Dark Victory

I can't find any complaints with Ms. Davis's performance More of a problem with how movies were made in the 1930's I suppose It's absolutely ridiculous that a woman who is dying and blinded by her illness would make two trips up and down stairs (by my count) and outside using her hands and in some scenes her friend guiding her

Although personally not one for melodramas, I found this star-studded tragic love story surprisingly engaging. The story's stage origin's kept the movie small and simple, but the all around top-notch performances managed to bring a lot to the screen and make it worth the watch.

I was far more enchanted by this movie than I probably ought to admit, lest everyone accuse me of being gay. Like with so many of these old Bette Davis movies, I was totally overwhelmed. This is just too beautiful for goddamn words. Aaaaaaarrrrrrrrghhhhhhhhh

I don't think I can watch another classic film about a terminal diagnosis. Did everyone back then agree that lying to the diagnosee was the right thing to do, or was it just Hollywood? But she turned the lying tables at the end all right. Sigh, all that said, I still liked the movie. Performances were good, I was moved at the end, and Ronald Reagan was never sober.

Prototypical weepie, and I mean that in the best way possible. Often melodrama is at it's finest when indulging in one worst case scenerio after the other, bordering on emotional farce, and this movie fully lives up to that and Davis' "larger than life" persona and theory.

Bette Davis' eyes indeed! Dark Victory (1939) is all about her! I agree that a lot of this dwells in that standard 'women's picture' category which Kay Francis & Barbara Stanwyck usually would represent. Pure soap business, and could have been handled more interestingly. But then Davis would up her game and deliver an extraordinary scene! So magnetic that you can't take your eyes off! Everyone else were just extras. Absolutely stunning performance and what a emotional ending!

Well performed and directed, it's a solidly good movie that, while a tad sappy, is honest to its intentions and pulls few punches. It's not the kind of film that will wow me, but I liked it quite a bit all the same.

Spoilers. This one is hard to rate. It's hard to appreciate the sentiment that doctors should even have the option to withhold that kind of info from a patient. Then to conspire with her friend to keep it a secret seems unconscionable. The movie was technically good, and it raised a lot of questions about how to handle a loved one who has a terminal disease. Bette Davis's performance, especially in the first half, was one of the best I've ever seen, so I gave a couple bonus points for that.

Pure melodrama filled with heightened overacting. Humphrey Bogart doesn't get much to do here but Bette Davis did great and outshone everyone.

Dark Victory has a very tough subject to materialize in front of the camera. Luckily Bette Davis delivers a powerhouse performance, so every stage of her disease, her ultimate fate is taken care of in full measure and as realistically as Hollywood allows. Her acting makes you turn a blind eye to the tear-jerker nature of the film. Though some of the scenes and characters (played by Humphrey Bogart) didn't serve a purpose at all, therefore, it feels like they are added afterward.

Bette Davis pulls out all the stops in the sentimental tale of a rich girl going blind. (Bonus: Humphrey Bogart with an Irish accent!?)

So overly maudlin in the final 20 minutes (and boy, did they ever drag out) that all emotional investment I had built up was thrown out the window in service of being as melodramatic a melodrama can be. Lovely performance from Davis, and Bogart has a wonderful moment that shines a light on his leading man capabilities even in a secondary role. But as it stands... Ridiculous.

Melodramatic

A highly commercial tearjerker of its day, this glutinous star vehicle now works only fitfully.

Strong performances from all involved. It's weird to see a movie from the Golden Age of Hollywood that is so depressing and pessimistic (I usually associate Golden Age Hollywood with upbeat productions).

It's about ten minutes too long, but otherwise this is surprisingly good for a movie that is really quite depressing. Hard to say if the curse of being distributed in 1939 helped or hurt it; it can now claim a little prestige by being one of the almost-forgotten "other" films of that year.

Felt like a play. Looked it up, it was a play before this. Plays are plays for a reason. Fuck you, shitty movie.

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

Good film.

Superb Bette Davis tearjerker.

The first half-hour is perfect Bette Davis, the rest is useless.

This is an all out tearjerker, but I loved every minute of it.

good film with an interesting story that could've gone a bit further with it

"time doesn't sleep."