Prepare to be swept away by an emotional tsunami. Charlotte Vale, a young woman from a wealthy Boston family who is bullied by her domineering widowed mother. Under this tyranny, Charlotte has become a neurotic, frumpy, bespectacled spinster who lives at home.
Her sister saves her from a nervous breakdown by sending her to a sanatorium run by the kindly Dr Jaquith (Claude Rains). Davis’s transformation into an elegant, beautiful woman is one of Hollywood’s iconic moments and her frustrating relationship with architect Jerry Durrance one of its most moving.
‘Davis’s performance is at once spiky and angular and yet also soft, sensual and vulnerable. This film is exquisitely crafted and passionately acted.’ (The Guardian)