Dark Victory (1939)

Nominated for Best Picture of 1939 (losing to the inevitable winner, Gone with the Wind), Dark Victory is a prime example of what they used to call "women's pictures" or "weepies." Bette Davis, in one of her most sympathetic roles, plays a socialite who develops a brain tumor. She falls in love with the surgeon who operates on her (played by George Brent, who was in a lot of movies but never seemed to break out and become a star) and whom she eventually marries. The doctor and her best friend, played by a very young and pretty Geraldine Fitzgerald, attempt to keep secret the fact that the surgery has not been successful, but anyone who has ever watched a Bette Davis film knows that she is destined to find out. No one can outsmart Davis for long; you can always see the calculations of her mind.

This is classical Hollywood filmmaking. All of the elements are there for a successful film: the script, the performances, the sets and costumes, even the editing (watch carefully for the various wipes that move us from scene to scene). I have seen this film a couple of times before, and I've always been a fan of Bette Davis (naturally). It's a pleasure being reacquainted with it. Even though you can figure out pretty quickly what's going to happen, you still feel a measure of (misguided?) hope. However, when you get to the last sequence, where Davis is trying to get her husband packed for a trip and out of the house quickly, the suspense that the filmmakers are able to create is almost excruciating. Watching Geraldine Fitzgerald's face or the reaction of one of the bit players in the role of a maid only adds to the emotional impact.

I wonder how much different the film might have been had Ronald Reagan, who has a supporting part as one of Davis's drinking buddies, played the part of the doctor instead of George Brent. Brent was always a capable actor, but aside from surgical prowess, his character needs a measure of charisma as well, I think. Reagan, whose politics I never admired, at least had the charm and looks to keep your attention whenever he's on the screen. Brent tends to fade into the background too much. Of course, that was always one of the dangers of acting with Bette Davis.