Customer Reviews

Dangerous [VHS]

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Dangerous," directed by Alfred Green, stars Bette Davis as actress Joyce Heath. Joyce is a down-and-out alcoholic who hasn't been able to find work on stage since being labeled a "jinx." Soon she becomes involved with architect Don Bellows (played by Franchot Tone). Intriguing plot twists and revelations follow as their relationship develops.

There is some corny dialogue, but "Dangerous" is also filled with great lines. Davis is outstanding as the bitter, passionate, impetuous Joyce: it's another fittingly larger-than-life role for the legendary star. Tone complements Davis brilliantly as the charming but conflicted Don; ultimately, it's the two stars' chemistry which really drives this drama. "Dangerous" is a meditation on free will, fatalism, personal responsibility, and the impact of art on life.

Bette Davis began appearing in films in 1931 at the age of 23. She was an extremely hard working actor, and by the time she made this film in 1935, she had appeared in 27 films including "Of Human Bondage" for which she received her first Oscar nomination the year before.

The story is compelling. Don Bellows (Franchot Tone) is an architect who claims that his life was changed forever by a theater performance by a young actress named Joyce Heath (Bette Davis) who came to prominence quickly and vanished almost as fast. He was so moved by her performance that he re-evaluated his life and took on a new direction, moving from being a stockbroker to indulge his more creative side by studying architecture. One day he comes upon Joyce who is stinking drunk. He recognizes her and attempts to engage her in conversation, but she is cruel and derisive. When she passes out, he takes her back to his place to sober her up and care for her. Despite her decrepit condition, he is captivated by her and falls madly in love with her, breaking off his engagement to Gail (Margaret Lindsay).

Don begins the process of rehabilitating Joyce and though she is resentful and bitter at first, she is won over by his devotion to her and agrees to take a part in a play that she always wanted, a play that he used all his money to back. However, Joyce has a secret that dooms the relationship. She is a dangerous woman who ruins the men who love her. The world comes crashing down on her and on the men in her life.

This is a well-crafted story that keeps the viewer intrigued from beginning to end. Davis is electrifying in the role. I consider this and her performance in "All About Eve" (where she also played a bitter actress) to be her best. She throws herself into the role and delivers a performance that ranges from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows. She won her first of two Academy Awards for this film and went on to be nominated a total of 13 times.

This film is a must for anyone interested in Ms. Davis body of work and for the classic film buff in general. I rated it a 10. It is a terrific story that is enhanced by a riveting performance by one of the legends of film.

During her often painful and very frustrating "apprenticeship", period at Warner Bros, Bette Davis was forced to appear in many highly forgettable film roles that sported titles such as "Housewife", and "Parachute Jumper", and while she had no illusions about much of her film work and indeed her own performances through this period, 1934's "Dangerous", costarring Franchot Tone was definately the standout in the bunch. It finally provided the young and driven Bette Davis with a character worthy of her dramatic efforts and she responded by giving a sterling performance despite the film's often quite soppy subject matter. As Davis herself was quoted as saying about this film, "I saw potential in the role of Joyce Heath, I realised the pot holes in the story and had to work like ten dogs to stop it from getting bogged down in treacle!". Work she did, and very well indeed as it turned out, being rewarded for her efforts with the 1935 Best Actress Academy Award.

Viewed today "Dangerous", while highly entertaining and featuring a terrific performance by Bette Davis, is very obvious in its weaknesses and contains alot of situations and dialogue that really dont ring true. Nevertheless it is an important film in the career of Davis in that it revealed what she was capable of achieving when time and effort was spent on preparing her films a little better than previously.It tells the story of acclaimed actress Joyce Heath who finds herself a jinx on both the people in her life and in any production she is involved in. Going from being the shining light of Broadway she finds herself in the alchoholic gutter with no friends and no career. A chance encounter with rich architect Don Bellows (Franchot Tone in a good but poorly written role) changes her circumstances as Bellows is immediately attracted to her and becomes her champion in all things. Despite being engaged to be married to lovely socialite Gail Armitage (Margaret Lindsay)he determines to restore Joyce's life as once, she (unknowingly), inspired him to better himself and explore his artistic side in the field of architecture. Taken by Don to sober up at his country estate Joyce, a chronic drinker first resents and verbally attacks Don however as she sees the importance he places on getting her life back in order she responds and finds herself falling in love with him despite warning him of her jinx on men and that she will always be "dangerous", to any person who comes close to her. Don decides to bank roll her return to Broadway and on the eve of the first night it seems that the jinx is again at work when it is discovered that Joyce actually is married and cannot obtain a divorce after Don asks her to marry him after the first night of the play. In an insane rage Joyce tries to kill her sickly devoted husband Gordon (John Eldredge) after he refuses to divorce her and thus jeopardizes the production due to open. It's only after this diseaster and when Don has gone and finally married Gail that Joyce realises that others are important and then attempts to right the terrible wrong she has done to both her now crippled husband and the many peope in the Broadway comunity that had faith in her.

