Dark Victory

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."

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.

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.

It's easy to see why Bette Davis admired "Dark Victory" more so than any of her other star-vehicles--her Judith Traherne is the quintessential Bette Davis character: smart, sassy, nervously gay, a drinking pal to the guys and a best buddy to the girls. Traherne is without malice, a real chum, and Davis plays her with fluttery vitriol and upper-crust glee. Long Island society girl, ailing but still strong, falls wildly in love with her doctor...but how can he tell her that she has very little time left to live? The supporting cast is made up of some odd personalities: Geraldine Fitzgerald's dedicated girlfriend seems to have no life outside of Judith's world (and performs her gal-pal duties with a curious severity); Humphrey Bogart is an Irish stable-hand with a secret crush on Judith (she's tempted, but ultimately conveys to him the old 'don't touch' message); Ronald Reagan is a country club type, always in a tuxedo and at the bar; George Brent is the brilliant surgeon who loves Judith (but he's faster with his fists than he is with words). Based on a play by George Emerson Brewer, Jr. and Bertram Bloch (which had starred Tallulah Bankhead), this chatty Warner Bros. weeper is glossy and flossy, a dithering, overstated, swooning romantic mini-epic for masochists. In other words, the archetypal Bette Davis film. *** from ****

"Dark Victory" features a superb performance by Bette Davis, portraying Judy Traherne, a socialite struggling to come to terms with terminal brain cancer, a diagnosis that ironically brings her the greatest joy of her life, as she falls in love with and marries the doctor who diagnosed her, also superbly played by George Brent.

There's nothing really to dislike in this movie. The basic point is simple to figure out: whatever darkness you may face, make the best of it and live life to the fullest, because even in darkness there may be victory. The supporting cast is tremendous, particularly Geraldine Fitzgerald as Ann King, Judy's friend and assistant who helps her through this bewildering time of conflicting emotions. The movie is not exactly filled with suspense and there's no dramatic death scene, but the emotion is raw all the way through, and the sympathy the viewer feels for this couple who are so much in love but have so little time to enjoy it is very real.

This is very well done, and well worth a look see. I would rate it as a 7/10.