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Bette Davis 100th Birthday Box Set (Exclusive To Amazon.co.uk)


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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

To quote Claude Reins in Deception, Bette Davis is "all eyes and talent," and both burn bright in six vintage films she made for Warner Bros. between 1939-46. Lesser known than her certified classics, these are not exactly best Bettes, but they are marvelously entertaining and a representative showcase for one of Hollywood’s most enduring leading ladies. These eminently repeatable films put Davis (and viewers) through the ringer. Few actresses portrayed characters who suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune so grandly, so regally, so tragically, or so deservedly.

As an ad for one of Davis’ movies once famously proclaimed, when she was good, she was very good. When she was bad, she was terrific. Just check out John Huston’s In This Our Life (1942), this sets unearthed treasure. Bette, flouncing like mad, jilts her fiancée, steals good sister Olivia de Havilland’s husband, and promptly drives him to drink and suicide. And she’s just getting warmed up! (You don’t need Jeannine Basinger’s informed commentary to debunk the tantalizing movie legend about a supposed cameo by members of the Matlese Falcon cast. Those gents at the bar look nothing like Bogie and company. But that is Walter, John’s father, tending bar). Davis was also very good at being noble. In the prestige project, Watch on the Rhine (1943), based on Lillian Hellman’s play and adapted for the screen by Dashiell Hammett, she is the steadfast wife to Paul Lukas, in his Oscar-winning role, as a "legendary figure of the underground movement," who carries on his fight against fascism in Washington, D.C. In The Old Maid (1939), based on the novel by Edith Wharton, Bette allows her cousin (Miriam Hopkins) to give her illegitimate child a respectable name, and, posing as the girl’s unsuspecting aunt, must stand by while she grows up spoiled and "horrid." And in All This and Heaven Too (1940), she is a transplanted French schoolteacher who regales her initially scornful students with the true story behind her scandalous past. Deception is another ripping melodrama in which she stars as a pianist whose reunion with her lost love (Paul Henreid), a cellist is threatened by Rains as her arrogant and sadistic Svengali (who’s responsible for those minks in her closet). Last but not least is The Great Lie, (1941), pitting Bette against Mary Astor, who won an Academy Award as the bitchy concert pianist whose son Bette is raising (long story, but it involves missing aviator George Brent, whom they both love). These films offer such they-don't-make-'em-like-this-anymore pleasures as lush, melodramatic scores by such masters as Max Steiner, hothouse emotions, quotable dialogue, and, of course, indelible character actors at their peak. These films are seen to their best advantage when viewed as part of each disc’s bonus features that recreate an old fashioned "Night at the Movies".--Donald Liebenson


Great To See A Volume 3
Review date: 2008-07-26 Rating: 10 out of 10

This set contains six movies, where the previous volumes had only five or four. Even so far into Bette Davis' work, there are still rich pickings and real gems to be found:-

Old Maid (1939) - Bette's first pairing with real life enemy Miriam Hopkins. Their mutual dislike brought fire and energy to their performances. Some of those scenes really spark.

All This And Heaven Too (1940) - This is Bette being good. A period tale of unrequited love. I wish she had done more films with Charles Boyer.

In This Our Life (1942) - This is Bette being bad. She wreaks havoc in the lives of those around her. Lifetime friend Olivia de Havilland plays her good sister.

The Great Lie (1941) - Mary Astor graciously gave much credit to Bette when she won her supporting role Oscar. They all drink so many juleps, I don't know how any of them could stand up!

Deception (1946) - Bette's juggernaut was running out of steam by 1946. This is highly watchable, but not as good as most of her early 40s movies.

Watch On The Rhine (1943) - Not really a Bette Davis vehicle, more of a wartime propoganda jobbie that studies American attitudes during the early years of the war in Europe. Bette takes a good part, but does not seem to get much screen time.

All in all a very good set of movies from a Hollywood legend. Nobody else could be this good by Volume 3.

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Reviews


The great dame of melodrama
Review date: 2008-06-16 Rating: 10 out of 10

This box set is a real find! It includes some of Bette's less known yet greatest works. All About Eve and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane are classics, but this set totally lives up to the greatness of Davis the screen legend.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Charles Boyer
Paul Henreid
Olivia de Havilland
George Brent
Bette Davis

Creators:
Bette Davis (Primary Contributor)
Olivia de Havilland (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
EAN: 7321902219981
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 6
Format: Box set, Black & White, PAL,
Release date: 2008-06-16
Audience rating: Parental Guidance
Region code: 2
Language: English (Original Language)

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