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| The Bette Davis Collection Warner, 5 discs Movie •••• Picture/Sound •••• Extras •••½ |
The Joan Crawford Collection Warner, 5 discs Movie •••• Picture/Sound ••• Extras •••• |
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| Films | New to DVD: Mr. Skeffington (1944) and The Star (1952). New restoration: Dark Victory (1939). Recent restorations: The Letter (1940), Now, Voyager (1942). | New to DVD: Humoresque (1946), Possessed (1947), The Damned Don't Cry (1950). New restoration: Mildred Pierce (1945). New edition: The Women (1939). |
| Notable Directors | Edmund Goulding (Dark Victory), William Wyler (The Letter). | George Cukor (The Women), Jean Negulesco (Humoresque), Michael Curtiz (Mildred Pierce). |
| Acting Style or Stylish Acting | Charming chameleon: submerges herself in the drama, adapting her looks, mannerisms, and personality to fit the role. Plays a remarkably wide range - often within the same film. | Go for glamour: talks, acts, and poses for camera, not for fellow actors or the part. Remains restrained until the big scenes, when she lets rip with desperate sobs, shrieks, and wringing of hands - all fabulously. |
| Oscar Nods | Nominations: All five. (Also six more, including wins for Dangerous and Jezebel.) | Nomination: Possessed (and Sudden Fear). Win: Mildred Pierce. |
| Fears | Losing her youth or independence. | Losing her man or mind. |
| Melodr- amatics |
Boozing! Adultery! Murder! Terminal Disease! | Suicide! Murder! Insanity! |
| DVD Quality | Picture: clean and luminous. Deep blacks, bright whites, and a wide range of grays. All have plenty of detail, particularly Now, Voyager, which has beautiful textures. Sound: clear and full. |
Picture: bright, crisp, with excellent contrast. Sound: clean and robust, most noticeably in Humoresque, where the lush violin and piano solos are strong and resonant without any distortion. |
| Extras | Commentaries: Mr. Skeffington and Dark Victory. Featurettes: three. Also: alternate ending and two Lux Radio versions of The Letter, scoring session. |
Commentaries: Possessed and Damned. Documentaries: one feature-length. Featurettes: five. Also: alternate sequence, Crawford trailer gallery. |
