Housewife 1934. Bette Davis, George Brent, Ann Dvorak Nan Reynolds (Ann Dvorak) scrimps and saves to maintain her family on the tiny wages of her husband, William (George Brent), an under-appreciated worker at an advertising agency. When the couple's old friend Patricia (Bette Davis) is hired as a highly paid copywriter at the same company, Nan spurs her husband to start his own business. He does so, and eventually hires Patricia, with whom he begins a long-simmering affair. Nan, who has a suitor of her own, considers divorce.