If you try to find the movie The Gay Sisters on a streaming service today, you might have a tough time. It’s one of those weird, dusty relics from 1942 that feels like it belongs in a different dimension. People hear the title now and they think it’s a groundbreaking LGBTQ+ film from the 40s. It isn’t. Not even close. Back then, "gay" just meant cheerful or lighthearted, though ironically, this movie is about as cheerful as a tax audit. It's a dense, litigious, and surprisingly gritty melodrama about three sisters fighting to keep their family estate from being bulldozed by progress and a very bitter ex-husband.
Barbara Stanwyck is the lead. Honestly, she’s the only reason this thing still gets talked about in film buff circles. She plays Fiona Gaylord. She’s tough, icy, and kind of terrifying. Alongside her are Geraldine Fitzgerald and a very young Nancy Coleman. They are the "Gay sisters" because Gaylord is their last name. It’s a bit of a letdown if you were looking for queer cinema, but if you like watching 1940s women ruin their lives over property law and ancient grudges, you're in the right place.
The Plot is Basically a Law Degree in 110 Minutes
The story is a mess. A fascinating, high-stakes mess. The Gaylord sisters live in a giant, crumbling mansion in New York City. They’ve been stuck in legal limbo for two decades because of their father’s messy estate. Fiona (Stanwyck) is the eldest and she’s basically the general of the family. She’s determined to keep the house, even though the city wants to run a street right through their front door.
Enter George Brent. He plays Charles Barclay. He wants the land. He also happens to be Fiona’s secret ex-husband. They had a "marriage of convenience" years ago so she could get her inheritance, but he actually fell for her. She didn't. She used him. Now he’s back for revenge, and his version of revenge is urban development.
It sounds dry, right? Land rights? Probate court? But it’s surprisingly cutthroat. There’s a secret kid involved. Fiona has a son that she’s keeping hidden from Charles, which is a classic 1940s "woman with a secret" trope. The tension isn't just about who gets the deed to the house; it’s about the fact that these people genuinely seem to loathe each other while also being weirdly obsessed with their shared past.
Why Barbara Stanwyck Makes This Movie Work
Stanwyck was the queen of the "steel magnolia" archetype before that was even a phrase. In The Gay Sisters, she’s operating at a level of intensity that the script doesn't always deserve. You watch her and you believe that she would burn the whole city down before letting a contractor touch her staircase.
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There's this one scene where she’s staring down George Brent, and you can see the calculation in her eyes. It’s not just acting; it’s like she’s playing a game of chess against the entire world. Most actresses of that era would have played Fiona as a victim of circumstance. Stanwyck plays her as the architect of her own misery. She’s stubborn. She’s often wrong. But you can't look away from her.
The supporting cast is... fine. Geraldine Fitzgerald plays Evelyn, who is the "romantic" one, which usually just means she cries more. Nancy Coleman is Susie, the youngest, who represents the rebellious youth. But let’s be real: this is the Stanwyck show. Without her, the movie would have been forgotten by 1943.
The Bizarre Context of 1942 Cinema
You have to remember when this came out. 1942. The US was fully into World War II. Most movies were either patriotic musicals or gritty war films. The Gay Sisters is this weird outlier—a claustrophobic family drama about old money and legal technicalities.
Warner Bros. put a lot of money into this. They hired Irving Rapper to direct, who was known for "women’s pictures" (a condescending term they used back then for high-quality dramas starring women). The cinematography is actually gorgeous. It’s full of deep shadows and looming architecture that makes the Gaylord mansion feel like a character in a horror movie.
There’s also a weirdly famous bit of trivia: this movie features a very young Byron Barr, who later changed his name to Gig Young. He actually took his stage name from the character he played in this movie. That’s how much of an impact it had on him, even if the general public has mostly moved on.
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What Most People Get Wrong About the Title
The title is the elephant in the room. In the 21st century, "The Gay Sisters" sounds like a very specific type of story. When modern audiences see it on a TCM schedule, they expect a story about sisterhood and hidden identity.
Instead, they get a movie about a long-term legal battle over a New York brownstone.
Language shifts. It’s a perfect example of "semantic drift." In 1942, the title was meant to sound elegant and perhaps a bit light, despite the heavy plot. It was based on a novel by Stephen Longstreet. If you go back and read the reviews from the 40s, nobody mentions the word "gay" in any context other than the family name. It’s a linguistic time capsule.
The Secret Child and the Hays Code
Because this was 1942, the "secret child" plot point had to be handled with extreme care. The Motion Picture Production Code (the Hays Code) was in full swing. You couldn't just have characters having kids out of wedlock without some kind of moral "payment."
The movie handles this by making Fiona’s life a living hell. She’s miserable, she’s lonely, and she’s constantly under threat of losing everything. The code dictated that "sin" had to be punished. Fiona’s punishment is her isolation. It’s a grim way to write a movie, but it adds a layer of genuine tragedy to the film that makes it hold up better than some of its contemporaries. It doesn't have a "happy" ending in the traditional sense. It has an exhausted ending.
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Is It Worth Watching Today?
Honestly? Yes, but only if you like "melo" in your melodrama. If you’re a fan of Succession and want to see the 1940s version of wealthy people being terrible to each other over an inheritance, you’ll dig it.
The pacing is a bit slow. It’s nearly two hours long, and there are sequences involving legal documents that feel like they’re happening in real-time. But the chemistry—or anti-chemistry—between Stanwyck and Brent is electric. They worked together in several movies, and they have this shorthand that feels very lived-in.
It’s also a fascinating look at New York City history, even if it was all filmed on a soundstage in Burbank. The idea of the city’s growth encroaching on the "old world" is a theme that still resonates. We’re still arguing about gentrification and eminent domain today. The Gaylord sisters were just the 1942 version of the people fighting the new condo development on their block.
How to Find and Watch It
Finding The Gay Sisters isn't as easy as hitting play on Netflix. It’s a Warner Bros. property, so it occasionally pops up on Turner Classic Movies (TCM).
- Check TCM: This is your best bet. They run it every few months, usually during a Barbara Stanwyck marathon.
- DVD/Physical Media: You can find it on the "Warner Archive" collection. These are manufacture-on-demand discs for collectors.
- Digital Rental: It’s sometimes available on Amazon or Apple TV for a few bucks, but its availability fluctuates wildly based on licensing.
If you do sit down to watch it, don't expect a rom-com. Expect a gritty, legalistic, beautifully shot drama about three women who are too stubborn for their own good.
Actionable Insights for Film Enthusiasts
To truly appreciate The Gay Sisters, you should watch it as part of a "Barbara Stanwyck in the 40s" double feature. Pair it with Double Indemnity (1944). You’ll see how she perfected the role of the woman who uses her intellect as a weapon.
- Watch the shadows: Pay attention to how the director uses the house to dwarf the characters. The architecture is meant to feel oppressive.
- Listen to the dialogue: It’s fast. The 1940s style of "patter" is on full display here.
- Research the Hays Code: Understanding why Fiona can't just be honest about her life helps make sense of the more frustrating plot points.
- Compare it to the book: If you're a real nerd, find a copy of Stephen Longstreet’s novel. The movie changes quite a bit to satisfy the censors of the time.
Ultimately, the movie is a testament to the power of a lead actress to elevate mid-tier material. It’s not the best movie of 1942—that was a year that gave us Casablanca—but it’s a weird, dark, and compelling piece of Hollywood history that deserves more than just a laugh at its title.