The 15 Best Bette Davis Movies, Ranked

Many have tried to define Bette Davis, but few have succeeded. Nobody stormed into Hollywood and changed it forever as she did. She took great delight in playing tough, complicated women, the kind of women who loved men, like most female characters in early Hollywood. And although these were women who loved men, they didn't need them to survive. Davis was exceptionally confident and was never afraid to speak the truth. Whether it was a bad script or a director she didn't like, Bette Davis made sure they knew they weren't up to her talents.

Davis brought incredible honesty to her roles, making the characters she played seem like real human beings. That's all the more impressive, considering that many female parts at the time were two-dimensional. She earned an incredible 11 Oscar nominations throughout her career, though somehow, she only won two.

While there will always be talk about the kind of person Bette Davis really was, there's only one thing that matters. She was one of the most talented performers to ever walk the Earth. From showstopping melodramas to creepy horror to tense dramas, there was nothing Davis wasn't willing to try — provided the script was good enough, of course. Here are the best Bette Davis movies, ranked.

With films like "All About Eve," "The Little Foxes," and "Mr. Skeffington," Bette Davis established a real knack for extremely opinionated and utterly ruthless women. While Davis had the range to do just about anything, these nastier, shadier characters made her legendary.

If one film in Bette Davis' later career took these characteristics and amplified them to the extreme, it was Roy Ward Baker's 1968 black comedy, "The Anniversary." Davis plays the relentlessly wicked Mrs. Taggart, who summons her three adult sons back to her house every year to celebrate the anniversary of her wedding anniversary — even though her husband passed many years ago. This time, each son has something to tell their mother that threatens to doom their relationship. Things are bound to get uncomfortable.

Essentially people yelling at each other for 95 minutes straight, "The Anniversary" is a vicious and ridiculous farce. Davis is tremendous, owning every minute and spitting venomous lines with abject glee. Her hair and outfits are amazing, but Davis also sports a fashionable teardrop-shaped eyepatch — color-coordinated with her fashions, naturally. It loses points on one of the son's plotlines that aged poorly (to put it lightly), but "The Anniversary" is a deeply uncomfortable and funny riot about family pressure with some truly awful people. Davis was never more callous, and it's an absolute thrill to watch. 

Bette Davis ascended to stardom with John Cromwell's "Of Human Bondage" in 1934. The actress had many roles before this one, but her staggering, ferocious performance as Mildred Rogers made Hollywood take notice. So much so that Davis became a write-in nominee at the Academy Awards for her performance. Watching "Of Human Bondage," it's clear why this is the role that set her on the path her fans know her for. The scene in which Davis lashes out at Leslie Howard is full of passion, rage, and undeniable star quality.

The film follows Philip (Howard), an artist who turns to the medical field after he's told he doesn't have the talent to make it in the art world. Upon meeting Mildred (Davis), he's completely smitten. That feeling is in no way reciprocated. Mildred is stunningly callous to Philip, dismissing him with glee and mocking him for his disability. Still, the two begin a toxic on-again-off-again relationship destined to doom them. No matter what Philip does, and no matter how far he gets from Mildred, he finds it impossible to resist her. Shot like a silent film and full of powerful close-ups, "Of Human Bondage" thrums with emotion.

Bette Davis had a reputation for being difficult to work with — especially for those with whom she didn't agree. Nevertheless, Davis had some genuine friendships that cut through all the Hollywood glitz and glam. One of her closest friends was legendary actress Olivia de Havilland. Watch this wonderful clip of them on the show "This Is Your Life." Their genuine affection for one another is a joy to behold. Despite both being in many films, they only collaborated six times. One of their very best films together was John Huston's "In This Our Life."

This stunning melodrama finds Davis and de Havilland playing rival sisters. Roy (de Havilland) is happily married to Peter (Dennis Morgan), while Stanley (Davis) is engaged to Craig (George Brent). Stanley has always been hard to pin down, and although Roy loves her sister, she's always been cautious around her. Her unpredictability nags at her. It turns out Roy is right to be cautious. On a whim, Stanley runs away with Roy's husband.

Bouncing between sly and seductive to vicious and manipulative, Davis is fascinating. Although Stanley is ruthless, Davis is so convincing that there's never any doubt that these men would fall head over heels for her.

Delivering her cruelty with a conniving, twisted smile, Bette Davis was rarely nastier than she was in "Mr. Skeffington." She plays Fanny Trellis, a woman who, according to her husband, the titular Mr. Job Skeffington (Claude Rains), could never really love anyone. That's probably true, but the closest thing Fanny has to love is her brother, Trippy (Richard Waring). When she discovers that her brother has embezzled money from his employer, Job, Fanny marries him to help her brother avoid prosecution.

