Dark Victory

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Dark Victory

1939

1h 46m

Drama

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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.

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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.

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Adam Kempenaar

Filmspotting

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.

Rated: 3/5

Apr 24, 2020

Full Review

Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

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

Rated: 5/5

Dec 22, 2010

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Emanuel Levy

Variety

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.

Rated: A-

Apr 30, 2007

Full Review

Zita Short

InSession Film

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.

Feb 1, 2023

Full Review

Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

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

Rated: 7/10

Dec 7, 2020

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James T. Hamada

The Nippu Jiji (Honolulu)

[A] dramatic triumph.

Jun 24, 2020

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Mark B

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

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/06/25

Full Review

Leaburn O

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.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/15/24

Full Review

S R

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.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/10/24

Full Review

Audience Member

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.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

08/28/24

Full Review

Ann G

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.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/08/25

Full Review

maggymoo

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

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/17/24

Full Review

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Edmund Goulding

Director

Bette Davis

Judith Traherne

George Brent

Dr. Frederick Steele

Humphrey Bogart

Michael O'Leary

Geraldine Fitzgerald

Ann King

Ronald Reagan

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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

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