Vintage soap opera? Maybe, but acted with a conviction by Bette Davis that does make us believe the improbable situations occuring. The supporting cast also score great acting points in their various roles. Franchot Tone who never really settled into the Hollywood acting situation has a difficult role to play here as on one side of things he must be a capable business type who is obviously an astute individual while on the reverse having to play a character that really wouldn't probably get involved in the situation he finds himself in. He does well playing Bellows but alot of his situation fails to really ring true. Margaret Lindsay is delightful as Don's spurned fiance but once again her character as written is perhaps a little too excepting of the situation with Joyce to be regarded as totally realistic. Veteran character actress Alison Skipworth as Mrs. Williams, Don's house keeper really scores as a crusty individual who really stands up to Joyce's drunken ravings and helps put her on the course back to respectability. The look of the production has a rich other worldly feel about it as was typical of movie making in the 1930's. It reveals an almost too glamourous world of smart cars, beautiful clothes, palatial country houses and city apartments. Just the tonic for depression weary movie goers in 1935.

I personally love this early performance by Bette Davis a few years before her great period of stardom began. Her great commanding star presence is very obvious even here. I regard "Dangerous", as vital to include in any Bette Davis collection and what you see is raw vital talent that within a few years would be refined in a number of unforgettable performances that are as vivid today as they were 60 years ago. Unrealistic as it may be at times "Dangerous", is highly entertaining viewing and shouldn't be missed when exploring the formidable collection of work by the legendary Bette Davis.

Bette Davis gives a stunning performance as Joyce Heath, an alcoholic stage star with a self-destructive complex. Joyce Heath is a vitally tempestuous creature who has ruined her reputation as an actress and has come to be regarded in her profession as something of a jinx. Theatrically blacklisted, she has become an alcoholic in the depths of her own self-destruction. One night, while drinking herself into a hole in a seedy bar, she is noticed by wealthy architect Don Bellows (Franchot Tone); Heath has been idolized by Bellows ever since he saw her play Juliet years before. Don takes Heath under his wing, bringing her to his house in the country and a inevitable love affair ensues. The character of Joyce Heath gave Davis an oppurtunity to convey all of the most instense emotions of which she was capable, from anxiety to zealousness, including liberal amounts of her famous screen bitchiness. The script is rather weak and mawkish at times and the film is almost totally carried by Davis, who uses all her well-known acting tricks to make her character come alive. Alison Skipworth is amusing as Mrs.Williams, Bellows cook who tells Franchot confidentially that Davis is indeed "dangerous". Ernest Haller's photography is justly praised; in the middle of the film, Davis is beautifully photographed, and her scenes with Tone (playing cards and eating homemade toffee) are incredibly spontaneous and realistic. Margaret Lindsay plays socialite Gail Armitage to whom Bellows is engaged (and eventually marries) and she gives a typical "stock" performance. Davis gives an Oscar worthy performance yet she is the only thing this movie has going for it; the character of Gordon Heath is unbelievably lame and the ending is unsatisfactory and banal to say the least. DANGEROUS was a success at the box office and it was one of Warner's biggest money-makers for 1935.

Bette Davis won her first Oscar as Joyce Heath in this soaper, though the Academy was probably making up for not giving it to her for OF HUMAN BONDAGE the year before. She plays a down-and-out actress who begins receiving attention from admirer Franchot Tone. She has a drinking problem and, even worse, a husband (John Eldredge) that she keeps secret from Tone. He breaks up with his fiancée to marry her; when her husband refuses to divorce her, she deliberately crashes the car they're in hoping to kill him. It doesn't work, though he's crippled for life. Tone learns the truth, but encourages her to go on stage again; she does and is a big hit. She then attempts to atone for her awful behavior by trying to get back in Eldredge's good graces. Davis is good, though she would be much better in later pictures. Tone is crazy about her, though at times it's hard to see why, and the ending is about as sugary as it could get. The picture is all about Davis, however, and it represents another step on the ladder in her climb to unparalleled success.

I give this film 4 stars because though this is not an A-class drama, it is a beautifully done and concise piece of work with whatever shortcomings it has rescued by Bette Davis herself. She and the Irish maid are absolute scene stealers. A previous reviewer commented on how Miss Davis spent her life insisting she only won her oscar for this film because she'd been shorted the one she deserved for "of Human Bondage" the year before; I would agree this was a misconception on her part. Her perfomance of Joyce Heath is exemplary, standing on its own. Along with Katherine Hepburn and Greta Garbo, Bette Davis brought a depth to her perfomances that stood out among the other Hollywood actresses of her generation - or most Hollywood actresses since. Her genius in this film is breathtaking. Like the ending of her other Oscar-winning role, Jezebel, the conclusion of Dangerous, suggesting that this bad girl all of a sudden has become rejuvenated into a righteously selfless character is 1930's Hollywood hokey, and yet the sight of her walking up the stairs of the hospital with flowers in hand while the husband she's damaged for life smiles at her from the window of his room is enough to bring on the tears. I love it.

As a huge fan of Bette Davis (I strongly consider her the best actress to ever grace the big screen), I was overwhelmed with joy to encounter `Dangerous' on TCM a while back. `Dangerous' was Davis's first taste of Oscar glory, and while she boldly claimed that she didn't deserve the win, I was still very, very excited to see it for the first time.

