Winter Meeting - Critical Reception

Critical Reception

In his review in The New York Times, Bosley Crowther opined, "Of all the frustrating experiences that Bette Davis has had in films . . . is clearly the most bewildering, not only for her but for us . . . No doubt, the people at Warners thought they were doing Miss Davis a good turn by putting her in this situation which would tax the composure of a lady Job . . . But actually generosity is Miss Davis' misfortune in this case and her manner of handling the situation is much better than that of the script . . . she actually catches at times some sense of a woman's deep disturbance at a most puzzling turn in an affair of love. And never, let's say to her credit, does she nibble the scenery as of yore. However, the explanation may be that she's so busy speaking lines — endless lines of completely tedious dialogue — that she has no time for anything else . . . Catherine Turney, who assembled this rhetoric . . . should be made to sit through Winter Meeting about twenty-five or thirty times — which is the number of times you are likely to feel you've sat through it when you've seen it once."

Time observed, "The best thing that can be said about Winter Meeting is that its attempt to articulate Ethel Vance's obscure theme is a thoroughly honest failure and that Bette Davis's talents are great enough to be sometimes apparent even in the midst of such unrewarding mediocrity."

Variety noted, "Miss Davis tries hard, but the script and the part and its treatment are against her, and the role assigned Davis opposite her is too much for him."

TV Guide stated, "This one has more talk than a Senate filibuster and is only a tenth as interesting. Bette Davis is one of the great 'sufferers' of the silver screen and she does it again here, but the audience suffers just as much in this overblown drama."