All about Eve 1950 - "Fasten your seat belts. It's going to be a bumpy night!"

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IMDB rating: 8,4

Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Main Cast: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Celeste Holm, Gary Merrill, Hugh Marlowe, Gregory Ratoff, Barbara Bates, Marilyn Monroe, Thelma Ritter

"Based on the story The Wisdom of Eve by Mary Orr, All About Eve is an elegantly bitchy backstage story revolving around aspiring actress Eve Harrington. A skewering satire of the theatre world, All About Eve entertains while it eviscerates. This is a film that really does have it all: Joseph L. Mankiewicz's sure-handed direction and gloriously poisonous screenplay, celluloid diva Bette Davis at her disdainful best, uniformly excellent performances from the supporting cast, and costumes that further demonstrate that designer Edith Head did indeed give good wardrobe. The fact that All About Eve swept the 1950 Academy Awards (receiving six, including Best Picture) speaks to all of these qualities, but a great deal of the film's historical and cinematic importance lies in its content. For years, Broadway had taken aim at Hollywood, and now the tables were turned with considerable venom. Mankiewicz's script summoned into existence a whole array of painfully recognizable theatre types, from the aging, egomaniacal grand dame to the outwardly docile, inwardly scheming ingenue to the powerful critic who reeks of malignant charm." - www.allmovie.com

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Now, voyager 1942 - The greatest love story of the 40's

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IMDB rating: 8,1

Director: Irving Rapper
Main Cast: Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Gladys Cooper, Bonita Granville, John Loder

"Olive Higgins Prouty's popular novel was transformed into nearly two hours of high-grade soap opera by several masters of the trade: Warner Bros., Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, director Irving Rapper, and screenwriter Casey Robinson. Now, Voyager's potentially soapy story became a superior melodrama about one woman's self-actualization from put-upon spinster to stylish philanthropist. With Warner Bros. designer Orry-Kelly's costumes and Max Steiner's Oscar-winning score playing key supporting roles, Charlotte's transformation from a dowdy, neurotic wallflower into a beautiful, elegant woman is matched by her discovery of inner strength through love. With Davis' masterful performance showcasing her signature forcefulness as well as her capacity for romantic gentleness, Now, Voyager became a considerable hit. Henreid's neatly suggestive means for lighting cigarettes became one of the high points of Hollywood romance, and Now, Voyager's final moment of resignation and self-sacrifice has entered the pantheon of great closing lines." - www.allmovie.com

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The letter 1940 - Bette Davis in one of her nastiest roles

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IMDB rating: 7,8

Director: William Wyler
Main Cast: Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, James Stephenson, Gale Sondergaard, Cecil Kellaway

"The Letter combines William Wyler's smooth direction and a fine performance from Bette Davis into one of the screen's best melodramas. The film is distinguished by its lush production values, including Tony Gaudio's cinematography and costume gowns by Orry-Kelly, but mostly it is Davis who carries the film. She is ably assisted by her co-stars, particularly Herbert Marshall as her husband and James Stephenson as her lawyer. W. Somerset Maugham's source novel provides a strong framework, which had been filmed before in 1929, with Marshall as the murdered lover. Although the Wyler version scored an impressive seven Oscar nominations, it went home empty-handed." - www.allmovie.com

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Bureau of missing persons 1933 - Fast paced, excellent B-movie from Warners

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IMDB rating: 7,2

Director: Roy Del Ruth
Main Cast: Bette Davis, Lewis Stone, Pat O'Brien, Glenda Farrell, Allen Jenkins, Ruth Donnelly, Hugh Herbert

