Bette Davis Accepts the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1977 

A fascinating, versatile acting genius was Bette. She was indeed the Queen of "old" Hollywood!

Greatest actress in motion picture history ! Bette Davis is the first actress who showed that women could have strong roles and not to be assert to men. A huge and brilliant talent (sorry for my approximative english, i'm french)

She's my favorite actress of all time, legend.

I don't care how many years go by, I STILL consider Bette Davis the BEST actress in the history of film!

Gone, but never forgotten. 2023, and we still love Bette. ❤️ There is no one else like her.

Never will be another like her: and I mean that she was the Queen of Hollywood bar none

I love her speaking voice!

Bette.....you were one of a kind!! Extremely talented actress and a tough cookie who took no one's crap!! Love her sense of humor!! You are truly missed but will live on always through your amazing work!!

To my mind, the greatest actress of all time. What a legend! I think she won only two Oscars, one for Dangerous and the other for All About Eve. She should have won many more. In any case, an Oscar in that era, with competition that included such Eternals as Katherine Hepburn, Judy Garland, Barbara Stanwyck, etc... one Oscar would then (1932-1952), be worth ten Oscars today.

She is a legend

My favorite actress of all time! I wanted her to live to be 100 but with all the problems she faced in her last years, she still made it to 81. I had watched this back when it was on t.v. and I had forgotten what a well-thought and emotional speech she had given. Thanks to the person who was able to post this! There will never be another actress like Bette Davis. That kind of class and exuberance is rare these days. At least we still have so many films to remember her by!

Whenever I see and hear the likes of Bette Davis and am completely entertained; I am also deeply saddened by what passes for talent/celebrity in Hollywood in the 21st century. Long live the Golden Age of entertainment!!!!.

She as a magnificent actress!! one of the best of all time!!

Bette Davis is so deserving of the AFI Life Achievement Award, God Bless.

I love the 3rd person speech! Bette pulls it off perfectly

beyond a LEGEND....love her.

She is just so fascinating what a legend

I love watching these AFI speeches. They are so full of history and so full of sincerity! She's a doll and a funny quote in the end. :) Bette Davis! WE love you!

it's wonderful to see her give this heartfelt speech in an unhurried manner. so glad the audience applauded her acknowledgement of her mother. this is also before she had cancer, strokes, and many other severe health problems. the more interviews of hers I see, the more I like her. the Johnny Carson ones are pure delight. go watch!

A legend in her own time.

I wish AFI would upload the entire ceremony

An Icon like we'll never see again. Amazing!! Rest in Peace, Miss Bette Davis!

i think she looked great here.

What an extraordinary actress and woman! I miss you!

Bette Davis: A CLASS act all the way..

What a great dame, and what an extraordinary body of work! They're all gone now from this Golden Age, but thank goodness for the films.

A GREAT ACTRESS INDEED. SEEN ALL OF HER MOVIES & WAS VERY IMPRESSED. TALENT, YES VERY MUCH SO! THANKS!! TO THE LATE BETTE DAVIS!!!

It's Miss Davis's command of language, Patrician phrasing, voice projection, clear and precise enunciation, emphasis on key signifiers and lilt, the killer staccato and punctured delivery, the raspiness caused by smoking and even the steely timbre of her voice well before the heavy smoking had any real effect... all of this weaponry within her canon of work, plus the underrated and understudied magic of "affect" and "affectation" (which is one of the great tools of a dramatic actor or actress). Bette Davis was THE great mannerist par excellence in modern times. Far better than any postmodern or neo-mannerist painter even. Her performances contain the aristocratic agency of mannerism within them. Watch the way she uses pause, or turns around at just the right moment, the way she flashes those saucer-like google eyes, or darts the eyeballs to the side, always at precisely the right moment. This is mannerism. A now forgotten art form which appeared in European art around 1520 and lasted until the end of the 16th century. However, art is a continuous phenomenon - not discontinuous - it is revived and reworked by other artists in later times in various formats and genres - and Bette Davis and other great actors of her generation developed this Italianate style and gave it life in the motion picture arts in Hollywood - which also owes a great deal to this late High Renaissance art form and to Græco-Roman artificiality in wet plasterwork, terracotta pottery, bas relief and the dramatic arts before that. These days we favour a more naturalistic acting style, more in keeping in the line of descent of the early phase Renaissance masters (Da Vinci, Michaelangelo) but Davisian mannerism has all the elements of a Bronzino Painting, or Cellini sculpture. It frightens us... no!! terrifies us by the slow burn of the artificial stare. The Davisian stare is Medusean in scale and penetrates the viewer viscerally. A Davis mannerist performance is intellectually sophisticated and favours a counterbalance of compositional tension (those fabulous staircase scenes in All About Eve, for example), and artificial elegance (the shoot out on the porch in The Letter). Modern day mannerists like Cate Blanchett and Meryl Streep have tried to imitate the style ad infinitem, but I have not seen it used anywhere so "affectedly" and economically as when Davis uploads it like a Master painter onto the canvas of the silver screen.

