Bette Davis wins a DARK VICTORY The 2009 GPO Federal Credit Union Stanley Movie Series
Date Posted: August 4th, 2009
5 BLOCKBUSTERS
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5 FLIX FOR $15
UTICA, NY (August 4, 2009) -Bette Davis stars in one of her signature roles in Dark Victory, to be shown at the Stanley 7pm Tuesday August 11.
This movie is celebrating its 70th Anniversary this year, and was nominated for three Academy Awards, including Davis for Best Actress and Max Steiner for Best Music.
Judith Traherne (Davis) is at the height of young society when Dr. Frederick Steele (George Brent) diagnoses a brain tumor. After he performs surgery, she finds out that the tumor will return and eventually kill her. After a bout with manic depression, she followed the advice of Michael, her horse trainer (Humphrey Bogart) and married Dr. Steele who vowed to devote his life to finding a cure. The movie follows the sad course of their love and her illness to its inevitable conclusion.
In addition to Davis, Brent and Bogart, the movie also features Geraldine Fitzgerald and Ronald Reagan.
The movie is based on a Broadway play that originally starred Tallulah Bankhead.
Emanuel Levy wrote in Variety that this movie is a 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."
Frank Nugent in the New York Times wrote:
"Bette Davis won an Academy award last year for her performance in Jezebel, a spottily effective film. Now it is more than ever apparent that the award was premature. It should have been deferred until her Dark Victory came along & Miss Davis is superb. More than that, she is enchanted and enchanting. Admittedly, it is a great role - rangy, full-bodied, designed for a virtuosa, almost sure to invite the faint damning of 'tour de force.' But that must not detract from the eloquence, the tenderness, the heartbreaking sincerity with which she has played it. We do not belittle an actress to remark upon her great opportunity; what matters is that she has made the utmost of it."
And this review from Tim Brayton in Antagony and Ecstasy: "The result may be 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."
It is also the number 32 of the America Film Institute's list of 100 Greatest Love Stories.
The movie lasts 104 minutes. Showtime is 7pm Tuesday August 11, 2009 at the Stanley, downtown Utica.
Admission is $5 or with a stub from a FLiX TiX (5 admissions for $15) now on sale at the Stanley Ticket office, 724-4000.
In addition to popcorn and snacks, specialty wines and beers will be on sale at this event.
LOOK FOR A "TEARJERKER SPECIAL" COUPON in the Monday August 10 OD for a FREE pack of tissues with the purchase of a beverage!
The GPO FCU Stanley Summer Movie series is sponsored by GPO Federal Credit Union.
This series continues at 7pm every Tuesday in August. Still to come is the romantic comedy, Pillow Talk August 18;the great movie musical Oliver! August 25; and the series ends with the rocumentary, The Last Waltz on September 1.
As always, the Stanley features great projection and superb sound.
For information, contact the Stanley at 724 - 4000.
