Dark Victory
Directed by Edmund Goulding
Written by Casey Robinson based on the play by George Emerson Brewer Jr. and Bertram Bloch
1939/USA
Warner Bros.
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] Judith: But I haven’t time to be ill.[/box]
The medical melodrama is not one of my favorite genres. I have to admit that this one is beautifully made and Bette Davis gives it her all.
Judith Traherne (Davis) is a strong-minded socialite who apparently lives with her best friend Ann (Geraldine Fitzgerald). Her one semi-productive activity is racing horses aided by her able Irish trainer Michael O’Leary (Humphrey Bogart with brogue!). Judith has been suffering headaches and one day as she is preparing a horse for a steeplechase she gets double vision and crashes through a hurdle.
Much against her will, her family doctor (Henry Travers) takes her to reknowned bachelor brain surgeon Frederick Steele (George Brent). Steele is preparing to close his practice to devote himself to research but one look at Judy and her symptoms has him hooked. He operates, only to discover a terminal malignancy. This is a “Hollywood illness” that will leave the victim vital and beautiful until the day blindness strikes and she dies. Steele, who has fallen in love with Judith, tries to hide her fate from her. With Ronald Reagan as a drunk in Judith’s set.
This is Bette Davis’s movie. For most of it, her Judith is a girl in love. There is a bit of the Davis “diva” especially when she is thwarted but often she is very moving with those expressive eyes of hers. I never thought I would see Bogart giving a performance like this. To his credit, he is utterly miscast but his brogue is spotty and he almost resorts to histrionics during his love confession scene. The cinematography by Ernest Haller is a thing of beauty, with rich and interesting shadows revealing the scenes.
Dark Victory was nominated for Academy Awards in the categories of Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Original Score (Max Steiner).
Trailer
I’m glad you mentioned the “movie sickness” bit. I know it’s a convention of the tearjerker genre, but it did take me out of the film just a little. I do agree that Davis does a very good job in her role.
It just struck me that Davis might have been a great silent actress. The moments when you could almost see her thinking by looking at her face were wonderful.
I found this box set with a lot of Bette Davis movies, including this one and found that the more I saw of her the less I liked her. Well, it started from a high (Jezebel), so low is actually fairly allright, but still she came to personify the Hollywood diva for better or worse. Dark Victory is one of the better ones, mainly due to the supporting cast and the strength of the cinematography as you mention, but I was also struck by the artificial Hollywood sickness that you got spot on. She wears that sickness like a beauty spot on her cheek up to the end where the final stages sets in.
A movie I really want to see is “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” where Hollywood’s two biggest and most self-absorbed divas, Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, are battling it out. That is supposed to be spectacular.
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? is a whole lot of fun. Totally over the top, though.
What was Bogie thinking? I hated him in this part….well, not really since I could never hate him but boy, was he miscast!!!!
Davis has the Ali McGraw Love Story illness…..you are dying of cancer or some other terminal illness but look beautiful to the end. But only Davis can pull this off……..there will never be another like her. But what was that stupid brownie cap that she wore? There are a couple of scenes when you can really see George Brent’s toupee. This is not my favorite Davis movie but I like it well enough for a repeat viewing.
I think the cap was to cover the shaved spot from her surgery. Don’t ask me to defend the style, though! Hats of the 30’s and 40’s are a complete mystery to me. I guess you had to be there …