"Although claiming to be based on actual cases, this mild crime drama appears to have been derived more from a screenwriter's manual than a police blotter. Newly transferred from robbery to missing persons, glib Butch Saunders (Pat O'Brien) is like the proverbial bull in a china shop at first, but quickly gets the hang of things. In walks pretty Norma Roberts (Bette Davis), claiming to be missing her new husband, whom she accuses of shipping out. Despite being married to nagging Belle (Glenda Farrell), Butch falls in love with the dame, until, that is, he learns the truth. Norma's last name isn't Roberts at all, but Williams, and she is wanted in Chicago for the murder of her boss, Therme Roberts. Begging Butch to cover for her - 'just for a little while. I'll explain everything later' - Norma does a disappearing act herself and makes it look like suicide. But Butch refuses to buy the act and with the help of his boss, Captain Webb (Lewis Stone), the fast-talking cop arranges for a corpse to be lying in state at a local funeral parlor under the name of Norma Williams, hoping to flush out the real Norma. Norma walks right into the trap with another cockamamie story at the ready. But this time, it may just be the truth and Butch becomes determined to clear the lady of murder.
'Bureau of Missing Persons' is a solid B-movie programmer of the type that Warner Brothers did so well, featuring excellent lead performances by Bette Davis (not yet at her full stardom) and MGM stalwart Lewis Stone (on loan-out to Warners) as Captain Webb, the head of the Missing Persons department of New York City's police force. Pat O'Brien, in his cynical tough-guy mode, plays a hardboiled cop who's been excessively violent in his previous assignments, and who is re-assigned to Webb's division. There's a fine scene early on, in which Stone informs O'Brien that the Bureau of Missing Persons is different from the other police divisions ... because they specialise in finding people rather than making arrests.
Bette Davis later claimed to have disliked making Bureau of Missing Persons, but she is fine in it and even gets to change her hair color from bleach blond to brunette within a reel or two. The Warner Bros. stock company is working at a fever pitch this time around and the lines come fast and furious. One of the highlights is Allen Jenkins' remark to sour-faced funeral director Charles Sellon: 'How's business these days? Has the depression bothered you much?'" - www.allmovie.com

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The bad sister 1931 - Bette Davis' film debut as the good sister

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021636/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB rating: 7,2

Director: Hobart Henley
Main Cast: Conrad Nagel, Sidney Fox, Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, Charles Winninger, Zasu Pitts

"'Any intelligent woman could make any man fall in love with her' - No, it has nothing to do with The Bad Sister, but it was Sidney Fox's creed that she practiced. Who would have thought that in just 3 years, the quiet, dependable 'good sister' would be making Hollywood sit up and take notice while the star, the 'bad sister' who got most of the good reviews and publicity would be almost at the end of her career.
Sidney Fox had both father and son (the Laemmles) twisted around her little finger. Junior was the first to fall in love with her - he saw her in the play 'Lost Ship' in 1930 and signed her to a contract. She came to Universal with great fanfare, nothing but the best for little Sidney and The Bad Sister was a flashy debut.
Marianne (beautiful Miss Fox) is the spoiled darling of the Madison household - sleeping late, insulting the maid, Millie (Zasu Pitts) is all in a day's work for her. Being a 'little town flirt' keeps her busy as well - Wade (Bert Roach) is madly in love with her, as is Dick Lindley (Conrad Nagel) - or so he thinks! She also manages to almost lead her family to the poor house because of her extravagant ways and a father who cannot refuse her. While out with Dick, she meets Val Corliss (Humphrey Bogart) or rather 'very neatly' picks him up. She begins a flirtation with Val - but Val is different to the other boys as he is a sophisticated con man. His story goes - he is planning to build a factory on the outskirts of town and wants to bring some local businessmen into key positions. He tries to hook Marianne's father (Charles Winniger), even though he has no money, all Val wants is his name and the influence he has over the town. Strangely, he is the one man in town who is unconvinced of Val's honesty - plus he hasn't made a thorough background check of the company yet. Marianne tries to use her wiles to get her father to sign the contract but when he refuses there is a huge scene. Miss Fox pulls out all the emotional stops as she belittles him, shaming him for his honor and respectability and in the end calling him a failure - until he has a heart attack. Poor, mousey 'good sister' Laura (Bette Davis) has a secret - she is secretly in love with Dick and has written all about it in her diary. Heddie finds the diary and gives it to Dick who is then caught with it by Laura. The movie which until now has been full of small town whimsy turns dramatic as Marianne uses her father's convalescence to take a forged letter to the townsmen stating that Val's scheme is all above board. With that she elopes with Val - only to return home sadder but wiser (Val has run out on her) and also to find that Dick has realised that quiet, dependable Laura can give him true happiness and Wade is her only, still ardent beau.
Apparently Bette Davis lamented for years that she had desperately wanted to play the bad sister but at that stage (it was her first film) she didn't have the vivacity or flirtatiousness of Sidney Fox, who was ideal in the role."

