Product Description

A seven-disc set of Marked Woman, Jezebel, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Old Acquaintance, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Two-Disc Special Edition, and the 2005 documentary Stardust: The Bette Davis Story. With expert commentaries, new and vintage documentary profiles, new and vintage featurettes, and more.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20411 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-05-30
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 7
• Running time: 643 minutes

Amazon.com
Bette Davis's long career as a Warner Bros. contract star is crowded with decent movies, so it's no surprise that Vol. 2 of The Bette Davis Collection is about as strong as the first such DVD bundle. Even so, it strays from the classic years by including the latter-career What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, also made at Warner, and an entire disc given to a new feature-length documentary. The earliest title here is 1937's Marked Woman, a tart vehicle from the busy period following her first Oscar. Bette plays a clip-joint girl recruited by D.A. Humphrey Bogart to rat on a Lucky Luciano-style mob boss. Here Davis spits and sparks like a young dragon, so electrically "on" that other actors sometimes look a little afraid of her.

Jezebel is one of the best-remembered of Davis's performances, and the second of her Oscar wins. Something of an audition for the Gone with the Wind lead (of course she didn't get that part), Davis plays a scheming New Orleans belle whose headstrong behavior brings grief to fiancé Henry Fonda--and eventually to herself. This was the first time William Wyler directed Davis, and the intensity of their collaboration (and affair) is visible. The Man Who Came to Dinner, while a fun movie, is not a Davis vehicle; she takes a distinctly supporting role to Monty Woolley's deliciously nasty re-creation of his Broadway triumph. He plays the famous writer Sheridan Whiteside, waylaid by a cracked hip in the home of some squares in small-town Ohio.

Old Acquaintance (1943) is a trademark Warner "women's picture," with Davis and Miriam Hopkins as childhood friends who become rival writers in adulthood (the John Van Druten play was later remade as Rich and Famous). Hopkins has the showier role, but Davis shines by contrast. Davis and Hopkins hated each other in real life, which must have been good preparation for Davis on What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, her epic showdown with Joan Crawford, filmed as both actresses found their careers well into eclipse. The two former screen queens were not friendly and had never worked together, but their inspired casting in this Grand Guignol tale resulted in a surprise box-office smash. Robert Aldrich brought his smart sensibility to the story of two showbiz sisters living a grotesque existence well out of the public eye. The movie has become a camp classic in the years since its release, a phenomenon acknowledged by the disc's commentary track featuring veteran female impersonators Charles Busch and John Epperson ("Lypsinka"). The set also includes a bonus disc of supporting short documentaries and archival footage.

Stardust: The Bette Davis Story is a feature doc that gives a thorough cruise through Davis's life and career, with an emphasis on the warts-and-all side of biography (an admiring Susan Sarandon narrates). It's well paced and heavy with good clips, although it does render some the supporting bios on the Baby Jane bonus disc redundant. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

The Best of Bette
The Bette Davis Collection was absolutely the best. I am a die hard Bette Davis fan even though most of her better movies were made before I was born. There never has been nor will there ever be anyone better than Bette and that is a shame.

The Stardust selection on davis was even better. I highly recommend this collection.

What Range!
Vol. 2 gives Bette fans more to love of their favorite leading lady. Five films and a documentary all in their individual case.

"Marked Woman" was one of Bette's favorite films. She stars as a "hostess" at a mob-run night club. When her innocent sister turns up dead, Bette turns to the heroic DA, Humphrey Bogart, to help her land her mobster boss in jail.

Bette Davis took a supporting role in the comedy "The Man Who Came to Dinner," because she adored the play by George S. Kaufman. This film made a star out of Monty Wooley, who plays the famous lecturer who makes a pest of himself when he is confined to the home of the Stanleys after falling and breaking his leg. Ann Sheridan is the selfish, vivacious actress who tries to steal Bette's man.

"Old Acquaintance" re-pairs Bette with her off-screen rival Miriam Hopkins. Bette plays a critically acclaimed novelist, Kit Marlowe, whose best friend, Millie Drake (Miriam), becomes very jealous of the attention she's getting. When Millie's trashy romance novels become a success, her neglected husband finds that he is falling in love with Kit. Vincent Sherman, who was carrying on an affair with Bette during filming, was the only man who would dare to direct these two divas.

"Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" turned Bette's stalling career red-hot again, and made her the queen of the thriller. Long time rivals, Joan Crawford and Bette came together for the tale of Blanche and Baby Jane Hudson, two aging sisters who have always been fiercely competitive with one another. When Blanche threatens to have Baby Jane put away, Jane begins torturing her crippled sister. Bette once said, "The most fun I ever had with Joan Crawford was when I pushed her down the stairs in Baby Jane!"

The crowning acheivement of Bette's early career is her role in Jezebel. Julie Marsden is a girl who knows how to manipulate men. But when she goes to far, she finds that she may have lost the only man who ever meant anything to her. At the 1938 Academy Awards, Bette Davis was named Best Actress for her performance.

This is a darling collection, and I promise that it will not dissappoint. Bette's wide range is displayed excellently with these five films, and any fan will love "Stardust: The Bette Davis Story."

Loved I was able to purchase this collection! Thanks so much. Yvette Lewis
I love Bette Davis, when I was a little girl my mother and I use to watch All About Eve, every time it came on TV. I'm a african American Women, who fell in love with Bette Davis as a little girl. When I got older and really start to understand what thoses films were all about, I even enjoyed them more. I have a collection of Bette Davis films. I just wish they would release more of the films on DVD. I know everyone would love to see All This And Heaven TOO..wonderful film. There are so much more of her films, heres another one called Dead Ringer..excellent movie, this one is available on DVD. Also, Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte is available too!