1963
a mirror image of events that occurred later in Susan's life. It is the story of a glamourous socialite who is stricken with a terminal illness.
The movie was a re-make of an earlier film starring Bette Davis, called "Dark Victory".
Bette Davis went blind just before dying valiantly in "Dark Victory" (Warner Brothers, 1939), and Susan Hayward did the same in an even more cloying manner in "Stolen Hours". All but the most hardy fans of soap opera must have been sorely tested by Daniel Petrie's flat direction of this made in Britain re-make in De Luxe Color.Jessamyn West's limp screenplay, adapted from the drama by George Emerson Brewer, Jr. and Bertram Bloch, had Susan as a wealthy American divorcee in London suffering from recurrent loss of vision and headaches and discovering she has only a year to live. Death is seen as an enobling agent, as the heroine gives us her racing driver lover (Edward Judd) and marries a nice doctor, (Michael Craig). Luckily, she is rich enough to make her last days comfortable in an idyllic Cornish village. Even Miss Hayward, facing death with majestic fortitude, failed to jerk many tears. Also in Dennis Holt's production were Diane Baker, Paul Rogers, Robert Bacon, Paul Stassino,and Jerry Desmande. (Mirisch/Barbican)
Susan's sister
Susan's doctor/husband
Susan Hayward Homepage
Click "next"