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Juarez 1939 - Entertaining historical epic with some flaws

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031516/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB rating: 7,3

Director: William Dieterle
Main Cast: Paul Muni, Bette Davis, Brian Aherne, Claude Rains, John Garfield, Donald Crisp, Gale Sondergaard, Gilbert Roland

"Juarez manages to be a very entertaining and effective historical epic, despite some enormous flaws. Part of its success lies in the fact that - unlike so many Hollywood attempts to film history - a great deal of what ends up on the screen is accurate. It helps also, of course, that the historical situation being explored is one that is in and of itself exciting and intriguing. The screenplay doesn't always succeed in capturing this excitement and intrigue totally, due in no small part to the fact that too many people had a hand in writing and shaping it, but individual sequences are excellent and director William Dieterle does a fine job of pulling together its disparate parts and camouflaging the gaps and faults. He is helped greatly by Brian Aherne's excellent performance, which makes Maximilian into a sympathetic and complicated character, as well as by Bette Davis, who sinks her teeth into her juicy mad scene and plays it for all she is worth. Gale Sondergaard and Claude Rains are also effective, both smoothly villainous, but John Garfield is quite miscast. More damaging, however, is Paul Muni whose decision to underplay his role in order to contrast with Davis' histrionics renders Juarez distant, remote, uninvolving, and quite dull. This leaden anchor at its center weakens Juarez, but the film fortunately has enough assets to mitigate the damage." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/juarez-v26648/

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Dark victory 1939 - An ultimate tear-jerker with Bette's victory

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031210/?ref_=nv_sr_1
IMDB rating: 7,6

Director: Edmund Goulding
Main Cast: Bette Davis, George Brent, Humphrey Bogart, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Ronald Reagan

"Adapted by Casey Robinson from a short-lived Broadway play starring Tallulah Bankhead, Dark Victory (1939) is one of Bette Davis's most affecting melodramas. Davis's superb performance taps a range of emotions, as her Judith Traherne transforms from a flippant playgirl into a spiritually redeemed terminal cancer patient, complete with a multiple hankie death scene rendered all the more poignant and moving by Davis's dramatic restraint. Fresh from her Oscar for Jezebel (1938), Davis is surrounded by a sleek production worthy of wealthy Judith, including beautiful gowns and furs by Warner designer Orry-Kelly and sparkling Ernest Haller cinematography (not to mention Humphrey Bogart and Ronald Reagan as spurned admirers). Receiving rave reviews, particularly for Davis, Dark Victory became one of four 1939 Bette Davis hits, and earned Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Actress. Davis, however, lost to Vivien Leigh for Gone With the Wind." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/dark-victory-v12394/

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The old maid 1939 - Davis & Hopkins: two powerhouse performances

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031750/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB rating: 7,8

Director: Edmund Goulding
Main Cast: Bette Davis, Miriam Hopkins, George Brent, Donald Crisp, Jane Bryan

