Two of Hollywood’s greatest legends, Bette Davis and Errol Flynn only starred together twice. For the first of these, we go to 1938’s The Sisters.

Pharmacist Ned Elliott (Henry Travers) and wife Rose (Beulah Bondi) raise three daughters in small-town Montana: Louise (Davis), Helen (Anita Louise) and Grace (Jane Bryan). All come with different personalities and they pursue romance in their own particular ways.

Though the most level-headed and practical of the bunch, Louise ends a relationship with dull Tom Knivel (Dick Foran) to run with devilish writer Frank Medlin (Flynn). This affair becomes a source of conflict.

Given its title, one would expect Sisters to spend reasonably equal time among the three Elliott girls. However, given the actors involved, it became inevitable that Louise would dominate.

Which doesn’t seem like a fatal flaw, even if it makes the title somewhat misleading. While we spend occasional moments with Helen and Grace, these elements can feel semi-superfluous at times.

In theory, I like the pairing of Davis and Flynn, but unfortunately, they show little chemistry together. Of course they both offer charms independent of each other, but as a couple, sparks never fly.

It doesn’t help that Davis seems miscast here. At 30, she feels too old for the part by at least five years, and the bags under her eyes make her appear substantially more mature than Louise and Bryan.

Frankly, Davis also doesn’t seem attractive enough for the part. When they meet, Frank tells Louise she’s the most beautiful of the bunch but it seems tough to swallow that he’d prefer her to the objectively more lovely Louise.

Don’t take this to mean Davis wasn’t a good-looking woman, though she came with an unconventional look. Nonetheless, it feels like a mistake to cast her as a character who really needs a more traditionally gorgeous woman to play her.

Even without casting issues, Sisters simply never develops into anything more than soppy soap opera. As implied, the adaptation of Myron Brinig’s novel strips the narrative down to the bone and that makes it devoid of much real development.

Sure, Louise gets a reasonable arc, but the movie doesn’t allow her to become especially interesting. Her sisters get even less room to grow so they seem like token participants.

With Bondi and Travers as the parents, it seems amusing to see George Bailey’s mother married to Clarence the angel. Otherwise I find little of value from this dull romantic melodrama.

The Sisters appears in an aspect ratio of 1.37:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This was largely a strong presentation.

In general, sharpness satisfied, as the movie usually appeared well-defined. Some softness popped up for the occasional shot but the majority of the flick boasted nice delineation.

Shimmering and jaggies remained absent, and edge haloes also failed to appear. The movie’s grain structure felt natural, and print flaws didn’t mar the proceedings.

Blacks appeared deep and dark, and contrast came across well. Shadows held up nicely. Given its age, the image worked well.

Similar thoughts greeted the sturdy DTS-HD MA monaural soundtrack of Sisters, as it held up nicely over the decades. Speech could seem a bit brittle at times, but lines were intelligible and concise enough.

Music and effects displayed the expected restricted dynamic range, but they showed acceptable clarity and didn’t suffer from significant distortion. This was a more than competent track for a movie from 1938.

When we go to extras, the biggest attraction comes from an October 9, 1939 Lux Radio Theatre (57:20) adaptation of The Sisters. In place of Errol Flynn and Bette Davis, the broadcast features David Niven and Irene Dunne.

Unsurprisingly, the radio Sisters focuses even more heavily on Louise than the movie did, so the other two female leads become largely superfluous. That said, I admit I kind of prefer this approach, as the involvement of Helen and Grace seems so token in the film that a version mainly without them fares better.

Not that the broadcast Sisters becomes a satisfying effort, as it comes with all the cheesy melodrama of the cinematic rendition. Still, this turns into a fun alternate take on the project.

A vintage short entitled The Night Intruder spans 11 minutes, 13 seconds and shows a “true to life” tale narrated by “headline hunter” Floyd Gibbons in which a burglar threatens some middle-aged women. The story doesn’t live up to Gibbons’ breathless tone but Intruder offers some period charm nonetheless.

In addition to the movie’s trailer, we finish with Breakdowns of 1938, a 12-minute, 45-second blooper reel that showcases goofs from all sorts of Warner productions from that year, most of which provoke spasms of profanity from the actors.

These flubs were just as lame then as they are now and the sameness of the mistakes makes the piece tedious. That said, I must admit it’s intriguing to see performers like Humphrey Bogart and Bette Davis screw up, especially when it results in a profane outburst.

With Bette Davis and Errol Flynn as the leads, The Sisters enjoys real star power. Unfortunately, it wastes them on superficial soap opera that never clicks. The Blu-ray brings very good picture, appropriate audio as a decent mix of bonus features. Despite a quality cast, Sisters fizzles.