"Nothing can hurt us now"

In one of his oddest roles, Humphrey Bogart played an Irish stableman in Dark Victory (1939). The movie stars Bette Davis as a socialite who loves horses, but has a brain tumor and George Brent, as the doctor who doesn’t tell her about the tumor as he has fallen in love with her.

Bogart played in more movies with Davis than any other actress. Here, Bogie has an interest in Davis, but she continually rejects his advances. The only real love scene in the whole picture comes at the end of the movie with the two in the stables together. It seems like Bogie has finally won and Davis is ready for him, but she tells him that she is dying instead. This crushes Bogie and sets up the gallant death of Davis.

Bogart’s performance is not bad, considering he wasn’t Irish. His accent is a bit odd at first, but for the most part is faithful. He doesn’t try to make a mockery out of the accent. Like he did his whole career, he acted as naturally as possible. When words he felt needed to be stressed by the accent, he did so. At other times he felt it was inappropriate to use a heavy accent, so he dropped it.

The movie is also interesting because it features a young Ronald Reagan in it. Reagan, the small-town Irishman, plays a wealthy New York socialite. Had Warner Brothers been casting with the actor’s background in mind then Reagan and Bogart would have switched parts. Bogie had grown up in an upper-middle class family in New York, while Reagan came from a small Midwestern town and loved horses. Since Bogart had been at the studio for 4 years, he got the more prestigious role over the youngster who had only been in Hollywood for 18 months. As it is, Reagan does not give a very good performance. His screen time is limited, but nothing in that time really stands out except that it is Ronald Reagan drinking heavily and trying to woo Bette Davis.

This movie is similar to Marked Woman in that when Davis and Bogart are not on the screen together, the movie seems to lull. That is not to say that either story is bad, just that the other actors are not up to par with those two. Few were. Geraldine Fitzgerald is good as Davis’ faithful secretary and friend. George Brent gives a good performance as the love interest. There just isn’t that spark that you find between Davis and Bogart. Maybe it is because no other actors in the cast were as headstrong as those two. They were not afraid to speak their mind and although their dialogue does not convey this as it did in Marked Woman, there is still a feeling of dynamic chemistry between them. Maybe this is because Bogie longs desperately for Davis, but she does not return his affection.

Overall, the movie is good and tells an interesting story of a woman who disbelieves she is actually terminally sick. She lives life to what she believes to be the fullest and her friends all go along with it because it makes her happy. It isn’t until the end that she realizes she will in fact die. With this realization she is able to gallantly accept her fate. As she dies the picture makes sure the audience floods the theater with tears. It is a well crafted movie and good story. A must watch for fans of Davis and Bogart as well as those who want to see a young Ronald Reagan.