“Dark Victory” (1939), directed by Edmund Goulding, based on
an unsuccessful stage play by Casey Robinson, features a young Bette Davis in a
curious drama that does fit the “dark place” scenario of a couple of films I
reviewed late last year.
Davis plays socialite Judith Traherne, who takes a spill
from a horse one morning. Already, one
remembers the death of Rhett’s daughter in “Gone with the Wind”, and
Christopher Reeve’s accident. Soon, the “doctor”
Frederick Steele (George Brent) diagnoses her with a brain tumor. He operates on her, and lies, saying she will
recover. Actually, he knows that she
will go blind (anticipate “Magnificent Obsession”) and die shortly thereafter.
Steele does regard himself on the cutting edge of brain biology research (an
interesting idea before WWII). Steele
falls in love with her (something that would be beyond my own capacity in the
circumstances) and proposes. But in the
ensuring sequence, she finds paperwork indicating her “negative prognosis”, and
even asks her secretary what those two words mean. (Sounds like Sarah Palin.) Later, she gets a pep talk from the stable
manager Michael (Humphrey Bogart), who complains that the world has already
become an unsuitable place for a man like him who likes to “ride and fight.” She does marry the good doctor.
The film scene, where she passes away, really does make the
title.
Ronald Reagan plays Alec (as Entertainment Weekly explains). But he doesn't stand out as much as Bogart, who at 39 looks youthful himself. Geraldine FitzGerald also stars.
There is something curious about the setting on Long Island
with mountains in the background. Why
not set it in the horse country of Maryland (like the opening of “Giant”)?
There’s a short “1939: Tough Competition for Dark Victory”,
which maintains that 1939 was Hollywood’s greatest. But this film was a huge hit when it came
out, even if it is somewhat forgotten. That year it competed not only with "Gone" but also "Wizard of Oz" and "Wuthering Heights" (a later version of which I have just put in queue).
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