OK so the collection doesn't include All About Eve or Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, both of which are exaggerations of the Davis film persona, but this set is great. The best weepies and the best melodramas of her career. Another must have.
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Parental Guidance
Parental guidance is recommended for younger viewers.
NOTE: Mild themes, Family conflict themes, Mild violence
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OK so the collection doesn't include All About Eve or Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, both of which are exaggerations of the Davis film persona, but this set is great. The best weepies and the best melodramas of her career. Another must have.
Bette Davis was one of Hollywoods greatest stars back in the 40's onwards. This dvd boxed set collection contains the following of her best films: Now Voyager, Dark Victory, Mr Skeffington, The Letter.
Now, Voyager (1942)
Boston spinster blossoms under therapy and finds impossible romance. A tender
love story, a taut psychological drama, an inspiring tale of physical and
spiritual transformation, Now, Voyager is all three. It’s also a Bette Davis
career milestone, resulting in her sixth Best Actress Oscar nomination as
spinster Charlotte Vale, who defies her domineering mother (fellow Oscar nominee
Gladys Cooper) to discover love, heartbreak and eventual contentment.
Directed by Irving Rapper, Starring: Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains,
Gladys Cooper, Bonita Granville
“Now, Voyager remains a highly narcotic, swoon-inducing romance in the
Bette Davis canon.” Slant Magazine
“Bette Davis earned yet another Oscar nod for her role in "Now,
Voyager,” and it's easy to see why: here is yet another of those movies where
the dowdy loner transforms into a radiant beauty, but Davis makes certain that
we believe her completely as the ugly duckling. There's some makeup trickery
there, to be sure, but it's mostly in her rich performance..It's all far
more complicated than it needs to be, and at two hours, the story could stand a
trim or two. Then again, what would you cut? The soap opera of the opening
scenes sets the stage for all that follows, and what follows is lovely enough
that we can't stand to lose it.“ DVD Talk
"If you can resist Bette Davis in fat suit, hideous dress, and monobrow,
you're not as gay as you think you are. I guess I kind of liked it.”
Film Freak Central
Dark Victory (1939)
A young socialite is diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour, and must decide
whether she'll meet her final days with dignity. Bette Davis’s bravura,
moving, but never morbid performance as Judith Traherne, a dying heiress
determined to find happiness in her few remaining months, has been
fully-restored from the original negative for this DVD re-issue. Dark Victory
remains a three-hankie classic and was Davis’ biggest box-office hit yet,
garnering Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Actress and Original
Score.
Directed by Edmund Goulding, Starring: Bette Davis, George Brent, Humphrey
Bogart, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Ronald Reagan
“Guilty pleasure: One of Warner's best acted melodramas and Bette
Davis's all-time favorite” Variety
“The film is a fine blueprint for the next 70 years of five-handkerchief
weepers.” DVD Verdict
“Still surprisingly powerful after all these years, Dark Victory many not
always convince but it's still well worth a look.” EyeforFilm.co.uk
Mr Skeffington (1944)
Popular and beautiful Fanny Trellis is forced into a loveless marriage with an
older man, Jewish banker Job Skeffington, in order to save her beloved brother
Trippy from an embezzlement charge and predictable complications result. Bette
Davis earned her eighth Best Actress Oscar nomination for her performance as
Fanny Skeffington. Backed by Claude Rains (Notorious, Casablanca) as her devoted
husband, glorious costumes and a lush Franz Waxman score, Davis takes what
might, in lesser hands, have been just a woman’s picture and turns it into
art.
Directed by Vincent Sherman, Starring: Bette Davis, Claude Rains, Walter Abel,
George Coulouris, Richard Waring, Marjorie Riordan
“a particularly lavish example of the women's film genre, but its drama
(and melodrama) are liberally mingled with comedy, thanks to the deft script by
the famous Epstein brothers (Casablanca)…an enjoyable emotional journey, with
a masterful tearjerker of an ending. In addition to the bravura Davis
performance at its heart, it benefits from an understated performance by the
always wonderful Claude Rains and the commonsensical persona of Walter Abel
(Hold Back the Dawn) as Fanny's cousin George. The lavish production values
also deserve mention.” DVD Verdict
The Letter (1940)
The wife of a rubber plantation administrator shoots a man to death and claims
it was self-defense; a letter in her own hand may prove her undoing. Directed by
William Wyler (Ben-Hur, Roman Holiday), this classic film noir, based on the
play by W. Somerset Maugham, was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including
Best Picture and a Best Actress nod for Bette Davis.
Directed by William Wyler, Starring: Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, James
Stephenson, Frieda Inescort, Gale Sondergaard
“a noteworthy example of what could be accomplished when the studio system
got all the individual elements absolutely right in a single film.” DVD
Verdict
“one of the very best films made during the Golden Age of the Hollywood
studios. Wyler’s unsparing, tough-as-nails handling of the potentially
melodramatic proceedings; Bette Davis’ complex portrayal of a passionate woman
who also happens to be a calculating murderess; and Tony
Gaudio’s atmospheric black-and-white cinematography are only a few of the
flawless elements found in this classic tale of deceit…” Alternative
Film Guide
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