Movie Starlets of the 1940's: Bette Davis

Good day gentle viewers of the cinema for Day 1 of Movie Starlets of the 1940's.  We begin our week with one of the most influential actresses of the time.  Standing tall and proud at 5'3" yet her performances made her a giantess, bringing ranges of the gal next door to uncompromising and dare I say ruthless characters, this woman's talents hailed her praise from stage tropes to the big screen that she has won two Oscars, an Emmy, a Golden Globe and Canne Film Festival.   This is Bette Davis.

That's right, he needs an entire jug of vodka.

Judith Traherne: Nothing can hurt us now. What we have can't be spoiled.  That's our victory -  our victory over the dark. It is a victory because we are not afraid.




From the humble screen-time beginnings of The Bad Sister with her co-star Humphrey Bogart to the startling madness that is What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? , Davis' work spans over five decades bringing sultry to her role and/monsters to life in only the way of the range her capabilities could muster.   Beloved by most movie viewers are the title roles of All About Eve, Dark Victory, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Jezebel and The Letter.    The willingness to play less than sympathetic character is well presented in her performances ranging in such genres as: crime dramas, historical and/or period pieces and even some comedies.  Where she excelled highly though was romantic dramas.

D...O...G...  Yes, Mongo that is how you spell Joan Crawford.

Warner Brothers knew they had a gold mine with this lady and purchased her contract for the next 2 decades.  Co-founder of the famous Hollywood Canteen (a club offering dinner, dancing and a wide range of entertainment for servicemen usually before they went overseas, it was open to allied forces as well as women in the branches of service and well.  The cover charge for these folks was to show up in their Class A's.) and first woman president in The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the organization dedicated to advancing the arts and scientific breakthroughs in motion pictures) but she always felt she was nothing more than a face or figurehead as she deemed the AMPAS did not always hear her proposals.  

Accredited 123 films both cinema and TV, Davis was placed second on the American Film Institute listing her second as the greatest female stars of all time.  Katharine Hepburn still holds the number one spot but she doesn't have Bette Davis Eyes.

Get my agent, I want to direct!