Great Stars: Bette Davis

'She could look demure while behaving like an empress. Blonde, with eyes like pearls too big for her head, she was very striking, but marginally pretty and certainly not beautiful . . . But it was her edge that made her memorable – her upstart superiority, her reluctance to pretend deference to others.'

Bette Davis was the commanding figure of the great era of Hollywood stardom, with a drive and energy that put her contemporaries in the shade. She played queens, jezebels and bitches, she could out-talk any male co-star, she warred with her studio, worked like a demon, got through four husbands, was nominated for seven Oscars and – no matter what – always carried on fighting. This is her story, told as never before by legendary film critic David Thomson.