I had seen "stolen hours" well before the original " dark victory " ;then I saw the Bette Davis film twice about twenty years later.And yesterday ,Susan Hayward again .
I thought I would be disappointed bit it was not so .If the first part drags on , (and the ridiculous poster gives a false idea of what this melodrama really is ), the second compares favorably with the black and white movie ;there are similarities : the heroine discovers by chance that she's terminally ill ; as it comes to letting the others know that she knows ,"dark victory " has the edge : Bette Davis eating a la carte in the restaurant and ordering a special dish is a great moment.
The second part is not as lousy as it has been often mooted : the heroine forgets her desirable mansion,her stables ,her parties and discovers the humble 's happiness,represented by a cheerful little boy whose mom is an alcoholic who "hollers" , a woman who wants her soon-to-be-born baby to bear the doctor's name , the beauty of the seaside landscapes, the changing seasons ....and even the simple joy of an egg-and-spoon race .
The ending is not so lousy and echoes Laura Nyro's song that goes like this :" and when I die, there will a new child born to carry on".
It's all the more poignant since you know the actress prematurely died of cancer , with all the leading stars of "the conqueror" (1956) after being exposed to dangerous radioactive toxins on location in Utah.
I thought I would be disappointed bit it was not so .If the first part drags on , (and the ridiculous poster gives a false idea of what this melodrama really is ), the second compares favorably with the black and white movie ;there are similarities : the heroine discovers by chance that she's terminally ill ; as it comes to letting the others know that she knows ,"dark victory " has the edge : Bette Davis eating a la carte in the restaurant and ordering a special dish is a great moment.
The second part is not as lousy as it has been often mooted : the heroine forgets her desirable mansion,her stables ,her parties and discovers the humble 's happiness,represented by a cheerful little boy whose mom is an alcoholic who "hollers" , a woman who wants her soon-to-be-born baby to bear the doctor's name , the beauty of the seaside landscapes, the changing seasons ....and even the simple joy of an egg-and-spoon race .
The ending is not so lousy and echoes Laura Nyro's song that goes like this :" and when I die, there will a new child born to carry on".
It's all the more poignant since you know the actress prematurely died of cancer , with all the leading stars of "the conqueror" (1956) after being exposed to dangerous radioactive toxins on location in Utah.