Product Details

• Format: Box set, Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 5
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: April 1, 2008
• Run Time: 553 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0012Q3T5O
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #17,535 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Bette Davis Collection Volume 1 includes 2 new-to-DVD classics, featuring Davis in her ninth Academy Award nominated role as movie queen Margaret Elliot whose popularity and fortune has ended. In MR. SKEFFINGTON, Davis portrays Fanny, a beauty who has used her looks to manipulate her way through life. But now diphtheria has robbed her of her only attribute. And without her looks, she’s lost. NOW, VOYAGER stars Davis' magical portrayal of Charlotte Vale, a spinster who defies her domineering mother (fellow Oscar nominee Gladys Cooper) to discover love, heartbreak and eventual contentment. In DARK VICTORY, Bette Davis delivers a bravura, moving-but-never-morbid performance as Judith Traherne, a dying heiress determined to find happiness in her few remaining months. THE LETTER, a peerless example of melodrama as movie art, stars Davis as an adulterer using her sexual wiles to escape a murder conviction.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars dazzling Davis!, March 6, 2008

By	Byron Kolln (the corner where Broadway meets Hollywood) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

This is actually a re-packaged version of the first Warners' Bette Davis set (previously available as The Bette Davis Collection (The Star / Mr. Skeffington / Dark Victory / Now, Voyager / The Letter)). 2008 will mark Bette Davis's 100th birthday, and Warner Bros. is celebrating by re-releasing their first two Davis DVD box sets in brand-new packaging, to accompany the new third volume.

The set includes:

NOW, VOYAGER - Based on the novel by Olive Higgins Prouty. Charlotte Vale (Davis) flees her mother's suffocating grip and finds romance with a handsome divorcee (Paul Henreid). Co-starring Claude Rains and Gladys Cooper. Extra features: music scoring sessions.

MR. SKEFFINGTON - Based on a story by "Elizabeth". Davis shines as Fanny Trellis, a vain and self-centered beauty who only learns the lesson of true love after suffering the ravages of diphtheria. Extra features: "Mr. Skeffington - A Picture of Strength" documentary, and audio commentary by director Vincent Sherman.

THE STAR - Alcoholic washed-up diva Margaret Elliot (Davis) is saved by a former co-star (Sterling Hayden) and discovers a life beyond the false facade of Hollywood. Davis plays a thinly-veiled caricature of Joan Crawford! Extra features: "How Real is The Star?" documentary.

THE LETTER - Based on the novel by Somerset Maugham. Davis is Leslie Crosbie, a woman guilty of murdering her lover in cold blood. Although she later gets acquitted of the crime, vengeance is only a heartbeat away. Extra features: alternate ending, plus two Lux Theater radio presentations.

DARK VICTORY - Davis plays afflicted Judith Traherne, in a stirring portrait of courage under fire. A millionairess faced with a bleak prognosis, Judith decides to spend her final days with no regrets. Extra features: "1939 - Tough Competition for Dark Victory" documentary, plus audio commentary with James Ursini and Paul Clinton.

If you already own the previous release, there's no need to upgrade; it's the exact same content we had for the previous edition. Happy Birthday, Miss Davis!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I Suggest Buying the Titles Separately for Your Permanent Collection, October 4, 2008

By	D. Summerfield (Missoula, Montana) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

My rating is merely for the packaged format and NOT for the movies. The five movies in this collection are quintessential Bette Davis, and belong in every film buff's permanent collection.

That being said, the problem I have with many pre-packaged collections is that someone else has chosen the movies for you, and may not have included the movies you would have chosen had you been allowed to choose the assortment yourself.

If I had been the one to assemble this collection, I would have included Now, Voyager (Keepcase), Mr. Skeffington, and Dark Victory (1939); but I would have substituted any of the following titles: Of Human Bondage (B&W), The Petrified Forest, All This, and Heaven Too, Jezebel (Restored and Remastered Edition), or The Little Foxes; for the later The Star and lesser movie (IMHO) The Letter.

My reasoning is that the movies I have named are all top-notch examples of Bette Davis in the thirties and early forties. The Star is getting into a middle-aged Davis, who while still fabulous, belongs to the fifties. The Letter is just not as good as some of the other movies I suggested.

Of course, you cannot go wrong with any of Bette Davis' films, and if you like the boxed set format, this is as good a place to start as any. There is no "theme" to this set. For instance, these are not all of her most critically-acclaimed performances (her first Oscar win, for Dangerous, is not here, for example, nor is her second for Jezebel.)

Buying in a collection like this may be a little more cost-effective, although you can find all of the above-mentioned titles for under eighteen dollars, with the exception of All This and Heaven Too and Dangerous.

Ultimately, it's up to the individual collector to decide what films (and in what packaging format) belong in one's permanent film library. My own preference is that the films of the great stars be collected separately, unless the boxed sets follow some sort of theme or sequence (such as the Indiana Jones films, for example; or all the films which feature the star and a certain favorite co-star or director.)

5.0 out of 5 stars If your a fan of Bette Davis you need this collection of 4 of her movies., October 13, 2009

By	connie - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

Mrs. Skeffington is a women who is more concerned about her looks than about anyone else in her family..husband or child. Bette Davis's portrail of Mrs. Skeffinton, will make you hate her and thank goodness in the end she wakes up in time to realize what a wonderful husband Joe is . Claude Rains, is so wonderful as Joe Skeffington..I enjoyed this film very much.

Now Voyager, is just wonderful and Bette Davis is great as Charlotte Vale. An old maid who is really homely & fat...turns into a beautiful woman. On a cruise she meets and falls in love with a handsome man played by Paul Hendried..I've seen this films many times and each time I like it more and more.. as they say it's a 3 handkerchief picture and women can understand it better than a man. Guess its because we are more sentimental than men.