In This Our Life - Production

Production

The Ellen Glasgow novel, for which Warner Bros. paid $40,000 for the screen rights, portrayed William Fitzroy's incestuous desire for his niece Stanley, as well as racist attitudes in the society. Recommended by the director John Huston, the screenwriter Howard Koch believed he had to tone down these elements to satisfy the current Motion Picture Production Code. In his review of the completed film, the critic Bosley Crowther said it was "moderately faithful" to the novel and praised its portrayal of racial discrimination.

Bette Davis, eventually cast as Stanley Timberlake despite her desire to play the "good sister" Roy, was unhappy with the script. "The book by Miss Glasgow was brilliant," she later recalled. "I never felt the script lived up to the book." Nor did Glasgow. "She minced no words about the film," Davis said. "She was disgusted with the outcome. I couldn't have agreed with her more. A real story had been turned into a phony film."

Davis was also unhappy about events during production. While in the midst of costume and wig fittings, Davis was told her husband Arthur Farnsworth had been admitted to a Minneapolis hospital with severe pneumonia. Her friend Howard Hughes arranged a private plane, but her flight took two days because of being grounded by fog and storms. Almost immediately, studio head Jack L. Warner cabled her to demand her return to the film. Due to his pressure and her concern for her husband, Davis' own health declined. Her doctor ordered her to return to Los Angeles by train to get some rest before returning to work.

Distressed to play Stanley rather than Roy - "I was not young enough for the part," Davis insisted - the actress argued with producers about every aspect of her character. She directed her hair style and makeup. She insisted that Orry-Kelly redesign costumes for her, resulting in what others saw as an unflattering wardrobe. Davis aided the project by finding the right person to play Parry Clay. Huston had reviewed some African American actors but was not satisfied with any. One day when Davis was in the studio commissary, she noticed Ernest Anderson working there as a waiter. She believed he had the right look and presence for the role and encouraged Huston to screen test Anderson. The director did, and cast the young man. Anderson won the 1942 National Board of Review Award for his performance.

Three days following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which pulled the US into World War II, Huston had to leave the production for an assignment with the War Department. The studio used Raoul Walsh to complete the film, although he received no screen credit. Walsh and Davis immediately clashed, and she refused to follow his direction or reshoot completed scenes. She developed laryngitis and stayed off the set for several days. After she returned, the producer Hal B. Wallis frequently acted as mediator between Davis and Walsh, who threatened to quit.

Because of the delays, the film was not done until mid-January 1942, well over schedule. The first preview was highly negative, with audience comments especially critical of Davis' hair, makeup, and wardrobe, the elements which she had controlled. Preparing for Now, Voyager, Davis disregarded the comments. She thought the film was "mediocre," although she was glad that the role of Parry Clay was "performed as an educated person. This caused a great deal of joy among Negroes. They were tired of the Stepin Fetchit vision of their people." When the US wartime Office of Censorship reviewed the film in 1943 prior to foreign release, it disapproved the work because, "It is made abundantly clear that a Negro's testimony in court is almost certain to be disregarded if in conflict with the testimony of a white person."