Bette Davis: Prognosis Brilliant
Saturday, December 28, 2019 at 6:00PM 
For no reason at all lets celebrate Bette Davis, one of the shiniest stars ever to grace the silver screen. Our love for her knows no bounds. Who else can make a movie about wearing a red dress instead of a virginal white one as riveting as did Jezebel (1938)? Can you imagine loving movies, actresses and movies about actresses without also loving Bette in All About Eve (1950)...
But today let's take a moment to appreciate Davis in Dark Victory (1939). She’s Judith “Judy” Traherne, a young socialite party girl who loves to smoke, drink, ride horses and fast cars. Of course she gets sick but is also cured of her “evil” ways with the love of a good man (George Brent). Then she finds that her illness is terminal and we watch her as she marches - literally - to a glorious death. I love this performance because Davis gets to do so much acting. From party girl to reformed happy woman in love to dying on screen, it shows a lot of Davis’ magnificent talent.
Let's watch her in this scene where she learns that she’s dying. Pay attention to her eyes…
Wonderful.
Have you seen Dark Victory which we've obsessed over here before? If it were ever remade who would you cast?
Reader Comments (14)
"Dark Victory" already has been remade as "Stolen Hours" (1963) starring Susan Hayward.
It’s amazing with her body of work she only has 2 Oscars!!
I know that to many people only thinking in this would be a crime: but I would give her another award for Dark Victory over Vivien Leigh in Gone With The Wind.
Now, Voyager. Dark Victory. The Letter. All About Eve. Wow.
She is the best
This is Bette's fav performance o herself! She was extremely proud o her work here.
Had she not won her 2nd Oscar juz the year before, she might hav won for this. She was actually the hot fav goin into the race, while Leigh; the dark horse!
My fav Bette's performance came the following yr, for her one-two punch in All This & Heaven Too, n The Letter 😁
She is a Legend but won twice for the wrong films.
This is my favorite of her films, as it was hers. She really digs deep and makes Judith Traherne a fully rounded person-difficult, headstrong, kind, exasperating but always real.
That scene where she discovers her true fate is powerful-and I adore the restaurant scene that follows but my favorite may be directly after she has left Bogart (terribly miscast) in the stables and she is alone with Ann and pondering if she would be wrong to bring about her own end. She plays it so simply, no wallowing in self pity just a sad resignation and realization wondering if going on is worth it. Devastating.
The property has been remade twice, and I'm sure been the inspiration for many others,
Susan Hayward's Stolen Hours which now has taken on the tinge of irony with Susan's death from a brain tumor and a TV redo with Elizabeth Montgomery and Anthony Hopkins. Both have good things in them but neither come anywhere near the greatness of this.
If another try at it was undertaken today I'm not sure there is an actress of the proper age who has the force of personality to make it work. Maybe Rosamund Pike or Marion Cotillard although Judith is supposed to be in her mid-20's.
Davis was the best dramatic female star of Hollywood's studio era.
I saw “Dark Victory” again a few months ago.
This time, I was struck by how good Davis’ co-stars were, George Brent and Geraldine Fitzgerald.
They both play so wonderfully naturalistic that their style doesn’t seem dated at all. I respect their professionalism in seeing the whole story and knowing how to complement Davis’s style. Two Irish actors with a touch of the poet.
They provide the solid gold setting for the precious jewel that is Bette Davis, who is on fire with an inner light.
Queen Bette! Dark Victory is one of the few touchstones of hers I still have yet to see. So excited.
The Man who came to Dinner. She is delightful - second fiddle to Monty Woolley but such a lightness if touch we don’t usually associate with her.
I think she is great in Dark Victory - one of her best performances. Maybe she should have won for this (though of course Leigh is iconic in Gond With the Wind).
Just (re)watched Of Human Bondage and The Little Foxes today (thank you, Criterion Channel!). I always admire her go-for-broke zeal and fearlessness when it comes to the grotesque underbelly of human nature. There won’t be another like her.