Coming in the middle of her tumultuous, 18-year reign as Queen of the Warner Bros. studio, this classic 1939 tearjerker proved to be the ideal vehicle for the mercurial talents of Bette Davis in her prime in a year marked by so many other memorable films. Adapted by longtime studio screenwriter Casey Robinson from a short-lived 1934 Broadway play, the story involves Judith Traherne, a frivolous, self-absorbed heiress, living hard in the fast lane at 23, who finds herself confronting her own mortality with the discovery of an inoperable brain tumor. Naturally, she denies anything is wrong with her at first but faces the reality of her condition by eventually rising to the occasion with courage and integrity. It has been the subject of many parodies and at least two remakes in the past seventy years, but the original still works best thanks to Davis' career-defining performance.
Besides Davis and Max Steiner's equally emotional score, the movie itself has not aged as well due to the pedestrian work of director Edmund Goulding ("Grand Hotel") in guiding the venture and lackluster contributions from the supporting cast, one of whom is seriously miscast In hindsight. Judith's Long Island social world is full of hard-drinking party types like the perpetually drunk Alec who tries to woo her into marriage. He's not the only one as Irish stable hand Michael is equally smitten with Judith, but there's the social class distinction to consider. The novelty is that a young Ronald Reagan plays Alec and Humphrey Bogart, two years from his breakthrough in "The Maltese Falcon", plays Michael. Reagan does not make much of an impact, but Bogart is sorely miscast as Michael to the point of being distracting as Davis blows him off the screen, in particular, a late-night failed seduction scene when she dismissively half-asks him, "You're making love to me, aren't you?"
However, it is Judith's steady best friend Ann and especially the stalwart brain-cell specialist Dr. Steele who help Judith in her true victory over the dark. Both Geraldine Fitzgerald and constant Davis co-star George Brent do solid work in the roles, but nothing nearly at Davis' caliber. Perhaps this was intentional, but it does make for an odd imbalance to the film. Regardless, the last twenty minutes pull at the requisite heartstrings as Judith faces her fate with a heavenly choir. It's a grand Davis sequence worthy of her legacy. The print in the 2005 DVD release is nicely restored. Film historian James Ursini and CNN film critic Paul Clinton provide a perceptive commentary track, and there is a short featurette that explains how the film's reputation has unfairly suffered over the years. See the film itself for the vibrancy and depth of Davis' performance which hasn't aged a bit.
Besides Davis and Max Steiner's equally emotional score, the movie itself has not aged as well due to the pedestrian work of director Edmund Goulding ("Grand Hotel") in guiding the venture and lackluster contributions from the supporting cast, one of whom is seriously miscast In hindsight. Judith's Long Island social world is full of hard-drinking party types like the perpetually drunk Alec who tries to woo her into marriage. He's not the only one as Irish stable hand Michael is equally smitten with Judith, but there's the social class distinction to consider. The novelty is that a young Ronald Reagan plays Alec and Humphrey Bogart, two years from his breakthrough in "The Maltese Falcon", plays Michael. Reagan does not make much of an impact, but Bogart is sorely miscast as Michael to the point of being distracting as Davis blows him off the screen, in particular, a late-night failed seduction scene when she dismissively half-asks him, "You're making love to me, aren't you?"
However, it is Judith's steady best friend Ann and especially the stalwart brain-cell specialist Dr. Steele who help Judith in her true victory over the dark. Both Geraldine Fitzgerald and constant Davis co-star George Brent do solid work in the roles, but nothing nearly at Davis' caliber. Perhaps this was intentional, but it does make for an odd imbalance to the film. Regardless, the last twenty minutes pull at the requisite heartstrings as Judith faces her fate with a heavenly choir. It's a grand Davis sequence worthy of her legacy. The print in the 2005 DVD release is nicely restored. Film historian James Ursini and CNN film critic Paul Clinton provide a perceptive commentary track, and there is a short featurette that explains how the film's reputation has unfairly suffered over the years. See the film itself for the vibrancy and depth of Davis' performance which hasn't aged a bit.