Dark Victory

This TV movie was the longest--and dullest--of the three filmizations of George Brewer Jr. and Bertram Block's play Dark Victory. Elizabeth Montgomery stars as a successful TV producer (an heiress in the original play) who suffers from headaches. Her doctor (Anthony Hopkins) knows that the ailment is an incurable brain tumor, but at first he keeps this information a secret from the producer. When she learns the truth, she is bitter and resentful, but before walking gently into the Hereafter she falls in love with and marries the doctor. The 1939 Bette Davis Dark Victory wrapped this up in 106 minutes; the 1963 Susan Hayward remake, Stolen Hours, lasted only 100 minutes. Elizabeth Montgomery's Dark Victory is stretched out over two and one-half hours...and when it's all over, she's just as dead as Davis and Hayward (The Montgomery version was later pared down to 90 minutes, only a minor improvement).