Dark Victory

Play trailer

Dark Victory

1939

1h 46m

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

83%

Tomatometer

24 Reviews

80%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

Socialite Judith Traherne (Bette Davis) lives a lavish but emotionally empty life. Riding horses is one of her few joys, and her stable master (Humphrey Bogart) is secretly in love with her. Told she has a brain tumor by her doctor, Frederick Steele (George Brent), 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.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

Bette Davis does it her way with a tour de force performance in Dark Victory, a moving melodrama that snatches triumph from the jaws of mortality.

Read Critics Reviews

Adam Kempenaar

Filmspotting

04/24/2020

3/5

Judith frequently grasps onto objects, her clothes or a chair... Davis has so much energy and life force flowing through her that she has to direct it somewhere.

Go to Full Review

Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

12/22/2010

5/5

Bette Davis loses her sight, and we gain a classic.

Go to Full Review

Emanuel Levy

Variety

04/30/2007

A-

Guilty pleasure: One of Warner's best acted melodramas and Bette Davis's all-time favorite, in which she lives hard but dies in dignity as an heiress gone blind. Also Davis revenge as Tallulah Bankhead failed to bring the role to life in the 1934 play.

Go to Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Nov 6

3.5/4

One of the finest weepies ever made by Hollywood. Davis is nothing short of magnificent.

Go to Full Review

Zita Short

InSession Film

02/01/2023

At the end of the day, it is rather difficult to make a defense for the film itself. It’s a poor rip-off of a Garbo vehicle and Garbo’s films were nothing to write home about in the first place.

Go to Full Review

Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

12/07/2020

7/10

The themes tend to be more powerful than the individual events, as tinier episodes populate a tale in need of more significant happenings.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Mark B

Feb 6

Without Bette Davis' talents and the great production values, this would be just another boring, predictable melodrama. She's feisty, she gets sick, she dies. Roll credits. #459 in my "Watch every BP Nominee" Bucket List

See more

Leaburn O

11/15/2024

Actually still a very affecting drama about a terminally ill young woman. Bette Davis is excellent. Fairly stark contrast between the upper classes and working classes but main focus remains hinged on the effects of terminal illness on the patient and those closest to them. Watched on BBC iPlayer.

See more

S R

@ScottR 11/10/2024

A better than usual psychological melodrama. It takes on class social issues tangentially as well, juxtaposing rich and poor, and MD and the elitist. It had good writing, acting, and direction. Overall, a well made movie, despite the dated neurological medicine included. RUS.

See more

08/28/2024

Insufferable melodrama - a Chick Flick decades before the phrase was coined. Doubtless another film in which Bogie appears only because he was under contract to the studio and WB didn't have him cast in something more suitable.

See more

Ann G

05/03/2024

Any Bette Davis fan will fall in love with her performance as something of an entitled and funny socialite used to getting her way, and a frightened young woman, a new wife, at the highpoint of her busy life, trying to accept a tragedy she cannot control. No matter how many times I have watched this, it never gets stale.

See more

maggymoo

03/17/2024

Worth watching for the costumes alone. A period piece. Bette Davis knocks it out of the park. Loved it

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Edmund Goulding

Director

Bette Davis

Judith Traherne

George Brent

Dr. Frederick Steele

Humphrey Bogart

Michael O'Leary

Geraldine Fitzgerald

Ann King

Ronald Reagan

Alec Hamm

They Drive by Night

93%

69%

They Drive by Night

Watchlist

All Through the Night

100%

71%

All Through the Night

Watchlist

TRAILER

for All Through the Night

The Fountainhead

79%

74%

The Fountainhead

Watchlist

Now, Voyager

91%

90%

Now, Voyager

Watchlist

Casablanca

99%

95%

Casablanca

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Casablanca

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

Socialite Judith Traherne (Bette Davis) lives a lavish but emotionally empty life. Riding horses is one of her few joys, and her stable master (Humphrey Bogart) is secretly in love with her. Told she has a brain tumor by her doctor, Frederick Steele (George Brent), 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.

Director: Edmund Goulding
Screenwriter: Casey Robinson, George Emerson Brewer Jr., Bertram Bloch
Distributor: Paramount Pictures, MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc., Key Video, Warner Bros.
Production Co: Warner Brothers, First National Pictures
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 22, 1939, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 31, 2007
Runtime: 1h 46m
Sound Mix: Mono

Most Popular at Home Now