rhonda37216 Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 Hi everyone, I'm a newbie to TCM. I'm just wondering what Bette Davis movies you enjoy the most? I love her in All About Eve, Now, Voyager and The Petrified Forest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaneboop Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 now voyager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bggalaxy Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 dark victory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moviejoe79 Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 Welcome Rhonda! My favorite is "Now, Voyager," but I also love her in "All About Eve," and "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane." And even though its not one of her best performances, I also love "Pocketful of Miracles." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bansi4 Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 I'll opt for "The Letter", "The Little Foxex" and "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?". Mongo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msladysoul Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 I'm not a big Bette Davis fan but I do love The Catered Affair. I can watch that all day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bggalaxy Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 thanks joe, I totally forgot about Pocket Full of Miracles - that is also one of my favorites of hers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classicsfan1119 Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 Hi Rhonda, and Welcome. I'm still catching Davis films that I've never seen prior to this year, so I can't say quite as easily right now which is my "favorite". I'm starting to look for different things IN each movie more than I used to, and that includes being able to accept the "mood" or "tone" of the film, and how well it was acted by the cast. So, with Bette Davis, I'm starting to separate her work by Genre (comedy, tragedy, drama, horror, etc.), and the one I like best on any given day depends a lot on my own mood and what I'm in the mood to watch for a couple of hours (smile). There are many films of hers that are established Classics still because of how well she acted her roles in them. You have been given a listing of the most "popular" ones already, but I would have to add "The Great Lie" (1941) to those listed because you get a "double treat" in this movie...Mary Astor was also in it, and received the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her performance. So, I really like this film. TCM has it in their Library, so watch for it. ML Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhonda37216 Posted March 20, 2004 Author Share Posted March 20, 2004 Thanks, MovieJoe. It's nice to be here. I ADORE classic movies! Last August, I was glued to TCM channel when they had a different star on for each day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhonda37216 Posted March 20, 2004 Author Share Posted March 20, 2004 Thanks, Classicsfan! I totally understand where you're coming from. I have yet to see a lot of Bette Davis' movies. Perhaps I should have said "what's your fave(s) of the ones you've seen so far?". I've heard "Mr. Skeffington" is great,too. I didn't care for "The Man who Came to Dinner" much though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moviejoe79 Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 "The Man Who Came to Dinner" centered around Monty Wooley who had the main role of Sheridan Whiteside. Although I love the movie, I have to agree that it's not one of Bette Davis' better films. She almost gets lost in it, what with Ann Sheridan, Mary Wickes, Jimmy Durante, Billie Burke, Grant Mitchell and others, all having almost the same amount of screen time as she did - it's really more of an "ensemble" movie, the way that it plays out. "Mr. Skeffington" is great - Bette does a great job in it, and with Claude Rains co-starring you can't go wrong. And Mongo thanks for mentioning "The Little Foxes" - I almost forgot about that one - this is an EXCELLENT movie, and Bette does damn fine in it as always. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stellabluegrl Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 Hello and welcome Rhonda! I love so many of Bette Davis' movies it would be impossible for me to pick just one so I'll list some of my all time faves..... Jezebel ('38) Dark Victory ('39) All This, and Heaven Too ('40) The Old Maid ('39) The Letter ('40) The Little Foxes ('41) Now, Voyager ('42) The Corn is Green ('45) All About Eve ('50) Pocketful of Miracles ('61) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stellabluegrl Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 Oops! I just read ML's post in which she mentioned "The Great Lie". That one should've been on my list too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classicsfan1119 Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 Moviejoe, your post about "The Man Who Came to Dinner" is interesting to me because I just saw a special on the Bravo channel in the past week that concerns it as a Broadway Musical, and that James Lipton (the Host for "Inside the Actor's Studio, also on Bravo) did the lyrics for. When all sorts of horrible things were done to the musical, it failed on Broadway and all of the music was placed in a "trunk" that was actually a stage prop, and it disappeared for over 30-years. Because most of the props were taken into New Jersey and burned, it was thought by Mr. Lipton that all the music and lyrics were burned and would never be heard again. However, someone located the "trunk" recently and returned the