The aristocratic architect Don Bellows (Franchot Tone) worships the former successful actress Joyce Heath (Bette Davis),who prematurely left the stage considered a jinx, for changing his life for better. When Don goes with his fiancée Gail Armitage (Margaret Lindsay) and a friend to a bar, he sees Joyce completely drunken and penniless, and he takes her to his house in the countryside. Joyce stays there for a period in rehabilitation, and Don falls in love with her and calls off his engagement with Gail. Don also decides to produce a play for her and to get married with Joyce after the opening night. But Joyce has a secret in her past that will affect their lives forever.

"Dangerous" is a melodramatic movie with a great story but a corny conclusion, with Joyce Heath returning to her crippled husband. Bette Davis has a great performance and won her first Oscar of Best Actress. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Perigosa" ("Dangerous")

Bette Davis plays the "femme fatale" as no other actress before or since. Every scene she plays gives us a riveting performance even though at times we may think it a trifle theatrical. In "Dangerous" she plays the role of Joyce Heath, a great actress, yearning for love which is denied to her. Her frantic outbursts make life for those around her difficult to comprehend. Desperate situations require desperate remedies and in a fit of madness Joyce Heath decides to resolve her difficulties in her own dangerous way.

The ending may appear rather glib but the actors themselves give performances not to be missed and Bette Davis is a worthy recipient of an Academy Award.

I had a hard time deciding whether to score this film 6 or 7. Regardless, it's a slightly better than average film that inexplicably earned its star, Bette Davis, an Oscar for Best Actress. While I am a HUGE fan of Ms. Davis' work, she made many films that were better than this and her performance, while generally good, is a bit too melodramatic to have earned this award. As she later said, she felt this award was a way to make it up to her for not even being nominated the year before for OF HUMAN BONDAGE. A few of her better performances were in THE LETTER, LITTLE FOXES, JEZEBEL (for which she DID win another Oscar),DARK VICTORY, NOW VOYAGER and many others. This award was, in the case of DANGEROUS, a gift.

Franchot Tone plays a big-time architect who spots a faded stage star (Davis) who is down and out and nurses her back to health at his country home. Amazingly, her alcoholism seems to vanish in a matter of a day or two and Tone becomes smitten for this rather surly lady--even though RICH and NICE Margaret Lindsay is already engaged to him. Choosing Davis seemed like choosing a McDonald's Happy Meal over A T-Bone steak from the nicest restaurant in town! The film is diverting and interesting but seldom does it seem credible. You just can't imagine a supposedly smart and talented man like Franchot Tone's character throwing his life away so foolishly nor can you imagine Davis' character feeling selfless and driving into the tree towards the end. Both seemed like soap opera, not a serious drama. While these soapy elements are rather exciting, never do they seem remotely like behaviors of supposedly sane individuals. Because of that, the film can never be seen as great or even near great--just entertaining fluff.