Davis' acceptance speech, in conjunction with the speech given by James Cagney in 1974, represents the best of the AFI life achievement presentations. Both recipients were well prepared for the honor and had scripted their remarks, unlike some of the honorees. Davis, like Cagney [ both Warner Bros. contract players ] made sure to give thanks to their family members and their co-stars and their directors- in Davis' case, she was indebted to William Wyler, who directed her best work [ Jezebel, The Little Foxes, The Letter ] and in Cagney's case he acknowledged his childhood friends, co-stars like Pat O, Brien and Doris Day and his artistic inspirations.

This women was so excellent and because of film Bette still IS EXCELLENT!

A legend. The greatest actress ever!!

One of the three or four greatest actresses of all time, maybe the best. A true legend R. I. P.

Eloquent, brilliant, intelligent, and a gifted actress almost her whole life. Such a legend and one I would have given anything to just spend a day with. They will never be another of her caliber.

There will never be anyone else like Bette... RIP

This is brilliant, I LOVE BETTE, she was just awesome. Could we get some more videos from Bette's AFI? That'd be amazing

Love her so much. The greatest actress of all time. No one can ever touch her. Amazing talent . Will never be forgotten.

Lovely, smart and polish.I say, "Show them how it's done", thank you very much.

I saw this when it originally aired. Outstanding! So many great movies! All about Eve is one of my favorites and In This Our Life.

what an amazing such a great force...

I love seeing the legends appreciated while they are living.

Love Bette Davis. Love everything about her.....even her voice. Wish I could have met her.

They should have given her a standing ovation!!!!!

All About Eve... one of the best films of all time!

I have heard that my favorite of her films was also hers. Mr. Skeffington. An incredible character study of vanity with a twist at the end worth of O'Henry.Major tear-jerker

Initially, how wonderful that Bette Davis accepted the AFI Life Achievement Award when she still enjoyed good health and her voice and physical appearance was not ravaged by her subsequent stroke. She payed a deserved tribute to her Mother's support and the inestimable contribution of William Wyler to her career. What films! Jezebel, The Little Foxes, Now Voyager, Mrs. Skeffington, All About Eve, Dark Victory. Films that stood the test of time.

Her outstanding roles and talent are why she still to this day is a relatively household name and a figure of what success beauty and maturity truly is.

I am so glad they did this for her before she died.. She totally deserved it!!

I totally agree! She is my favorite film actress of all time!

she was a pure pleasure to watch.

bette davis will be in my heart and will be dearly missed and will be rememeberd for her work with the hollywood canteen and her film roles and as a person she will be missed by everybody and will be in our hearts for ever this is my fav line from one of her movies fasten your seatbelts it,s going to be a bumpy night

...a one & only true legend. RIP Bette !!

Davis, truly one daring unstoppable actress with super great talent! Iconic and unique, with her own signature style. Only one Bette. If I had to pick a film that speaks volumes of her talent, Now Voyager. I love her in every frame! She's amazing. Bravo Bette!

Really fantastic speech: smart, succinct, funny, generous, genuine, very moving.

Ms Davis is my all time favourite actress there will never be any one like our Miss Bette Davis.........

She is one of my upmost favs of all time....I still watch all of her films...she gave me many "a bumpy night" watching them...her acting was superb...nothing in my era can touch her...she truly is one of the greats...I miss her....I hope to maybe get to meet her in the heavens above someday...🙏♥️

Love her! I watch "Now, Voyager" over and over.

The greatest, the best, the magnificent Bette Davis. She will never, ever be surpassed.

Amazing fashion style, attitude and great wisdom. So ahead of her times 👍

I saw this when it was first televised in '77. I would love to see the complete show again either on dvd or youtube. Bette was the best.

I watched when this when it initially aired when I was 12 years old and was completely enthralled.

i Adore Bette Davis ! what a voice i get chills

Thanks AFI and especially Bette Davis.