"One of four superior Bette Davis vehicles from 1939, The Old Maid features Davis at her embittered best as a Civil War-era spinster and mother squaring off with her selfish cousin over the child's love. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning Zoe Akins play from Edith Wharton's novel, Davis and co-star Miriam Hopkins's fractious off-screen relationship lent an extra dash of realism to the onscreen rivalry between Davis's wallflower Charlotte and Hopkins's flighty, conniving Delia over Charlotte's daughter by Delia's spurned suitor Clem. A victim of societal limits as well as Delia's jealousy, Charlotte's transformation into a harsh old maid to preserve illegitimate daughter Tina's reputation amply displays Davis's actorly range, from the palpable rage in her confrontations with the simperingly malicious Hopkins, to the restrained grief over her daughter's cruelty. Edmund Goulding's elegant direction keeps the Davis-Hopkins cat fight in control without losing any of the melodramatic punch, heightening the emotional payoff of the final rapprochement between mother, daughter and rival mother. Praised for its polished production and Davis's poignant, complex performance, The Old Maid became a popular hit and might have garnered Davis an Oscar nomination-but that honor came for Dark Victory (1939) instead." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-old-maid-v36139/

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It's love I'm after 1937 - A delightful little gem

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029058/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB rating: 7,9

Director: Archie Mayo
Main Cast: Leslie Howard, Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Patric Knowles, Spring Byington, Bonita Granville

"Unjustly neglected, It's Love I'm After is a delightful romp that provides an excellent showcase for the often equally neglected comedic talents of its trio of stars. While Love falls just shy of true classic status - the screenplay is slightly off the mark in a few places and its dialogue occasionally lacks the effervescent sparkle that is a requirement of the genre - it's still a little gem of a picture with an abundance of laughs. Fleetly directed by Archie Mayo, Love's greatest assets are its players. Bette Davis, looking quite stunning, is the epitome of imperious haughtiness, tossing off insults and slights with wicked delight and a deliciously true aim. Leslie Howard is every bit her match, chewing up every inch of scenery that comes his way and creating a gloriously amusing portrait of the quintessential hammy actor. And Olivia de Havilland is a darling embodiment of a ridiculously moonstruck maiden. If Bonita Granville is slightly grating, she's more than compensated for by Eric Blore, and the rest of the supporting cast is solid throughout. Love is a great pick-me-up and well worth searching out." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/its-love-im-after-v96952/

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Of human bondage 1934 - A tragic tale of love and rejection

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025586/?ref_=nv_sr_1
IMDB ratings: 7,3

Director: John Cromwell
Main Cast: Bette Davis, Leslie Howard, Frances Dee, Reginald Denny

"Based upon the W. Somerset Maugham's novel of the same name, this is one of the most acclaimed dramas of its period, the RKO-produced film put Bette Davis on the map and also added to Leslie Howard's formidable reputation. When Warner Bros. made its version of the story in 1946, however, the studio is reputed to have ordered the destruction of the original master elements of the RKO version; ironically, neither that remake, nor a later 1964 version came up to the standard achieved by the director or cast in the original, dramatically or cinematically.
As to this version, it flows better dramatically than just about any dramatic film of its era, the director moving us effortlessly into the tormented psyche of Leslie Howard's Philip Carey, a sensitive and highly cerebral medical student who is all-but-destroyed by his obsession with the slutty waitress Mildred (Bette Davis) - the camera conducts us through what amount to internal visual dialogues within Carey, without ever breaking the forward momentum of the plot or the rhythm and intensity of the performances; it does drag a bit in the middle, but overall Cromwell's use of close-ups, dissolves, montage, and sound edits was about as good as movies got in 1934, and it all holds up remarkably well 60 years later - certainly better than either of the later versions. By contrast, Davis' performance now seems mostly rooted in her mannerisms and Cockney accent, though she does undergo a hideous physical transformation in the course of the story, and when viewed in the context of the movie and the era, definitely represented a minor milestone in her career.
The industry buzz in 1934 indicated that Bette Davis was a shoe-in for an Academy Award for her savage portrayal of Mildred, but her home studio Warner Bros. failed to mount an adequate publicity campaign on Davis' behalf, allegedly because she'd made the film on loan-out to RKO and Warners wasn't about to heap praise upon a rival. It is now generally conceded that Davis' Oscar win for 1935's Dangerous was consolation for her losing the statuette in 1934." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/of-human-bondage-v35970

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