This infuriates Trippy, as he's antisemitic, and Job is Jewish. It's a loveless marriage for Fanny and Job, though. Lovestruck, Job continues their marriage even though he knows his love will never be requited. "I married the woman everybody else wanted to," Job tells Fanny, knowing that she's never going to love him back. But at least he "got her," even if it's at the cost of his (and everyone else's) happiness. The movie spans a considerable number of years, and Fanny eventually falls extremely ill with diphtheria, which strips away the beauty she's so intensely coveted. It leads to a tremendous scene where Fanny sits in bed eating. As the ravages of the illness seem to have suddenly caught up with her in a devastating fashion, she's haunted by hallucinations. One of the earliest films to thoughtfully explore antisemitism, "Mr. Skeffington" is a searing drama featuring one of Davis' most difficult and exciting characters.

Bette Davis always fought for what she felt was right. A prime example of this was her highly publicized contract dispute with Warner Bros. After her Oscar win, Davis wanted her contract to be more reflective of her amazing talent, and most importantly, she wanted roles that suited her. That doesn't seem to be much of an ask, but in the 1930s, it was really quite something. Her negotiations were unsuccessful, and she famously remarked, "I am a woman. I was told I had no right to fight like a man. Jack Warner was determined to teach me a lesson."

That rebellious energy is the key to her expressive performance in "Jezebel." In her second collaboration with William Wyler, Davis stars as Julie, a Southern belle who seems to derive joy from upsetting societal norms. All Julie must do for the annual Olympus ball is wear a white dress like all the other unmarried women. But where's the fun in that? Instead, Julie dons a bold red gown, astonishing everyone.

Despite his objections, her fiancé, Preston (Henry Fonda), does his best to play along, but Julie's rebellion proves too much for even him. The next day, he leaves her and breaks off their engagement. For most people, that would be the end. For Julie, it's a challenge. She's going to get her man back. It's no surprise that Davis won her second Oscar for this fiery, vain, and glorious performance.

One of Davis' most beloved screen partners was George Brent. The two were entwined in cinema for much of the 1930s, starring together in nearly a dozen films. In her memoir "This 'N That," Davis even remarks that Brent was one of the great loves of her life, though the two were never married. Their chemistry was always apparent, but it was never more scintillating and emotional than in Edmund Golding's heartbreaking and powerful "Dark Victory."

Davis is sensational as Judith Traherne, a socialite with a penchant for partying. Behind Judith's eyes is a devastating reality. She has an inoperable brain tumor and must come to terms with the end of her life. Judith falls madly in love with her doctor (Brent), and the pair marry with the intent of enjoying the rest of Judith's life together. Yet, it's not that simple, as Judith's longtime friend and stable master, O'Leary (Humphrey Bogart), confesses his love for Judith. It's one of Davis' most complex and emotional roles, beautifully expressing Judith's unimaginable circumstances in ways that resonate deeply. The ending of "Dark Victory" hits hard as Davis channels a lifetime of Judith's emotions into a single, heartrending look.

Sure, it's emotionally manipulative, but "Dark Victory" is so effective it's best to let yourself get swept up in the magic of it all.

It's hard to imagine that someone as gifted as Bette Davis could have a faltering career, but it was a very different time for women in Hollywood. While things haven't gotten much better, there was a trenchant desire to keep women on screen young — regardless of the age of their male counterparts. Robert Aldrich's "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" seems like a direct comment on this issue that plagued the industry (and, in many ways, still does).

"Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" is the stuff of legends. Joan Crawford stars alongside Davis. Their legendary rivalry informed the series "Feud," created by Ryan Murphy. The pair plays sisters, former child stars who have completely faded. They live in a decrepit mansion, and Jane (a haunting Davis) is more domineering than ever, especially since her sister Blanche (Crawford) was paralyzed from the waist down in an accident believed to have been caused by Jane, though there's no evidence. You can feel their rivalry come to life on screen. After all, Davis is notorious for saying, "The best time I ever had with Joan Crawford was when I pushed her down the stairs."

Bette Davis delivers an extraordinary performance. It almost seems as if Davis is staring directly into the souls of studio executives, reminding them that just because she was too old to be considered an "ingenue," that does not mean that she still wasn't one of the best actresses ever. Davis has never been more frightening, and throughout her magnificent oeuvre, there was only one time she burned brighter.