"Winter Meeting" was released in 1948 -- the waning years of Bette Davis Warner Brothers career. Davis plays Susan, a wealthy, cosmopolitan New Yorker. She has never married, choosing to focus on a life of having a career and mixing with like-minded friends, such as Stacy (John Hoyt). She meets a military guy whom she calls Novak (Jim Davis), a man fresh from WWII and a war hero. For whatever reason, he woos her and the two begin an odd relationship. After all, she is New York City all the way, he is an awkward, small-town guy. The two escape to the country, where both are forced to confront their own demons. Davis' demons have to do with her parents; her mother abandoned her father, causing his later suicide. Novak's are he always wanted to be a priest! Yikes -- this after leading Susan on throughout the entire movie. This movie, although unfairly maligned, has lots of problems. The biggest problem is the choice of Jim Davis to play Novak, the war hero. He seems out of place and acts it too. Being fair, his part is also terribly written, so I don't know what actor could have pulled this off with any credibility. Bette Davis fares better -- she never steps out of her character as Susan, a woman who has shut herself off from even the possibility of love until she meets this man. This part shows why Bette Davis was a real star; the script wasn't great, and it shows, but she shines regardless. There are two good supporting performances -- John Hoyt as Davis' friend, a man who clearly enjoys the good life, is terrific and adds some life to a film that drags a bit at times. We assume he is gay, although obviously this wouldn't be uttered in a 1948 film. A young Janis Paige plays a somewhat loose and bitchy woman, upset that the spinster Susan snared the war hero for herself. She seems to steal every scene she is in. Sadly, this film flopped when it opened. By this time, audience tastes had changed, and Bette Davis wasn't given better scripts as she aged at the studio. She would leave Warner Brothers the following year. But what a legacy of films she left behind.
Review of Winter Meeting
