due to Delia's spreading
of false fears; she glared at Delia with contempt for robbing her
of romance, but Charlotte misinterpreted Joe's words and thought
that Delia had informed Joe of her illegitimate child: "I've
just found out from Joe about Tina...When you found out about Clem,
you hated me, didn't you? I could have gone to Joe myself and told
him. He loved me. He might have let me keep Tina. But you lied
to make sure I wouldn't have a chance, didn't you? He wanted to
see me, but I refused because I was so ashamed. It was wicked of
you" - they were interrupted by tragic news of Joe's death
from a skull fracture
- an awkward living arrangement was suggested by Delia
- Charlotte (and Tina) would move into the large Ralston mansion:
(Delia: "But why should you, because you're guilty of a child's
existence, allow your remorse to color her life? It's your duty to
put her into a normal life with toys and games and companions. You'll
always do your best for her, but here she'd have everything....Whatever
you do will be of your own free will, but it isn't fair to bring
up that child alone and you know it"); at first, Charlotte rejected
the idea, but finally agreed; Delia would take care of 'Tina' - acting
as her mother, while Charlotte was to be regarded as Aunt Charlotte
for her unknowing niece
- fifteen years later (signaled by a montage), Aunt
Charlotte appeared - now with wisps of gray hair, and acting like
a serious, bitter, stern-faced, spinster-like 'old maid'; her daughter
- free-spirited teenaged Tina (Jane Bryan as young adult) was romantically
interested in her handsome young boyfriend Lanning Halsey (William
Lundigan)
- the brief scene of Charlotte dancing alone in an upstairs
bedroom (while a dance was in progress downstairs), to the tune of "My
Darling Clementine" - and realizing she was old; she sat down
and exclaimed, "Oh Clem"
- Tina's disrespectful words told to Delia (her "Mommy")
about how Aunt Charlotte was cruel, old-fashioned, and unfair - and
a 'ridiculous, narrow-minded old maid': "You think Mommy spoils
me but she doesn't. She understands me while you don't. Mommy knows
what it is to be young and have people fond of her. While you, you've
never been young"; shortly later, Charlotte explained to Delia
how she was "deliberately" creating the impression of being
an "old maid"
for Tina rather than acting like her real mother
- the scene of the anguished Charlotte eavesdropping
in horror behind a drawing-room door to the whispered love and kisses
of Tina for Lanning when they returned late from a date, and Tina
expressed her devotion: "That's the first (kiss), and I'll never
kiss anyone but you, ever!"; Charlotte appeared and reprimanded
Tina for encouraging Lanning to enter the house: "Any man would've
done the same had she permitted it"; Tina was exasperated with
Charlotte: "You've driven Lanning away...I'll never forgive
you, never!"; in the dramatic confrontation, Tina chastised
Charlotte: "You've got to know that I'm sick of your spying,
fault-finding and meddling.... she's just a sour old maid who hates
me because I'm young and attractive and in love, while she's old
and hideous and dried up and has never known anything about love"
- the fact that Tina had "no position, no name" because
she was a "foundling" caused Delia to be allowed by Charlotte
to legally adopt Tina to provide her with social status ("the
Ralston name and part of the Ralston fortune"), so that she
would be "desirable"
as a marital partner with Lanning: (Delia: "If Tina's to be happy,
her position must be made unassailable, financially and socially")
- the scene of Charlotte and Delia facing each other
in a quarrel on the stairs, when Charlotte threatened to divulge
the truth of Tina's parentage on the eve of her wedding day in June
1881: "We'll see which one of us is her mother...You made me
an old maid. You divided my child from me. You adopted her. You even
took away my legal right to her. You taught her to call you mother.
Well, tonight, just tonight, she belongs to me. That's not too much
to ask. Tonight, I want her to call me mother"
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Charlotte to Delia: "Tonight, I want her
to call me mother"
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- however, once Aunt Charlotte entered Tina's bedroom,
she was conciliatory and kind in a very tearjerker sequence; she
offered tender words to Tina at her bedside, offering congratulations
and explaining her strict and critical love, instead of divulging
Tina's parentage: "I just came in to say good night and to
wish you happiness. God bless you, my child....If I've been severe
with you at times, I haven't meant it. I love you very much"
- the rapprochement scene, when Charlotte accepted the
fact that both Clem and Tina loved Delia more than they did her: "If
she never really belonged to me, perhaps it's because her father
never really belonged to me either. They're both yours. He loved
you and she loves you too. You're the mother she wants. Go in to
her, Delia. It's not your fault or mine. Don't feel sorry for me.
After all, she was mine when she was little"
- to assuage Charlotte, Delia informed Tina that Charlotte
had sacrificed her own happiness by refusing to marry a man who did
not want to raise Tina as his own: "She didn't marry a man who
loved her very much and who would have given her everything she wanted...Because
she wouldn't give you up. That's why she's an old maid" - and
then she made two special requests: "You remember and try to
make her glad tomorrow of the choice she made without letting her
know I told you so...When you go away tomorrow at the very last moment,
you understand, after you've said goodbye to me and to everybody
else...just as Lanning puts you into the carriage, lean down and
give your last kiss to Aunt Charlotte, will you?...Don't forget,
the very last"
- the final scene was of the new bride's last kiss
given to her special Aunt - fulfilling the special request of Delia
Delia's Special Request of Tina -
The Last Kiss for Aunt Charlotte
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Delia Lovell Ralston
(Miriam Hopkins)
Charlotte Lovell
(Bette Davis)
Clem Spender
(George Brent)
Charlotte's Tearful Goodbye to Lt. Spender at Train Station
Lt. Spender's Death in Civil War
Charlotte: Head of Day Orphanage/Nursery with 'Tina'
Charlotte Realizing How Joe Had Been Duped by Delia About
Her Not Being Marriageable
Charlotte Glaring at Delia with Contempt
Tina to Delia: "Goodnight, Mommy!" Tina
to Charlotte: "Goodnight, Aunt Charlotte"
Tina (Jane Bryan as young adult)
Dancing Alone Upstairs
Tina's Frustration with Aunt Charlotte's Severe
Criticisms
Eavesdropping on Lanning and Tina
Tina's Chastisement of Charlotte For Being "Hideous
and Dried Up"
At Tina's Bedside: "If I've been severe with
you at times, I haven't meant it. I love you very much"
Charlotte: "Don't feel sorry for me"
Delia to Tina: "That's why she's an old
maid" - With Two Special Requests
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