Do you want to see ‘Dark Victory’?

Dark Victory (1939)

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Top Critics

Average Rating: 7.3/10
Reviews Counted: 20
Fresh: 17 | Rotten: 3

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Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 1
Fresh: 1 | Rotten: 0

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Average Rating: 3.9/5
User Ratings: 4,836

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Movie Info

Bette Davis earned an Oscar nomination for her role in this classic four-hanky tearjerker. Judith Traherne (Bette Davis) is a very wealthy Long Island heiress whose life is a constant whirl of cocktails, parties, and wild living. Despite her hedonistic lifestyle, Judith derives little pleasure from life except for her horses, cared for by stable master Michael O'Leary (Humphrey Bogart). When Judith begins suffering from headaches and dizzy spells, Dr. Frederick Steele (George Brent) gives her

Unrated, 1 hr. 46 min.

Drama, Classics

Directed By: Edmund Goulding , Robert Butler

Written By: Bertram Bloch, George Emerson Brewer Jr., Casey Robinson

In Theaters: Apr 22, 1939 Wide

On DVD: Sep 23, 1997

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment

Dark Victory Trailer & Photos

Cast

Bette Davis
Judith Traherne
George Brent
Dr. Frederick Steele
Humphrey Bogart
Michael O'Leary
Geraldine Fitzgerald
Ann King
Ronald Reagan
Alec Hamin
Henry Travers
Dr. Parsons
Cora Witherspoon
Carrie Spottswood
Dorothy Peterson
Miss Wainwright
Virginia Brissac
Martha
Charles Richman
Colonel Mantle
Herbert Rawlinson
Dr. Carter
Leonard Mudie
Dr. Driscoll
Fay Helm
Miss Dodd
Lotta Williams
Lucy
Wilda Bennett
Diane Bernard
Agatha
Richard Bond
Sidney Bracey
Bartender
Nat Carr
Mary Currier
Frank Darien
Anxious Little Man
Edgar Edwards
Trainer
John Harron
First man
Leyland Hodgson
Stuart Holmes
Doctor
Alexander Leftwich
Specialist
Frank Mayo
Judith's Friend
Will Morgan
Jack Mower
Veterinarian
David Newell
Wedgewood Nowell
John Ridgely
Second Man
Jeffrey Sayre
Rosella Towne
Girl in Box
William Worthington
First Specialist
Maris Wrixon
Ila Rhodes
Secretary
Marian Alden
Paulette Evans
Jack Goodrich
Doctor
Eddie Graham
Elizabeth Montgomery
Anthony Hopkins
Michele Lee
Janet MacLachlan
Michael Lerner
Harry Travers

Critic Reviews for Dark Victory

All Critics (23) | Top Critics (2) | Fresh (18) | Rotten (3) | DVD (8)

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.

April 30, 2007 Full Review Source: Variety

| Comment

Emanuel Levy

Variety

Top Critic

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

December 22, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media

| Comment

Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

Bette Davis's frisky sprint sets the pace

September 6, 2009 Full Review Source: CinePassion

| Comment

Fernando F. Croce

CinePassion

Naught but a torrid melodrama, but oh! what a humdinger of a melodrama it is! It's films like this that give trash a good name.

April 27, 2009 Full Review Source: Antagony & Ecstasy

| Comment

Tim Brayton

Antagony & Ecstasy

A classic women's pic that strings together a collection of syrupy clich�s that can make a real man double up in pain.

April 9, 2008 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews

| Comment

Dennis Schwartz

Ozus' World Movie Reviews

It's horribly dated, playing today like some weird, contrived burlesque of common sense.

February 21, 2006 Full Review Source: Film Freak Central

| Comment

Walter Chaw

Film Freak Central

One of Bette Davis' best acted, most enjoyable melodrama, in which she gloriously plays a dying blind woman.

July 7, 2005 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

| Comment

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

Dark Victory DVD: Prognosis Positive.

June 28, 2005 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine

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Keith Uhlich

Slant Magazine

Even by the standards of a typical Bette Davis melodrama Dark Victory is an embarrassment of riches.

June 28, 2005 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine

| Comment

Keith Uhlich

Slant Magazine

What happens when a three-hankie picture just isn't that sad? You get Dark Victory.

June 1, 2005 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com

| Comment

Chris Barsanti

Filmcritic.com

Of interest to both Goulding and Davis fans...Dark Victory catches both of them operating at their best while also learning new tricks from each other.

August 12, 2004 Full Review Source: Nick's Flick Picks

| Comment

Nick Davis

Nick's Flick Picks

A classic women's weeper with Bette Davis at her peak.

November 14, 2002 Comment

Bob Bloom

Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)

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Audience Reviews for Dark Victory

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This is a good movie, with good actors, and a good story. It's a dramatic and exciting thriller. I saw it a while ago, but I remember it was good.

September 5, 2010

AJ Verser

Super Reviewer

"I think I'll have a large order of PROGNOSIS NEGATIVE."Bette Davis has a brain tumor and about 10 months to live. A classic that's replete with melodrama and old fashioned sentimentality.

January 20, 2009