Bette Davis delivers one of the best performances of her career as a partying socialite who discovers she has a terminal illness in “Dark Victory.” Director Edmund Goulding (“Grand Hotel” 1932) was in charge of a very slick movie with outstanding production values. He was greatly helped by an exceptionally written screenplay by Casey Robinson, adapted from the 1934 play of the same name by George E. Brewer and Bertram Bloch.
The co-stars with Miss Davis includes Humphrey Bogart, Ronald Reagan, Geraldine Fitzgerald, George Brent, Henry Travers, Cora Witherspoon, Dorothy Peterson, Virginia Brissac, Charles Richman, Herbert Rawlinson, Fay Helm, Leonard Mudie, and Lottie Williams. This was Ronald Reagan’s first big movie role, launching him into stardom. The very watchable melodrama “Dark Victory” was successful at the box office for Warner Bros. Pictures. It was nominated for three Oscars, Best Picture, Best Actress (Davis), and Best Original Score, with zero wins, losing out to the “Gone With the Wind” juggernaut.
Dark Victory (1939)
cinema
My Review
Bette Davis delivers one of the best performances of her career as a partying socialite who discovers she has a terminal illness in “Dark Victory.” Director Edmund Goulding (“Grand Hotel” 1932) was in charge of a very slick movie with outstanding production values. He was greatly helped by an exceptionally written screenplay by Casey Robinson, adapted from the 1934 play of the same name by George E. Brewer and Bertram Bloch.
The co-stars with Miss Davis includes Humphrey Bogart, Ronald Reagan, Geraldine Fitzgerald, George Brent, Henry Travers, Cora Witherspoon, Dorothy Peterson, Virginia Brissac, Charles Richman, Herbert Rawlinson, Fay Helm, Leonard Mudie, and Lottie Williams. This was Ronald Reagan’s first big movie role, launching him into stardom. The very watchable melodrama “Dark Victory” was successful at the box office for Warner Bros. Pictures. It was nominated for three Oscars, Best Picture, Best Actress (Davis), and Best Original Score, with zero wins, losing out to the “Gone With the Wind” juggernaut.