Line #24 Film/DarkVictory


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4	[[quoteright:315:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bettedavisdarkvictory.png]]
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6	''Dark Victory'' is a 1939 TearJerker romantic tragedy directed by Edmund Goulding, starring Creator/BetteDavis and George Brent.
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8	Davis plays Judith Traherne, a wealthy, carefree, hard-partying Long Island socialite who becomes far less carefree when she starts suffering from severe headaches, blurred vision, and dizziness. Pressured by her secretary/assistant Ann (Geraldine Fitzgerald), Judith finally goes to see neurosurgeon Dr. Frederick Steele (Brent). Diagnosing her with a malignant brain tumor, Dr. Steele performs surgery, which relieves the symptoms that sent Judith to him but unfortunately cannot cure her condition, leaving her with less than a year to live. Dr. Steele and Ann decide not to tell Judith about her diagnosis. Meanwhile, Judith and Dr. Steele fall in love.
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10	Adapted from a 1934 play of the same name (which featured Creator/TallulahBankhead as Judith), ''Dark Victory'' was a critical and commercial hit for Davis and Creator/WarnerBros Creator/HumphreyBogart, playing Michael, the Irish manager of Judith's stable of horses, is billed third. Bogart had been a character actor for years with Warner, and would not break out as a star until ''Film/HighSierra'' and ''Film/{{The Maltese Falcon\|1941}}'' in 1941. Even more interestingly, none other than future President UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan is billed fifth, playing Alec, one of Judith's Long Island society pals. This part was an early-career highlight for Reagan, who spent most of his time at Warner Bros. in [[BMovie B-movies]].
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12	----
13	!!This film provides examples of:
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15	* TheAlcoholic: Alec (who, to repeat, is played by UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan) is drinking, drunk, or hung over in every single one of his scenes.
16	* AltarTheSpeed: Judith basically asks Dr. Steele to marry her, [[LastWishMarriage saying she wants a wedding and happiness before she croaks.]]
17	* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Judith looks as radiant as Bette Davis ever did right to the end.
18	* TheDiseaseThatShallNotBeNamed: A very weird example. Dr. Steele calls Judith's problem a "glioma" (a medical term for a malignant brain tumor) and a "growth", and even uses the word "malignant" once. The word "cancer" is never uttered in the movie.
19	* DownerEnding: And one that managed to avoid ExecutiveMeddling, at the insistence by Davis that the ending ''not'' be changed. She had enough clout at the time that her wishes were respected. A dark victory, indeed. [[invoked]]
20	* DrivingADesk: A particularly bad example when Judith and Ann are driving out to the stables.
21	* EverybodySmokes: Judith smokes ''in the hospital'', in her bed as she waits to go under the knife for brain surgery.
22	* ExactWords: "I think I can promise a complete surgical recovery", says Dr. Steele, who doesn't want to tell Judith that the surgery failed to stop her brain cancer.
23	* FaceDeathWithDignity: The filmic TropeCodifier. "Is that you, Martha? [[DyingAlone I don't wish to be disturbed.]]"
24	* IdleRich: Judith, Alec, and their peers in the Long Island smart set, who seem to have a lot of time to drink, party, and ride horses.
25	* ImpairmentShot: Judith's vision blurs, causing her to miss a jump while riding her horse.
26	* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Ann and Dr. Steele decide not to tell Judith that the surgery failed. She is none too happy when she finds out.
27	* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Michael is supposed to be Irish. It's hard to tell, because Bogart delivers what might be the worst Irish accent in the history of the world.
28	* TheRemake: A 1976 MadeForTVMovie version starred Creator/ElizabethMontgomery (of ''Series/{{Bewitched}}'' fame) as an updated version of the protagonist, now named "Katherine Merrill" and employed as a television producer. Creator/AnthonyHopkins played her doctor and love interest, Steele.
29	* TitleDrop: Judith says of her happiness with Dr. Steele that "that's our victory, our victory over the dark."
30	* VictorianNovelDisease: Weirdly both averted and played straight. Judith has at least a somewhat realistic set of symptoms--numbness, headaches, blurred vision, dizziness, mental confusion. But after her surgery she has some kind of Hollywood Brain Cancer that leaves her feeling perfectly healthy, and looking beautiful, until the attack of blindness that means death is just hours (not weeks or days, but hours) away.
31	* YourDaysAreNumbered: Judith has to live through this trope after finding out the truth about her condition. She resolves to grab what happiness she can.
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Context Film / DarkVictory