LIFE January 23 1939 Bette Davis, Mexico, Ethel Waters

These indelible themes are forever tied to Bette's dazzling performances in Jezebel (1938), Dark Victory (1939), The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939), Juarez (1939), All This and Heaven Too (1940), The Letter (1940), In This Our Life (1942), Now, Voyager (1942), Mr. Skeffington (1944), A Stolen Life (1946), Beyond the Forest (1949) and All About Eve (1950).

“Until you’re known in my profession as a monster, you’re not a star, ” Bette Davis once said. Let’s just say in Hollywood she was considered the ultimate star. The Academy Award-winning actress was one of the movies’ most riveting and volatile personalities both on and off the screen. She comes to life in the pages of this lavish, fully illustrated tribute produced in conjunction with her estate.Bette Davis remains one of the most acclaimed and well-known stars in the history of film. Breaking new ground for women, she was a fighter who took on the Hollywood establishment at the drop of a dime. She reveled in lifelong feuds (such as with arch nemesis and co-star Joan Crawford). She was a mother, wife, and friend. She was also a no-nonsense New Englander who happened to have more talent than the movies seemed able to contain. Her personality leapt off the screen and earned her an unprecedented number of high-profile nominations and awards for her work in films like Jezebel, Dark Victory, All About Eve, and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? As the epitaph on Davis’s tombstone reads, “She did it the hard way.” Through a biography, comprehensive filmography, and hundreds of rare photos, readers will find out why.

Director: Edmund Goulding, Anatole Litvak, John Huston, Herman Shumlin, Irving Rapper; Stars: Bette Davis, Charles Boyer, Olivia de Havilland, Paul Henreid; Release Date: April 01, 2008

RARE COLORIZED VERSION!.....Bette Davis earned an Oscar nomination for her role in this classic four-hanky tearjerker. Judith Traherne (Bette Davis) is a very wealthy Long Island heiress whose life is a constant whirl of cocktails, parties, and wild living. Despite her hedonistic lifestyle, Judith derives little pleasure from life except for her horses, cared for by stable master Michael O'Leary (Humphrey Bogart). When Judith begins suffering from headaches and dizzy spells, Dr. Frederick Steele (George Brent) gives her the bad news: she has a brain tumor that could threaten her life if not treated immediately. Judith consents to surgery, and Frederick informs her that the operation was a success. A grateful Judith quickly falls in love with Frederick, and they plan to marry. However, the tumor returns, and when Judith discovers that she has only a few months to live, she calls off the wedding, convinced that Frederick is marrying her only as an act of pity for a dying woman.....Cast: Bette Davis, George Brent, Humphrey Bogart, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Ronald Reagan

NOW, VOYAGER (1942) Academy Award Winner* A mother-dominated ugly duckling turned swan discovers independence - and love. Grab the moon, the stars and a shining Bette Davis in one of Hollywood's most tender and touching screen romances. DARK VICTORY (1939) "Davis is enchanted and enchanting, " The New York Times' Frank S. Nugent wrote, in her signature role as a spoiled society girl facing terminal illness - and a last chance to give her life meaning. OLD ACQUAINTANCE (1943) Davis and Miriam Hopkins's friendship is a 20-year balancing act of handholding, backstabbing and femme fireworks. "Splendid battle of the wild cats, with two stars fighting their way through a plush production"(Halliwell's Film Guide). JEZEBEL (1938) Winner of 2 Academy Awards* As a manipulative New Orleans belle, Davis sows a tempest and reaps a whirlwind in a fiery antebellum classic, winning an Oscar for her work. Henry Fonda and George Brent co-star; William Wyler directs. DISC 1: SIDE A ~ NOW, VOYAGER INCLUDES: Scoring Session Music Cues Cast Career Highlights Theatrical Trailer SIDE B ~ DARK VICTORY INCLUDES: Commentary by Historian James Ursini and CNN Film Critic Paul Clinton Featurette 1939: Tough Competition for Dark Victory Theatrical Trailer DISC 2: SIDE A ~ OLD ACQUAINTANCE INCLUDES: Commentary by Director Vincent Sherman and Bette Davis Speaks Author Boze Hadleigh Featurette Old Acquaintance: A Classic Woman's Picture Vintage Short Stars on Horseback Cartoon Fin 'n Catty Theatrical Trailer SIDE B ~ JEZEBEL INCLUDES: Commentary by Historian Jeannine Basinger Featurette Jezebel: Legend of the South Musical Short Melody Masters: Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra Cartoon The Mice Will Play Theatrical Trailer Subtitles: English, Franais & Espaol (Main Feature. Bonus Material/Trailer May Not Be Subtitled).

“Until you’re known in my profession as a monster, you’re not a star, ” Bette Davis once said. Let’s just say in Hollywood she was considered the ultimate star. The Academy Award-winning actress was one of the movies’ most riveting and volatile personalities both on and off the screen. She comes to life in the pages of this lavish, fully illustrated tribute produced in conjunction with her estate.Bette Davis remains one of the most acclaimed and well-known stars in the history of film. Breaking new ground for women, she was a fighter who took on the Hollywood establishment at the drop of a dime. She reveled in lifelong feuds (such as with arch nemesis and co-star Joan Crawford). She was a mother, wife, and friend. She was also a no-nonsense New Englander who happened to have more talent than the movies seemed able to contain. Her personality leapt off the screen and earned her an unprecedented number of high-profile nominations and awards for her work in films like Jezebel, Dark Victory, All About Eve, and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? As the epitaph on Davis’s tombstone reads, “She did it the hard way.” Through a biography, comprehensive filmography, and hundreds of rare photos, readers will find out why.

Director: Edmund Goulding, Vincent Sherman, Irving Rapper, Stuart Heisler, William Wyler; Stars: Bette Davis, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Paul Henreid, Sterling Hayden; Release Date: April 01, 2008

Personnel includes: Bette Davis (vocals); Roger Webb (arranger/conductor).Recorded in London, England in 1976.Bette Davis is not usually thought of as a singer, but her long career included several exceptions to that impression. In particular, in 1943 she gave a credible rendition of the comic war-related song "They're Either Too Young or Too Old" in the all-star World War II extravaganza movie Thank Your Lucky Stars, and in 1952 she starred in the Broadway musical Two's Company. In the mid-'70s, Davis, who was approaching her late sixties, accepted an invitation to cut an album for EMI Records at Abbey Road Studios in London. Producer Norman Newell and arranger/conductor Roger Webb obviously were students of her work and had an appreciation for the strengths and limitations of her voice. Not surprisingly, the album is in essence a musical précis of Davis' career. It includes a new recording of "They're Either Too Young or Too Old"; re-recordings of the two sides of her 1965 Bell Records single "Life Is a Lon

Director: Robert Aldrich; Stars: Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Joseph Cotten; Release Date: April 08, 2008

Noted film biographer Charlotte Chandler interviewed Bette Davis extensively in the last decade of her life, resulting in a biography in which the great actress speaks for herself. Chandler also spoke with directors, actors, and others who knew and worked with Davis, and includes brief synopses of all of her theatrical films. Here are some more examples of Bette's wit to be found within these pages: "I'm the one who didn't get the man, which is the more interesting character on the screen, but in real life sometimes I wish I could just have been the girl who got the man, and kept him. I got four husbands and several lovers, but I didn't keep any of them. I was invited to the White House, but no man stayed to share my white cottage."