Bette Davis filmography One of Davis' biggest successes at Warner Brothers was "Now, Voyager" (1942), which earned her another Academy Award nomination. Her later films for the studio, including "Winter Meeting" (1948) and "Beyond the Forest" (1949), failed at the box office. She turned down leading roles in "Mildred Pierce" and "Possessed" - both films eventually went to Joan Crawford. As her popularity waned, Warner Brothers dropped her contract in 1949, and from thereafter on, she occupied a freelance career. Davis received a career revival in "All About Eve" (1950) for 20th Century-Fox. She played an aging Broadway star, Margo Channing, who is
Bette Davis well-known, particularly "Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night". She was again nominated for an Academy Award, and critics such as Gene Ringgold described her Margo as her "all-time best performance". Pauline Kael wrote that much of Mankiewicz' vision of "the theater" was "nonsense", but commended Davis, writing "[the film is] saved by one performance that is the real thing: Bette Davis is at her most instinctive and assured. Her actress - vain, scared, a woman who goes too far in her reactions and emotions - makes the whole thing come alive." Davis won a Best Actress