Bette Davis of the thirties and into the forties", achieving notability for the variety of her characterizations and her ability to assert herself, even when her material was mediocre. Individual performances continued to receive praise; in 1987, Bill Collins analyzed "The Letter" (1940), and described her performance as "a brilliant, subtle achievement", and wrote: "Bette Davis makes Leslie Crosbie one of the most extraordinary females in movies." In a 2000 review for "All About Eve" (1950), Roger Ebert noted: "Davis was a character, an icon with a grand style; so, even her excesses are realistic." In 2006, "Premiere" magazine ranked her portrayal
Bette Davis film "As Summers Die" (1986), and in Lindsay Anderson's film "The Whales of August" (1987), in which she played the blind sister of Lillian Gish. Though in poor health at the time, Davis memorized her own and everyone else's lines, as she always had. The film earned good reviews, with one critic writing: "Bette crawls across the screen like a testy old hornet on a windowpane, snarling, staggering, twitching - a symphony of misfired synapses." Davis became an honouree of the Kennedy Center Honors for her contribution to films in 1987. Her last performance was the title role in Larry