Paura d'amare

We're it not for the fact that Bette Davis won her first Academy Award in Dangerous, this film would hardly be remembered by anyone except the most ardent Bette Davis fans. There were a number of films that woman carried by sheer force of nature and this is probably the best example of one.

Her character of Joyce Heath is rather obviously based on Jeanne Eagels who was only dead six years and who many had vivid memories of on stage and screen. In fact at one point in the film it's mentioned that a play that Franchot Tone is interested in being the financial backer of could only be played by Bette's character Joyce Heath and Jeanne Eagels.

Franchot Tone is a dapper successful young architect to the rich and famous and he's got a few bucks himself and he's engaged to society débutante Margaret Lindsay. But one fateful night he meets up with Bette Davis who was once big, but is now down and out. She broke many a heart in her day and even she considers herself a jinx to any who get involved with her. That don't stop Tone who hears his hormones calling.

You will not forget Bette as the hedonistic and reckless Joyce Heath, she really dominates this film. Because of that and because there was a big outcry about her not even being nominated the year before for Of Human Bondage, Davis got a nomination and to her surprise got the Oscar for Best Actress.

If the criteria for winning an Oscar is carrying a mediocre film to glory than Bette deserved it. There have been a few times in Academy history that a performance of a star just totally dominates the film, the best examples I can think of besides this is Jose Ferrer is Cyrano DeBergerac and Susan Hayward in I Want To Live. But both Jose and Susan had a whole lot better material to work with.

Even Davis while proud of the Oscar thought the film mediocre, the way Elizabeth Taylor felt about Butterfield 8. Part of the reason is that the Code had come into being. If this film had been made a year or two earlier we would not have had the absolute cop out of a finish.

Still Bette's fans will love it, no doubt.

The aristocratic architect Don Bellows (Franchot Tone) worships the former successful actress Joyce Heath (Bette Davis), who prematurely left the stage considered a jinx, for changing his life for better. When Don goes with his fiancée Gail Armitage (Margaret Lindsay) and a friend to a bar, he sees Joyce completely drunken and penniless, and he takes her to his house in the countryside. Joyce stays there for a period in rehabilitation, and Don falls in love with her and calls off his engagement with Gail. Don also decides to produce a play for her and to get married with Joyce after the opening night. But Joyce has a secret in her past that will affect their lives forever.

"Dangerous" is a melodramatic movie with a great story but a corny conclusion, with Joyce Heath returning to her crippled husband. Bette Davis has a great performance and won her first Oscar of Best Actress. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Perigosa" ("Dangerous")

Unlike some users ,I do not consider "Dangerous" one of Davis's best parts.Her career is so rich that you can name at least twenty movies that are far superior to this old hat melodrama:have you heard about " little foxes" "All about Eve" "Now voyager "whatever happened to Baby Jane" and the unfairly unknown "lo scopone scientifico" which might be the most extraordinary part she ever played.

"Dangerous" casts Davis as an alcoholic has been actress ;Tone wants her redemption ,so he sacrifices everything,money and fiancée to make the dream come true.The story is finally terribly sententious ,in "the magnificent obsession" mold ,but without Stahl's "enough is enough" side,which makes that director's works so priceless.

So let her be flamboyant, if she wants to be. She had audiences riveted to their seats in 1935 with this strong performance.

How remarkable today, in 2000, that this 65-year-old portrayl can still hypnotize. It is solid Bette Davis work, with Franchot Tone lending fine support in every scene.

This legendary actress may chew a bit of scenery here and there, but then that's what makes her work so distinctive: here's a real personality, a star, who puts it all out there. She doesn't apologize either. . . just let's it all hang out and, if you like it, fine--if not, tis no big deal. She seems to have been a born actress, too -- with her style the opposite of the Method. Go on and indicate emotion when you're not up to drawing a sincere response. Keep folks wondering where the real Davis begins and the posing one leaves off. You're so good a what you do, you don't need to worry. . . your fans will lap it up anyway.

Which they did, by the millions. Davis was recently voted the number one film actress of the 20th century in a popular poll by moviegoers. That speaks legions about how her work, after all these years, is still regarded. ###

Contrary to what another commentator to this forum says, Bette Davis was not nominated the year before for an Oscar for her excellent work in "Of Human Bondage", a much better film than this one. In 1935, the year after being bypassed for the Academy Award, Hollywood, acting in a forgiving manner, gave her the award as Best Actress. By Ms. Davis' own admission, Katherine Hepburn should have won for "Alice Adams".

We are not saying she wasn't worth it, on the contrary, Ms. Davis always gave her best in all her films. Sometimes, contributors to IMDb, upon sending their comments, have a way of predicting that the film they are reviewing, or one of its actors will receive the nomination, or the award come Oscar time. In fact, as it seems to be in most cases, bypassed actors on a particular year get awards for work, later on, for inferior work they did that year and were overlooked by the fickle voting members of that body before.

"Dangerous" was directed by Alfred Green and based on a story by Laird Doyle. The story of an actress who has fallen victim to alcoholism makes good melodrama. As such, Joyce Heath, Ms. Davis' character, is seen at the beginning of the film as a woman who wants to forget it all, in order to do some serious drinking.

Donald Bellows is a man that was deeply impressed by the actress, who he saw as Juliet in the New York stage, and became obsessed by her artistry. When he meets her at the dive where she is drinking cheap liquor, he believes he can save this woman who is wasting her talent. Joyce, eventually, falls in love with Don, but she is reluctant to marry him, which is a puzzle to us. Little do we know about the secret Joyce Heath is hiding from Don, which comes to haunt her at the end of the film.

Bette Davis transforms herself from the opening scenes where she looks disheveled into the glamorous actress of the theater she really is. Her performance is good, but we have seen much better performances by this glorious actress, before this film, and after. Franchot Tone makes an appealing Donald Bellows, the man who tries to save his idol from her addiction to the bottle. Margaret Lindsay plays Gail, who is engaged to be married to Donald.

This is a film that merits a look by all of Bette Davis' fans, as it will not disappoint.