Now, Voyager 11/23/19
This must be an official Bette Davis month… Criterion has two vintage Davis pictures on offer, and TCM is devoted to a roundup of the actresses work as well. This one qualifies as the all-time champeen Women’s Weepie, but one that holds up as a great picture on all levels. Director Irving Rapper guided this best-ever drama, in which a put-upon Ugly Duckling throws off oppressive familial chains and blossoms into a woman of the world. She then makes choices of personal nobility and selflessness, that will challenge anybody’s notions of saint-like deportment. It’s the kind of show normally gets discussed over coffee, not by film critics, so the extras on this one are especially interesting. Co-starring Paul Henried and his double cigarette trick, with Claude Rains, Gladys Cooper and Bonita Granville. On Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
11/23/19