I love this lady and todays actresses , cant hold a candle to her

She may not have seen herself as beautiful but I DO!!! As long as we agree that being sultry, seductive and brilliant on screen equates to beauty.

She was and will always be a legend and superstar! God broke the mold when He created her. She was one of the only two female Actresses in the late 1940’s to carry a film on her name alone. The other was Judy Garland! Bette Davis was the greatest dramatic Actress in the history of movies. In my opinion, she surpassed even Katharine Hepburn. Garland was and still is The Greatest singer and Entertainer that God ever put on this Earth.

she was the first woman to be awarded the AFI? wow

I have always loved Betty Davis

Miss Davis broke the mold, that is why today she is still known by the young people and her name is instantly recognizable. In her time she took on gender inequality and sought equal treatmen, she stood her ground and fought. She had a deep family principle and took care of her mum, sister etc.More than that she was dazzlingly talented, massively capable and she stood head and shoulders above almost every one. A first class actress, a person true to herself and a professional. A ONE OF MODEL.

What a legend ! Bette Davis we love you with those Bette Davis eyes !

That dress is amazing!! Something you see on the red carpet in 2023!

Maybe she didn't become the first woman with three Oscars, but still she became the first woman to win this award! And she deserves to be the first! Forever and ever! The best of the best! A woman who inspires and doesn't let you give up in whatever situation you are!

Everybody said she was impossible to work with, but my God, the iconic performances she left us! Anyway, all the brilliant ones are a bit difficult.

Thanks for posting! It's been a long time since I have seen this! I remember watching on TV in 1977.

A legend in her own time, a legend for all time. She and the actresses and actors of her generation will never be replicated in today's films, no matter how hard modern actors try. She was one of the best actors on screen.

A Pure LEGEND !

One of the things I loved about Bette was the fact that she kept it real .She did not hide behind an image she created for herself like so many in Hollywood did ( Crawford)

FANTASTIC

@mimzy84 Thank you for your feedback. We will be posting more great speeches from the AFI Life Achievement Award shows in the very near future. Hope you enjoy them all, including Lillian Gish!

This is a true legend.

Legend. RIP Sweet Darling.

#1 actress of all time!

My favorite ese Bette Davis

The previous AFI honorees as of 1977, were giants in the film industry: John Ford, iconic director of Stagecoach, How Green Was My Valley, My Darling Clementine, Young Mr. Lincoln, The Quiet Man, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. James Cagney, legendary actor, and star of Public Enemy, Angels With Dirty Faces, The Roaring Twenties, White Heat, Love Me Or Leave Me, Man Of A Thousand Faces, Yankee Doodle Dandy, and Mister Roberts. Orson Welles, the innovative director and actor, who directed Citizen Kane, arguably , the greatest American film, Touch Of Evil, Chimes At Midnight, and star of The Third Man. William Wyler, great director of Wuthering Heights, Dead End, Jezebel, The Best Years Of Our Lives, and The Little Foxes. Davis was delighted to join their ranks.

She is one of the greatest actress. I love you for ever Ms Bette Davis!

What a beautiful lady. I was reading a book when Bette was almost Scarlett O Hara in “ Gone With The Wind “. They did not give her the role because she was not that beautiful enough that Vivien Liegh was perfection. First of all how dare you say that Bette Davis was not pretty!? I think that Bette was prettier than Vivien Liegh. We should have more actresses like Bette Davis and was an actress with such emotion. Bette Davis was an astonishing actress ahead of her time.

Now, that's a star.

*-* MARVELLOUS! What a lady! WHAT an actress! ♥ A legend!

Ms. Davis dared to be different.

Beautiful woman and a great actress.

Love her to pieces ❤

I would love to see the entire episode of this

Forever Legend x

I love her

Greatest actress (or actor) in film history. The great Meryl Streep agrees (see her TCM tribute to David), among so many others.

2:13 camera cuts to Ryan O'Neal, ironic....two legendary actors now reunited Rest in peace both ❤

She was Hollywood Royalty !!

The greatest actress ever

The greatest actresses of all time!

She's my prefered actrees of all times.

This acceptance speech by Bette Davis of the AFI Life Achievement Award is arguably, one of the top five; the others that come to mind are the James Cagney speech in 1974, the Gregory Peck speech, the Billy Wilder speech, and the Orson Welles and Frank Capra speeches. AFI originally released these award shows on VHS tapes, however, isn't it time for the collection, or at least the best honorees, the aforementioned icons and Hitchcock, Connery, Kelly, Astaire, to be on bluray DVD?