In her first Oscar winning performance, Bette Davis plays Joyce Heath (no relation to Joice Heth, the rumored oldest woman in the world according to P.T. Barnum), an actress who faded out of the spotlight because of an alleged jinx on her and anybody associated with her. Spotted walking down the street, she denies that she's the missing actress, but when handsome Franchot Tone meets her, he sets out to find out who she really is. Broke, homeless and alcoholic, Davis is taken in by Tone who is already engaged to the lovely Margaret Lindsay, but his fascination with Heath becomes an obsession. Tone's sweet housekeeper (Alison Skipworth) surprisingly asks no questions, simply accepting Davis's presence without any judgments. However, when Tone realizes that he has to break it off with Davis, he gets a tongue-lashing from her that brings out a side of her personality that he was unaware that existed. This neurotic explosion brings out more to her than he could ever realize, made more difficult by the fact that he's helping her stage a come-back.
If this film is remotely memorable for any reason, it's the fact that it actually appears to be better than it really is. That's because Davis, in the first real meaty role that Warner Brothers had given her during her long stay there, turns beef stew into prime rib. She had gotten great critical acclaim for her role as the cockney waitress Mildred the year before on loan to RKO for "Of Human Bondage" and there was a great deal of controversy over her not even being nominated for an Oscar. In fact, only three actresses were even nominated that year, so there was a write-in slot on the ballot to diminish the over-site. Even though Claudette Colbert ended up winning, this was still a victory of sorts for Davis, because Warner Brothers really began to take her seriously.
"Dangerous" isn't a great film by any means, but her detail of putting the characterization together makes it seem so much better. Her explosion at Tone ("You delight me!") is basically a re-tread (without cockney accent) of what she had done in telling off Leslie Howard the year before. Ironically, Tone was involved with Joan Crawford at the time, and apparently Davis had a crush on him, so this is where the rumors of a Crawford/Davis rivalry began even though they really had no encounters all that much until years later at the Hollywood Canteen. Skipworth is quite good, while Lindsay has one key scene where she explains as to why she can't marry Tone while the thoughts of Davis are so key in his head. This is one of the first films where I saw how much Davis resembled a young Meryl Streep (or vice versa), an ironic thought considering their controlling of women's parts as they got older and both their status in the history of Hollywood today. Without Davis's participation, it is obvious that "Dangerous" would be an afterthought today, but with her, it rises above what it would be with a different leading lady. Certainly with this, a legendary star was born and on her way to film immortality.
If this film is remotely memorable for any reason, it's the fact that it actually appears to be better than it really is. That's because Davis, in the first real meaty role that Warner Brothers had given her during her long stay there, turns beef stew into prime rib. She had gotten great critical acclaim for her role as the cockney waitress Mildred the year before on loan to RKO for "Of Human Bondage" and there was a great deal of controversy over her not even being nominated for an Oscar. In fact, only three actresses were even nominated that year, so there was a write-in slot on the ballot to diminish the over-site. Even though Claudette Colbert ended up winning, this was still a victory of sorts for Davis, because Warner Brothers really began to take her seriously.
"Dangerous" isn't a great film by any means, but her detail of putting the characterization together makes it seem so much better. Her explosion at Tone ("You delight me!") is basically a re-tread (without cockney accent) of what she had done in telling off Leslie Howard the year before. Ironically, Tone was involved with Joan Crawford at the time, and apparently Davis had a crush on him, so this is where the rumors of a Crawford/Davis rivalry began even though they really had no encounters all that much until years later at the Hollywood Canteen. Skipworth is quite good, while Lindsay has one key scene where she explains as to why she can't marry Tone while the thoughts of Davis are so key in his head. This is one of the first films where I saw how much Davis resembled a young Meryl Streep (or vice versa), an ironic thought considering their controlling of women's parts as they got older and both their status in the history of Hollywood today. Without Davis's participation, it is obvious that "Dangerous" would be an afterthought today, but with her, it rises above what it would be with a different leading lady. Certainly with this, a legendary star was born and on her way to film immortality.