While I tend to agree with Davis (she believed that Katharine Hepburn deserved the Oscar for `Alice Adams') I do believe that she highly underestimated herself here. While the film itself is not completely up to snuff, the performances within it are very, very good; especially that of Davis who embodies Joyce Heath with a vulnerability that makes her real and endearing despite her apparent flaws.

The film follows a torrid affair between a washed up stage actress named Joyce Heath and an architect named Don Bellows. Don is engaged to be married, but he calls off that engagement to start a relationship with Joyce. Joyce firmly believes that she is jinxed and that anyone foolish enough to seek out a relationship with her is signing their own death slip, but Don dives right in. Soon things are looking better than ever for Joyce, and for Don, but that jinx catches up with them soon enough when a secret is revealed that threatens to destroy their relationship.

For me, this film almost has it. I liked the concept and the basic plot, but I feel that the construction at times is a tad lazy. The ending is also morally important, but it needed more time to truly establish itself as poignant. A sign of the times (very rarely were films longwinded and heavily detailed in the 30's) but this film needed to be a tad longer. It clocks in at under an hour and a half, and that barely gives us enough time to really flesh out these characters. Proof of the need for more time is the ending, when the secret is revealed, our impression of Joyce is supposed to change drastically, but they haven't really built enough layers to her in order to make that change appropriate.

That said; Davis nearly nails to part. She is outstanding here, never overselling anything but completely playing to her strengths and establishing a woman who feels real and relatable. Franchot Tone, who plays her love interest, is also very well used here. I was least impressed with Margaret Lindsay, but that may have more to do with the script (I understand subtlety, but the way she reacted to the broken engagement was ridiculously unrealistic).

In the end I highly recommend this one. If you are a fan of Miss Davis then you need to see her Oscar winning portrayal of the boozy actress who only wanted to be happy. You won't be sorry!

Broadway's Joyce Heath had drowned her career in self-pity and alcohol. She was a comet which appeared suddenyl and disappeared completely, a critic lamented. The critic could not know that a nurturing love would nudge Heath towards recovery and that she would become murderously dangerous to keep that love alive.

This is a beautiful and touching film Bette Davis shines as always in this rare 1936 classic.

It has been widely implied that the Academy Award given to Bette Davis for her performance in this mediocre film was actually a consolation prize for her electrifying performance as Mildred Rogers in OF HUMAN BONDAGE - which was filmed the year before. Although this 1935 film reeks of soap & has a really corny ending, you can get fixated watching LaDavis - still in her blonde period - act everyone off the screen. For her performance alone, DANGEROUS is worth sitting through: otherwise it would be considered a hackeneyed, mawkish piece of vintage trash. Bette plays Joyce Heath, a once-esteemed theatre actress who's drifted into the seedy life of alcholism and self-pity. One night, while drinking cheap gin in a dive, she's recognised by a young, promising architect named Don Bellows, who takes her under his wing and encourages the once-great actress to make a come-back... Davis is astonishingly electrifying in her playing: one can see why she was a fascination to 1935 moviegoers! Mind you, not everyone was a Davis devotee, but her highly charged, energetic personality was nigh impossible to ignore once seen on the silver screen. The middle of the film contains the best scenes, and there's a genuine - if somewhat unusual - chemistry between Davis and Tone. Margaret Lindsay does well enough as classy Gail Armitage who tells Bellows that "a secret's a secret". Franchot Tone isn't as bad as other reviewers have stated; he certainly had a fine speaking voice. As the almost unbearably mealy Gordon Heath, one wants to slap John Eldredge's face: an unbelievable entry in the cut-my-arm-off-if-it-will-help-you martyr sweepstakes. As a trivial footnote, the final working title of the film (after about seven inadequate ones) was HARD LUCK DAME. It was Davis herself who came up with naming the film DANGEROUS. Forgettably remade in 1941 - again by Warners - as SINGAPORE WOMAN with Brenda Marshall & directed by the later esteemed Jean Negulesco.

Even in mawkish trash like this, Davis is electrifying and she frequently makes the viewer sit up and stare. It was for this performance that critic Andre Sennwald once commented that Davis would have been "burned as a witch" had she lived 200 years prior; in reference to her famous kinetic electric energy "which finds no ordinary outlet". As Joyce Heath, Davis plays an actress on the skids; she believes she's a jinx. Franchot Tone sees his favorite (he never forgot her playing of Juliet) in a dive drinking cheap liquor and he eventually takes the pathetic creature in. Davis comes off better when she plays Heath as coy and viciously hysterical;when lines make her sputtery and tearful she's just okay. During the middle of the picture, the dialogue is stripped and biting and Ernest Haller's photography of Davis helps immensely. Gordon Heath, played by John Eldridge is such a mealy maschoist that Davis seems to have done him a favor by crippling him. Don Bellows is played adequately by Franchot Tone (whom Davis later openly admitted she fell for during production, alas, he belonged to Joan of Crawford! and this may well have sparked their famous forty-year feud!)