Dark Victory

Bette Davis' bravura, moving-but-never-morbid performance as Judith Traherne, a dying heiress determined to find happiness in her few remaining months, remains a three-hankie classic. Also starring George Brent, Humphrey Bogart and Ronald Reagan.

In Dark Victory, Davis stars as beautiful, charming young socialite who is diagnosed with a brain tumor, yet romance grows between Judith and the dashing neurosurgeon (Brent) who operates on her. Although he knows she has only months to live, the two wed. And in that short time Judith discovers true love.

Ironically, the success of the film would never have happened if Davis hadn't pestered studio brass to buy the Dark Victory story rights. Jack Warner finally did so skeptically, asking, "Who wants to see a dame go blind?" Almost everyone apparently, as Dark Victory was Davis' biggest box-office hit yet and garnered Academy Award nominations for "Best Picture," "Best Actress" and "Best Original Score" (Max Steiner).