Review of Dark Victory (1939) by Kat K — 13 Dec 2009

Dark Victory - the story of a rich socialite Judith Traherne (Bette Davis) who is diagnosed with a brain tumor - and after having undergone surgery done by her doctor Frederick Steele (George Brent), with whom she falls falls in love - she discovers that it was of little use, and all that she knows will come to an end.

As much as I'd like to praise this movie - which features an mega cast from the golden age - it comes across as a pretty ham-handed attempt at invoking emotion by constantly driving home the fact that the character is at death's door, often times when the reminder isn't needed and doesn't add anything. Not just that, but the remaining sub-plots are all over the place - filler doing nothing really but adding arm candy so that we all feel that greater sadness surrounding the character's position.

Overall, I would say it depends on the viewer, but I would pass on this film unless catching on TCM at a convenient air time. The theme has been done better, and the acting was off and on (I've seen far better from them). That's not to say it's completely devoid, but when the socialite asks what "negative" means, you know there's issues.

RT rating 6/10 - I'll leave it up to the community.