I can think of no greater actress than Bette Davis. She easily conveyed every emotional range imaginable on screen; from romance & comedy in “The Man Who Came to Dinner,” to insanity in “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?”
You name it she’s done it and shared it with us, her loyal fans, for decades! It is because of her incomparable talents that I’m also including her as the first on my long list of “The Greats,” a series I’m putting together, where every week a famous person, place, or thing, will be highlighted.
And although she was nominated for 10 times, only winning her first two noms, I feel she should have won so much more. Of the five I’m choosing to mention to you now, only two of them was she nominated for, neither of which were winners for her. I find it’s the movies these actors are less known for that I find to be their best performance. Enjoy!
The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942)
Bette Davis is not known for her romances. She is even lesser known for her comedy. But these acting abilities are not lost on her! She rises to the occasion with the help of Monty Woolley (Sheridan Whiteside) and Richard Travis (Bert Jefferson). Throw in the other acting genius of Ann Sheridan, Jimmy Durante, Billie Burke and Mary Wickes, and you’ve got yourself an amazing cast just waiting to make you laugh and cry and feel great! This movie has the perfect balance of wit, seriousness, and laugh out loud comedy you could ever ask for. If you’ve never seen it, you should, and be glad I’ve introduced you to the lighter and brighter side that is the many faces of Bette Davis.
Watch on the Rhine (1943)
As serious topics go, this one ranks highest, for me, for Bette Davis movies. It takes place during the heightened time of WWII when a lot of “underground” work was done and people were really terrified for their lives. There were a lot of popular movies set around this time period that caused this movie to fall low on the list of WWII movies but this one will forever rank in my top 3. This movie has an amazing monologue delivered by Bette Davis that will always be burned in my mind. Yet another example of how great she is.
Deception (1946)
How Bette Davis was not nominated, nor did she win for this movie I’ll never know?! Then to have two amazing actors like Paul Henreid and Claude Rains who were both in Casablanca also, made this movie one I could not stop watching. She plays a woman who loves one man but is in awe of another who also loves her and won’t let her go. The movie can still appeal to women as well as to men, which is what makes it so good.
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
Easily on of her best and well known movies she’s ever done. She used her age and her eyes to invoke such an image of insanity that one cannot easily forget. She played the role of psychotic sister so well you almost feel sorry for her as well as being scared to death of her. It’s the stereotype of what people assumed happens to the mind of child prodigy’s who grew up and no longer had the fan-base they used to. Her sister, played by Joan Crawford, is just as amazing in the role she plays of a helpless cripple who truly loves her sister even though she knows she’s insane. At the prime of their life and they both are and still able to deliver performances no less than perfection.
All About Eve (1950)
Bette Davis received an Oscar nomination for this movie but lost out to Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday. Do I disagree with this choice having seen Born Yesterday? Not really. Honestly, Bette Davis should have been the Meryl Streep of today. What I mean by that is she should have not only been nominated for every movie she was in, but she should also have won them all as well! That’s not to say the other nominees weren’t just as deserving, especially Gloria Swanson for Sunset Blvd.! But there’s nothing that can be done. The choice was made and yet again, Bette Davis is without a trophy. I guess she can be a good example for why being nominated is just as honorable as winning? Especially after seeing her in this movie! She plays vixen all too well! She plays a famous stage actress who is getting a little long in the tooth and is slowly being replaced by a younger model both on stage and off. At first her lover, friends, and management think she is overreacting about the whole situation until Eve’s (Anne Baxter) true colors are revealed. That’s when it REALLY starts to get good! Be prepared to be left on the edge of your seat, rooting for Bette the entire time, with this movie.
Just One More…
Pocketful of Miracles (1961)
Bette Davis could not have been a better choice to play Apple Annie alongside Glenn Ford as Dave the Dude. In short, this movie is about Apple Annie, whose daughter (Ann-Margret) she was able to send away to a prestigious school, is coming home to introduce her fiancé and his father to her mother! Well, her daughter doesn’t know that her mother barely makes ends meet by selling apples. In comes Dave the Dude, a well-to-do gangster who believes Apple Annie’s apples bring him luck, without them, nothing goes right. In order to increase the territory he owns he must keep the luck of the apples alive by doing this one good deed for Apple Annie: turning her into a lady. All the while Joy Boy (my favorite character played by Peter Falk) is trying to set his boss straight and get him to forget about those dumb apples. It’s a comedy, it’s a romance, and it’s an all-around feel good movie the whole family will love!
What movie helped you to discover Bette Davis? Which Bette Davis movies are your favorite?
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