First National Pictures
Warner Bros. Pictures
Not part of a collection.
Dark Victory
I've crammed every minute so full of waste. And now there's so little time. I don't know what to do. I'm afraid!
Socialite Judith Traherne lives a lavish but emotionally empty life. Riding horses is one of her few joys, and her stable master is secretly in love with her. Told she has a brain tumor by her doctor, Frederick Steele, Judith becomes distraught. After she decides to have surgery to remove the tumor, Judith realizes she is in love with Dr. Steele, but more troubling medical news may sabotage her new relationship, and her second chance at life.
- Original title
- Dark Victory
- Language
- EN
- Country
- US
- Budget
- —
- Revenue
- —
CinemaSerf
Mar 22, 2024 · via TMDB
Bette Davis always did know how to play the spoilt little rich girl character well, and my but she does it with aplomb here. She is "Judy", a young woman full of a privileged joie-de-vivre who starts to suffer from headaches and dizzy spells. Her family doctor recommends the specialist "Dr. Steele" (George Brent) who tells her that she has a brain tumour. An operation ensues, she is ostensibly cured and gradually she and "Steele" fall in love. The thing is, though, that her best friend "Ann" (Geraldine Fitzgerald) and her beau know that her prognosis isn't actually that hot - news that rocks the woman to the core when she finds out. A memorable scene around a dinner table demonstrates that skilfully and forcefully! It's hardly a surprise that "Judy" now goes off the rails a bit - plenty of booze and gentlemen friends to distract her from the inevitable, but maybe her friends can rally around and remind her that there might be a better way to live what's left of her life? This is a characterful drama loaded with emotion and chemistry between an on-form Davis and the understated but effective Brent. The writing provides for some strong dialogue and Edmund Goulding creates a working template for both actors to own the film from start to finish. It's not often you can say that Humphrey Bogart made little impact on a film, but here he is very much the oil to their wheels - and his enamoured "Michael" character is played well too. Max Steiner is at his most dramatic with the score and all-in-all this is a compellingly put together story well worth a watch.
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
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Amazon Video
Apple TV Store
Google Play Movies
YouTube
Fandango At Home
Bette Davis
Judith Traherne
George Brent
Dr. Frederick Steele
Humphrey Bogart
Michael O'Leary
Geraldine Fitzgerald
Ann King
Ronald Reagan
Alec
Henry Travers
Dr. Parsons
Cora Witherspoon
Carrie
Dorothy Peterson
Miss Wainwright
Virginia Brissac
Martha
Charles Richman
Colonel Mantle
Herbert Rawlinson
Dr. Carter
Leonard Mudie
Dr. Driscoll
Fay Helm
Miss Dodd
Richard Bond
Judith's Friend (uncredited)
Sidney Bracey
Bartender (uncredited)
Nat Carr
Doctor (uncredited)
Glen Cavender
Headwaiter (uncredited)
Mary Currier
Nightclub Singer (uncredited)
Frank Darien
Anxious Man (uncredited)
Edgar Edwards
Trainer (uncredited)
John Harron
George, the Man Taking Judith's Coat (uncredited)
Leyland Hodgson
Judith's Friend (uncredited)
Stuart Holmes
Doctor (uncredited)
Frank Mayo
Judith's Friend (uncredited)
Jack Mower
Veterinarian (uncredited)
David Newell
Judith's Friend (uncredited)
Wedgwood Nowell
Doctor (uncredited)
Ila Rhodes
Secretary (uncredited)
John Ridgely
Man Making Crack About Judith (uncredited)
Jeffrey Sayre
Doctor (uncredited)
Amzie Strickland
Judith's Friend (uncredited)
Rosella Towne
Girl in Box (uncredited)
William Worthington
Specialist #1 (uncredited)
Maris Wrixon
Judith's Friend (uncredited)
Ernest Haller
Director of Photography
Orry-Kelly
Costume Design
Edmund Goulding
Director
Jack L. Warner
Executive In Charge Of Production
Hal B. Wallis
Executive Producer
Hugo Friedhofer
Orchestrator
Max Steiner
Original Music Composer
Casey Robinson
Screenplay
Courtship
To Feel A Body.
12 Angry Men
8½
Amadeus
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Ballet of Othello
Dancer in the Dark
Platoon
The Celebration
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
The Ox-Bow Incident
Planet of the Apes
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Kramer vs. Kramer
A Few Good Men
The Philadelphia Story
Carol
Pandora's Box
Grease
Meet Joe Black
Cyrano de Bergerac
A Man for All Seasons
Dead Man Walking
Sissi
On Golden Pond
Leaving Las Vegas
Driving Miss Daisy
Irreversible
This Is I
Mohabbatein
Drugstore Cowboy
WarGames
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Papa, Can You Hear Me Sing?
Second Wife
Heavenly Creatures
Mamma Mia!
Hard Miles
Romeo + Juliet
Rob Roy
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Pig
Heaven Can Wait
Death of the Flea Circus Director
The Man Who Fell to Earth
Roxanne
Anthem of a Teenage Prophet
Curly Sue
Sabrina
Dancers in the Dark
The Sweetest Thing
Paradise for the Damned
Affluenza
Jahaan Chaar Yaar
Strídža spod Hája
The Post Office
Vojnarka
Sightless
Five Feet Apart
Something the Lord Made
The Theory of Everything
Dancer in the Dark
Midnight Sun
Awakenings
All My Life
A Walk to Remember
Ordinary Angels
tick, tick... BOOM!
The Fault in Our Stars
Until Forever
Synecdoche, New York
Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken
You're Not You
Brooklyn
The Great Gatsby
The Pride of the Yankees
Brian's Song
The Life of Chuck
2 Hearts
The Music Never Stopped
Fathers and Daughters
Third Star
Brain on Fire
Marvin's Room
The Man Without a Face
Phenomenon
Upstream Color
The Sunchaser
The Sea of Trees
Blind
Apr 20, 1939
New York City, New York
Apr 22, 1939
