Movie(s) of My Week: Bette Davis at her apogee
Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 12:01AM 
Just a couple I caught with Vonne last week, pulling them out of a 4-pack of remastered films on DVD.
First is "Now, Voyager," where she really plays three characters: 1) the young Charlotte Vale before her nasty, old-School Boston brahmin mom kills her spirit; 2) the crushed 40-something spinster who finds salvation with a psychiatrist's help (Claude Rains at his smooth best); and 3) the revived Charlotte who has a tragic, distant love affair with Paul Henreid (also at his best). She is simply amazing throughout. Plus there's a gloriously sophisticated camera movement during her first lunch with Henreid that is truly breathtaking. Very modern look for a 1942. She was nominated but did not win for Best Actress.
Yes, a chick flick, but it ages amazingly well. To me, it reminds that people were not all that less sophisticated back then, and they tended to behave with a lot more authenticity and genuineness than today. It is a sarcasm-free world, by comparison.
I had seen the movie many years ago and delighted in it again this time around, so much so that we teed up another in the series, "Dark Victory," a tear-jerker without peer.
But, it's got Davis in her prime (right after the Oscar-win with "Jezebel" in 1938), even if her performance was lost in the incredibly year of 1939 ("Gone with the Wind," "Oz," etc.). The doctor in question (this a medical story) is awfully good (George Brent), plus you've got Ronald Reagan in a light but charming role as a society drunk.
I've always had a thing for Davis in her prime. She reminds me of a good friend/lover from my youth.
I will confess to watching "Dark Victory" with a big martini, and I welled up more than once. But I was struck--again--by the relative sophistication and honest emotion conveyed in the film. I found it melodramatic alright, but--again--incredibly genuine.
Reader Comments (1)
A Bette Davis fan and a Packer fan? That's some dark stuff Tom.