Did women really act like that?

[Lamb]

I like to watch old black and white movies and the women just act ridiculous in them. Overly dramatic, afraid of everything, screaming and hysteric. Were women really like that back then?

 

[Stravinsk]

Only the women of the time wanting to be actresses

I don't think it's fair to generalize the older black and white films in this way. I can think of plenty where both men and women act reasonably well for their character's part in the setting (time and place) where it occurs. Several Twilight Zone short films come to mind.

Good and bad script writers/actors/actresses in every generation. Contemporary C grade horror films and a lot of woke agenda garbage come to mind, albeit often for different reasons.