Dark Victory · The Life of Bette Davis

The legendary Hollywood star blazes a fiery trail in this enthralling portrait of a brilliant actress and the movies her talent elevated to greatness

In Dark Victory , noted film critic and biographer Ed Sikov paints the most detailed picture ever delivered of Bette Davis, the intelligent, opinionated, and unusual woman who was--in the words of a close friend--one of the major events of the twentieth century. Drawing on new interviews with friends, directors, and admirers, as well as archival research and a fresh look at the films, this stylish, intimate biography depicts Davis's personal as well as professional life in a way that is both revealing and sympathetic.

With his wise and well-informed take on the production and accomplishments of such movie milestones as Jezebel , All About Eve , and Now, Voyager , as well as the turbulent life and complicated personality of the actress who made them, Sikov's Dark Victory brings to life the two-time Academy Award-winning actress's unmistakable screen style, and shows the reader how Davis's art was her own dark victory.