5pm PST – Dark Victory (1939) – A flighty heiress discovers inner strength when she develops a brain tumor. Cast: Bette Davis, George Brent, Humphrey Bogart, Geraldine Fitzgerald Dir: Edmund Goulding BW-104 mins, TV-PG
Classic Bette Davis melodrama filled with too many story twists to count, a miscast Humphrey Bogart and perfectly cast Ronald Reagan as a playboy drunk all too aware of his own shallowness. Davis puts all she has into her role (one she fought for) as a rich socialite thrown on an emotional rollercoaster after receiving a death sentence due to one of those movie tumors which allows for maximum dramatic impact and the all important ticking clock.
George Brent’s both strong and sympathetic as the doctor who treats Davis, falls in love with her, and ultimately helps the spoiled party girl discover the simple pleasure of life and what real happiness means.
The last ten minutes will have the logical half of your brain rolling your eyes, but there will be tears in them eyes because Davis is all movie star and makes you buy completely into the sweet, bitter, ridiculous, melodramatic, wonderful sadness of it all.
Also, be sure to catch Edward G. Robinson in “Dr. Erlich’s Magic Bullet” at 3pm, an outstanding biopic, one of my personal favorites, that I look forward to writing more about the next time it doesn’t air on the same day as an epic Davis weepie.
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