music to the composer and mr. Lipton, and they have since brought together some well-known people who have just completed a CD. The play was called "Sherry", so the CD will also go by this title, and it sounds to me like it is excellent....very similar to Sondheim's music and lyrics, from what little I heard. Just thought I'd share this (smile). You were right about "The Man Who Came to Dinner" being an ensemble movie. It's fun to watch, but I don't really think of it being that much of a Bette Davie vehicle, either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhonda37216 Posted March 21, 2004 Author Share Posted March 21, 2004 Thanks, Stellablue. Everyone here is so nice! I haven't had much experience with message boards, except for one other site that is about soap operas. I don't want to unintentionally break any rules here. When I happened across this board, I was so excited! Most of my friends don't appreciate my love of classic movies (I'm 38), so it's great to find a website with people of all ages who adore the best movies ever made, and the actors/actresses, directors, etc. (big smile) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minatonga Posted March 21, 2004 Share Posted March 21, 2004 My absolute favorite Bette movie is The Little Foxes. She was fabulous in her role. I love the ending scene where Teresa Wright stands up to her mother, Bette, and leaves Bette all alone and then the last shot is Bette looking from behind the lace curtains as her daughter leaves the house for good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brackenhe Posted March 21, 2004 Share Posted March 21, 2004 All This & Heaven, Too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moviejoe79 Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 Thanks classicsfan for the info about "The Man Who Came to Dinner." I never knew it was turned into a musical. I can't imagine who they got to play Sheridan Whiteside - I only see Monty Wooley in that role. I don't think there are any actors out there today who could match him - and come to think of it, there aren't any actors who could match Bette Davis either! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joycefrith Posted March 24, 2004 Share Posted March 24, 2004 Favorite Bette Davis movies would have to be Dark Victory, All About Eve, Jezebel, and of course Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. I am brand new to TCM and am so glad to find it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harlowkeatongirl Posted March 24, 2004 Share Posted March 24, 2004 Welcome, Joycefrith! I'm very new myself. Haven't responded to this topic, because I haven't seen enough of her movies to really say. But there was this one I saw about a ghost in the woods that was pretty good. I think it's a '70s movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dottanyia43 Posted March 31, 2004 Share Posted March 31, 2004 welcome joycefith-yes, i too am a bette davis fan ("what a dump!) my favorites are "The Little Foxes", "The Man Who Came to Dinner" and my all time favorites "All About Eve" and "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane". did you know when she did that movie with Joan Crawford, they could not stand one another in real life. in "Baby Jane" Bette actually kicks Joan in the head and she had to get stiches. And Joan was to play the anne baxter role in "Hush Hush, Sweet Charlotte" but got out of it by faking pheumonia and went to the hospital. talk about a true catfight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dottanyia43 Posted March 31, 2004 Share Posted March 31, 2004 i know that is right rhonda. i love classic movies. i look at them more than the movies they have out now. i love the actors, the seting, lighing. it had the ultimate: CLASS. bette davis was one of the legends. have you ever noticed how she walks in her movies. she doesn't walk. she saunters across a room. interesting. also, she had the most lines people remember. "PET-TAH!" "WHAT A DUMP!" "I WOULD LET YOU KISS ME BUT I JUST WASHED MY HAIR!" And the all time favorite from "ALL ABOUT EVE"..."FASTEN YOUR SEATBELTS!...IT'S GONNA BE A BUMPY RIDE!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dottanyia43 Posted March 31, 2004 Share Posted March 31, 2004 bggalaxy-"Dark Victory" oh my God, i cried and cried everytime at the end. she played that part to the hilt. did she get an oscar for that part? i hope she did. ooh, and "Now Voyager" i loved that scene when Paul Henried lit the two cigarettes together at the same time. i thought that was so classic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phillygl24 Posted April 5, 2004 Share Posted April 5, 2004 Hi everyone. I'm new to this site. I'm not very old, but I probably know more about the classics than most people. One of the great things about classic films is that they rely more on character development than action to tell a story. "The Little Foxes" is a good early film. More recent goodies are "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte" with Olivia De Haveland (surprisingly) as a villian, and "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithFromKC Posted April 6, 2004 Share Posted April 6, 2004 ALL ABOUT EVE--I think 'All About Eve' and 'Sunset Boulevard' may be the two most brilliant scripts that were ever produced by Hollywood. But 'All About Eve' is just perfect. Great script, great direction and a superlative cast lead by Bette Davis. Speaking of Bette, I still have the occasional nightmare from seeing her at age five in 'What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?" Frightening....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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