Old Acquaintance Analysis
Old Acquaintance
Old Acquaintance is a melodrama film that was released in 1943 by Warner Brothers, directed by Vincent Sherman. Melodrama films are dramatic and focus on exaggerating the plot and characters. This film was an adaptation of a John Van Druten play in 1940. Old Acquaintance kept to the melodrama genre well by dragging out seemingly useless stories that often had nothing to do with the issue at hand, such as Millie Drake’s daughter having frivolous sexual relations with brought in characters that in a modern film era would be filled by cameos of well known actors. This was to increase emotional attachment to characters, in this case Kit Marlowe’s intuition of someone close’s well being. Classic melodrama filming techniques were used, such as close ups on character faces with much exaggerated emotions being displayed. The movie is named after the finishing conversation of a novel that Millie Drake was writing about the actions that took place throughout the movie. Millie Drake was married to a man named Preston Drake. Mr. Drake was a good man, though he had fantasies about his wife’s best friend Kit Marlowe. Kit and Millie had been best friends since they were young; no specific ages were ever mentioned throughout the film. Kit and Millie are both writers, the latter being more economically successful, though not as creative. The beginning of this film has Kit making a special visit to her best friend, Millie, without Millie’s knowledge. Preston and Kit thought it would be a good idea to hide Kit for when Millie came home, except when Millie arrived she was speaking poorly about her best friend Kit. Kit appeared on scene and you could already sense that the rest of this film would have series of disputes between the two women. Of course, it wouldn’t be a melodrama without the drama and there is no better drama than two bickering women. As Kit is attempting to fall asleep as a guest in Millie’s house, Preston makes repeated visits to Kit in the
Old Acquaintance is a melodrama film that was released in 1943 by Warner Brothers, directed by Vincent Sherman. Melodrama films are dramatic and focus on exaggerating the plot and characters. This film was an adaptation of a John Van Druten play in 1940. Old Acquaintance kept to the melodrama genre well by dragging out seemingly useless stories that often had nothing to do with the issue at hand, such as Millie Drake’s daughter having frivolous sexual relations with brought in characters that in a modern film era would be filled by cameos of well known actors. This was to increase emotional attachment to characters, in this case Kit Marlowe’s intuition of someone close’s well being. Classic melodrama filming techniques were used, such as close ups on character faces with much exaggerated emotions being displayed. The movie is named after the finishing conversation of a novel that Millie Drake was writing about the actions that took place throughout the movie. Millie Drake was married to a man named Preston Drake. Mr. Drake was a good man, though he had fantasies about his wife’s best friend Kit Marlowe. Kit and Millie had been best friends since they were young; no specific ages were ever mentioned throughout the film. Kit and Millie are both writers, the latter being more economically successful, though not as creative. The beginning of this film has Kit making a special visit to her best friend, Millie, without Millie’s knowledge. Preston and Kit thought it would be a good idea to hide Kit for when Millie came home, except when Millie arrived she was speaking poorly about her best friend Kit. Kit appeared on scene and you could already sense that the rest of this film would have series of disputes between the two women. Of course, it wouldn’t be a melodrama without the drama and there is no better drama than two bickering women. As Kit is attempting to fall asleep as a guest in Millie’s house, Preston makes repeated visits to Kit in the