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ACTOR
Bette DavisGeorge BrentHumphrey BogartGeraldine Fitzgerald
DIRECTOR
Edmund Goulding
SYNOPSICS
Dark Victory (1939) is a English movie. Edmund Goulding has directed this movie. Bette Davis,George Brent,Humphrey Bogart,Geraldine Fitzgerald are the starring of this movie. It was released in 1939. Dark Victory (1939) is considered one of the best Drama,Romance movie in India and around the world.
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Dark Victory (1939) Reviews
Davis' portrayal of the lead character, Judith Traherne, was one of the most memorable in her screen history
Judith is a wealthy Long Island society girl given to a dizzy lifestyle Self-assured of her affluence and her faculty over men, she is unprepared for tragedy, which strikes in the form of a brain tumor The underlying bravery and courage with which she faces this physical suffering eventually demonstrates the woman of substance that she is Among her friends is Ann King (Fitzgerald), her secretary, and handsome young Alex Hamm (Reagan), who directs her toward brain specialist Dr. Frederick Steele (Brent). The doctor diagnoses her illness as one which will end her life within a year Judith falls in love with him and accepts his proposal of marriage When she discovers that her tumor is calamitous, she rejects the doctor's proposal considering it an act with compassion Davis provides scene after scene with the special magic only she was able of bringing vividly Swept into the current of events was Bogart playing an Irish horse trainer, who fails in an attempt to make love to her, yet encourages her to enjoy her time with her true love, George Brent The film was remade in 1963 as "Stolen Hours" with Susan Hayward, and as a 1976 TV movie under its original title with Elizabeth Montgomery
Love or hate her, this film shows why Bette was a star...
By today's standards, "Dark Victory" might seem cliched. Of course, that could be because it was so greatly copied! Here is Bette Davis, a star in the fullness of her talent and ability. Bette simply shines; she owns this film from first frame to last. Ably supported by a wonderful cast (including a somewhat mis-matched Humphrey Bogart as an Irish-brogued horse trainer), it is still difficult to watch the film and not be constantly anticipating Bette's appearance in any scene she isn't in. The ending, even in those days, might have turned out either wimpy or waspish. In Bette's hands, it is neither. It works in a way that literally drains one of emotions. I might also add that, while revealing only a bare back, Bette shows more sensuality than a dozen of today's more "open" actresses. There is an old disparaging adage about "showing the full gamut from a to b," in this movie Bette not only shows A to Z, but some letters that haven't been invented yet. Despite my gushing over Ms. Davis, the film is solid in all departments. If you wish to experience when melodrama is great movie-making, see this film.
Bette Victorious
This is the film of which Davis is supposed to have said "There are some pictures that should nevah be remade!" - and time has proved that she was right. Despite two updates/remakes, one theatrical ("Stolen Hours" with Susan Hayward) and one for TV (as "Dark Victory" with Elizabeth Montgomery) it's this 1939 Warner Bros. film which is still best remembered today. The reason, of course, is Bette Davis. She often insisted that there wasn't one of her greatest roles she didn't have to fight to get, and Judith Traherne was one of those roles. She pestered Jack Warner to buy it for her, and when he responded "Who wants to see a picture about a dame who goes blind and dies?" Davis assured him that at least ten million women would - and she was right. And so we have a vibrant, touching performance that is among the most famous jewels in the crown of Bette Davis. "I'm young and strong and nothing can touch me!" she proclaims, and almost makes us believe it. We see her go through the denial/anger/bargaining/acceptance phases of her illness long before anyone named those stages. And when she looks George Brent in the eye and says "Poor fool - don't you know I'm in love with you?" we know from the way she says it that she's never said it before. Yes, it's quite possible that had GWTW not been released in the last weeks of December 1939, the question of who would be the first actress to win 3 Best Actress Oscars might well have been settled long before 1968. Yes - we have to suspend disbelief here - Bogart with an Irish brogue? Surely his name - O'Leary - should have been enough. And the scene near the end when Davis packs Brent's suitcase to send him off - how could he not notice her fumbling around the room? Ah well, "it's only a mooovie, Ingrid. . . ." as a famous director once said. "Dark Victory" may not be great cinematic art, but it's a thoroughly professional effort and it's obvious that the people who made it cared about it. Movie fans have been caring about it for 66 years, and continue to do so: a newly-remastered DVD will be released in June.
still gets me after all these years
I was probably 12 years old when I first saw this film on TV. It was shown in two parts and I didn't get to see the second part, so my mother had to tell me what happened. Forty years later, I still cry every time I see "Dark Victory." It remains one of my favorite films for sheer use of Kleenex and my favorite Bette Davis movie, "All About Eve" being right up there with it. I even saw it on the big screen in a revival house when I was in college. Yes, some of the dialogue sounds corny now, like the good doctor saying, "Women never meant anything to me before". But the interesting thing is, when I did see it with an audience, though they laughed as some inappropriate spots, by the end you could hear the sobs on the next block. There have been comments that Humphrey Bogart seems miscast in a somewhat minor role. I frankly thought he was just fine. He certainly was short enough to be a jockey and he pulled off the brogue. I'm sure it's confusing for some to see him in such a small role in 1939 when only a few years later, he was a total superstar. But he was under contract to Warners and kicked around for years before "High Sierra" and "Casablanca". He obviously wasn't working when "Dark Victory" was cast, so why let him sit around taking a salary and do nothing? And of course we have Ronald Reagan as a playboy. I actually find him delightful in this film. It called for charm and he had it. In today's fast-paced world, there's nothing stronger than a message about time and our use of it. "Oh, give me time for tenderness...just give me time." Like Bette's character, I want to hear that song again too, in many more viewings of "Dark Victory."
Supreme tear-jerker is skillfully handled...
There are three central performances in DARK VICTORY that deserve praise for their sincerity and complete believability--BETTE DAVIS as the spoiled heiress, GEORGE BRENT as the doctor who falls in love with her and GERALDINE FITZGERALD as the conscience of the story, feeling pity and love for her dearest friend. Davis trounces around through the first half to show us what kind of energy and volatility is flaring beneath the surface--so full of life that when she realizes her illness bears the stamp of "prognosis negative", it's a shock to the audience as well as the actress. She's at her level best in all of the quieter moments--and never more impressive than in the final ten minutes of the film where her character must face the impending death with dignity and the knowledge that she has her husband's love and her best friend's devotion. The scene in the garden with Fitzgerald at her side is the most luminous in the entire film. It's worth waiting for just to watch two great actresses at work. Max Steiner's score is fitting at all times--even in the final moments when Bette goes up the stairs accompanied by his melancholy main theme. Edmund Goulding gets sensitive work from his entire cast--with the exception of Ronald Reagan who is given absolutely nothing in the way of character development except to look tipsy in every scene. To say that he is wasted is an understatement. So too is Henry Travers as the doctor who brought Davis into the world. Humphrey Bogart has been criticized for his Irish accent, but he's at least acceptable in a minor role as a horse trainer. But the three central performances are what hold the film together--and make what is essentially a sob story work so beautifully. Trivia: George Brent is very effective in the doctor role that was first offered to Basil Rathbone, but then withdrew after a very bad screen test in the part convinced the studio (and Rathbone) that he was all wrong for the role.