Warner Brothers continues to honor Bette Davis, one of the most successful and accomplished actresses Hollywood has ever known, with a second collection of films that demonstrates her range and versatility. The set features three well-known films, two lesser-known gems making their first appearance on DVD, and a biography made for Turner Classic Movies.
Davis was nominated a total of ten times and won two Oscars, the name of which she claimed to have bestowed on the statuette while serving as the first female President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She was also one of the first women to stand up to the studio system. After she, in essence, went on strike to obtain better roles, Warner Brothers sued her. She lost that battle, but won the war because she got the results she wanted.
The first film she did upon her return was Marked Woman, a story ripped from the headlines and based on the trial of Lucky Luciano and the prostitutes who testified against him. In the film, Davis plays Mary Dwight, a prostitute who testifies against a crime boss. Humphrey Bogart, in one his rare appearances as a good guy in the 1930s, plays the prosecutor.
Attempting to cash in on the excitement over MGM’s Gone With the Wind, Warner Bros found its own Antebellum love story with an adaptation of the play Jezebel. Davis won her second Academy Award for her portrayal of Julie, a young woman from New Orleans who pushes her fiancé, played by Henry Fonda, away with her headstrong ways. The film had a great crew behind the scenes with director William Wyler, with whom Davis had an affair at the time, and screenwriter John Huston, brought in at Wyler’s request. However, the greatest work on the film is by cinematographer Ernest Haller. His use of camera and lighting are marvelous to behold. Film historian Jeannine Basinger provides a great commentary track that reveals background on the film’s creation and also breaks down the film’s elements. Our Gang fans should keep an eye out for Stymie Beard.
The Man Who Came To Dinner (1942) is a well-written comedic gem, which is no surprise since George S Kaufman and Moss Hart wrote the stage play and Julius J. and Phillip G. Epstein wrote the screenplay. Reprising his role from Broadway, Monty Woolley plays Sheridan Whiteside, loosely based on Alexander Woollcott, critic for The New Yorker and member of the Algonquin Round Table, who, while laid up in a house due to an injury, disrupts the lives of everyone in it. In one of her few comedic roles Bette Davis plays a supporting role as Woolley’s secretary.
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