To mark the release of a restored version of the classic melodrama Now, Voyager, here is the best of Hollywood’s
Queen of mean, from screwball romps to wild-eyed chillers
![Bette Davis’s 20 greatest performances – ranked!](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/e166fb08f26f39c9ca14f08275c7b2e381c963bb/0_79_2410_1446/master/2410.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=1786ae36f3ae82c65f9c1947e9e36c8f)
Bette Davis was on her final stretch in this Agatha Christie vehicle, with a gallery of A-listers phoning in a souped-up version of their existing screen personae. The scene is a 1930s paddle steamer chugging down the Nile, aboard which a wealthy heiress has been shot: Peter Ustinov’s Hercule Poirot investigates and suspicion falls on a querulous
American, Mrs Van Schuyler, played by Davis, who may have wanted to get her gnarled hands on the victim’s pearl necklace.