Tag: Bette Davis

Popcorn and Inspiration: ‘Dark Victory’: Learning to Live With Death

PG | 1 h 44 min | Drama | 1939 “We all have to die. The tragic difference is that you know when, and we don’t. But the important thing is … to live our lives so that we can meet death whenever it comes, beautifully, finely.” If only all doctors could speak as firmly…


Popcorn and Inspiration: ‘Pocketful of Miracles’: An Entertaining Comedy for the Holidays

1961 | Approved | 2h 16m | Comedy, Drama ‘Tis the season to be merry and for getting together with friends and family to watch charming Christmas movies. Of course, the usual titles invariably pop up, such as “It’s a Wonderful Life (1946),” “White Christmas (1954),” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964).” There are also…


Rewind, Review, and Re-Rate: ‘The Man Who Came to Dinner’: Oddball Characters Meet Acerbic Wit

Approved | 1h 52min | Comedy, Romance Usually when I’ve watched romantic comedies, I’ve never gotten into them (at least the American ones). They seem either too schmaltzy or simply not funny. The few that are enjoyable have been older classics, such as 1941’s “The Philadelphia Story” and 1945’s “Christmas in Connecticut.” Not only are…


‘Dangerous’ and ‘Jezebel’: Bette Davis’s Two Oscars in the 1930s

Bette Davis became one of the most respected actresses in Hollywood during the 1930s, largely because she rarely played average heroines. Do the characters she created continue to challenge our expectations today? People who love 1930s cinema are familiar with the Pre-Code Era, which is roughly categorized as 1930–1934. These first few years of talking…