a senior official in nigeria says that more than 300 schoolboys, who were kidnapped last friday have been handed over to government security forces. the state governor says the boys, who were located in the zamfara forest, are safe and well, and on their way home. a french court has sentenced a moroccan man to life in prison for attempting to carry out a deadly attack on a high—speed, paris—bound train in 2015. ayoub el khazzani was overpowered by passengers, including three off—duty american soldiers. the incident was later turned into a hollywood film. us cyber—security experts say a major hacking campaign, uncovered this week, posed a grave risk to the government's nuclear stockpile. the treasury and commerce department was also the subject of an attempted attack. several politicians have blamed the russian government, but moscow says the claims are baseless. now on bbc news, on the 70th anniversary of one of her

career—defining films all about eve, talking movies looks back at the life and times of bette davis. hello from new york. i'm tom brook, and welcome to this special edition of talking movies, in which we pay tribute to one of the greatest actresses of 20th—century american cinema, bette davis. many people know her because of her famous lines, "fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night" from her picture, all about eve, or, "i would "kiss you but i've just washed my hair" from the cabin in the cotton. she was a real survivor, born in 1908, she made some 100 movies over a six decade career. this year marks the 70th anniversary of one of her more celebrated pictures, all about eve, set right here in new york's theatreland.

so we're going to start this tribute to bette davis by looking at that movie in a bit more detail. we are all busy little bees, full of stings making honey day and night. aren't we, honey? all about eve has become a true classic. bette davis plays margo channing, a successful stage actress, getting on in years who is befriended by an ardent young fan, eve harrington, who insinuates herself into channing's life. harrington desperately wants everything that channing has and uses her to advance her career. bette davis brings all her skills together perfectly to give a performance that really brought about the film's success. i think without bette davis you'd have a hollow centre. because if you really tried to deconstruct all about eve, it exists on its surface, that's the pleasure of it, it's about show people. to some extent, they are superficial, but obviously, with great actors like bette davis, you also have this incredible force of will beneath the surface. and that's what she gives it, even though you never actually see her character, margo channing, performing on stage. there is such a sense of power.

to many, this satire on ambition in the showbiz world written and directed byjoseph mankiewicz is noteworthy because it has one of the most famous lines in movie history... fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night. all about eve is also memorable because it has marilyn monroe, later to become a huge star, in one of her earliest roles. but in nearly all appraisals of the film, which earned 1a 0scar nominations, is praise the bette davis‘ performance. and you pose as a playwright? a situation pregnant with possibilities and all you can think of is, "everybody go to sleep." what i really like about all about eve is that you see that she's so funny and in her autobiography, she talks a lot about how she didn't particularly think she was good at comedy. and i don't find that that's true at all, i actually think she was hilarious in her private life, she's hilarious in her

interviews, and i think that in margo channing, you see that she has this real gift, kind of, for this drawing room, kind of, cafe society comedy. and i wish that she had been able to do more of that, or let herself do more of that. you've heard of her great interest in the theatre? we have that in common. then you two must have a long talk. the margo channing—eve harrington relationship, one of mentor and protege, is very much at the heart of all about eve. it has spawned copycats. all about eve has been reproduced effectively, that sort of central relationship was being conjured in many shows, all about my mother, even the favourite, the extraordinary recent movie about queen anne, is to some extent about an all about eve situation. it's become the prototype, and people will often use that as shorthand to describe the essence of the movie. funny business, a woman's career. the things you drop

on your way up the ladder so you can move faster. nowadays, all about eve is interpreted very differently, depending on who you consult. it has been labelled homophobic, misogynistic and feminist. i think it is doing its best to be a feminist film. i think it is feminist for the time, it's about what it takes for a woman to succeed in any business, really. i think it is cracking entertainment, i think that the women are sources of power in it throughout, and the men are fairly lame shirts with nice heads on top. i don't think of it as misogynistic or as homophobic, although, you know, people do all these readings into these things now and find all things lurking beneath the surface that were probably never intended to be there. but for me, it is a film that sucks you in from the get go. every time i truned it on, i think, i will watch five minutes and can't help but watch the entire thing. slow curtain, the end.

bette davis had a remarkable career, she was a grand hollywood star, and was constantly breaking new ground. she was the first actor to get ten 0scar nominations, and she was the first woman to receive a lifetime achievement award from the american film institute. emma jones has been taking stock of bette davis's career. bette davis was a ferocious combination of queen and worker bee. that ethic drove her from her new england home to broadway and then to hollywood, where, by her mid—20s, she had already made two dozen films. her first significant role was that mildred rogers in 1934's of human bondage. do you know what you are?! you gimpy—legged monster! you are a cripple, a cripple, a cripple! martin, you spent a lifetime studying bette davis, this role of the london waitress, was this the first of the unsympathetic characters that she clearly really relished playing?

bette played her to the hilt, she went for broke with this part. and it astonished audiences and critics. they sat back and they said, "who is this woman? "she is one of the best actresses working on the american screen. her image changed, they stopped trying to turn her into a sexy, sort of vamp character, and they started to promote her then as one of the best actresses working in hollywood. mildred didn't produce an oscar, but davis did get her first one the next year playing an alcoholic actress in dangerous. the year after that, she was taken to london's high court for refusing to play weaker parts in her studio contract. i knew that that was my future. i knew that only good directors and good scripts could give me a career. i couldn't do it with the junk, that's all. she lost the case but won a nickname, battling bette. davis was at her peak during world war ii, with five more 0scar

nominations and her as the star of masterpieces such as the schemeing regina in the little foxes, as a an ill socialite in dark victory and now supressed boston heri ress charlotte in now voyager, who finds a illicit love on a cruise ship. we think of hollywood stars proving their stars status, you know, winning those 0scars, by showing us roles where they inhabit very different lives, where they are unafraid to look unglamorous, where they show character suffering quite often. and that is exactly what bette davis was doing. in many ways, you could say she sort of redefined what a star turn was. a start turn had to show an actress going full hilt and demonstrating everything that she had to offer. julia, itjust seems like women were her great fans and her box office during those years. was there just something very relatable about bette davis? she was not tall and willowy and, you know...

her face wasn't perfectly symmetrical in the ways that classic aesthetic beauty is considered to be. she had a quality with her eyes, the famous bette davis eyes, and i think she reached out to the audience of women and pulled them in. there was a sympathy there that i don't think has been duplicated in the same way. well, thanks for nothing. but the actress herself and her female fans were having families in the baby boom years and her box office decline. while her appearance in the star, another oscar—nominated movie as a washed up actress clinging onto her award seemed as a prelude to her own fate. but davis kept working on tv as well as on stage and saw one of her greatest rivals, joan crawford, pointed in the direction of 1962's what ever happened to baby jane. the horrorfilm gave davis, in her mid—50s, a new career.

it is an amazing performance and it won her a new audience. the kids caught onto this you know, and it put her into a new genre, horror, thriller and exploitation movies, cult movies. it gave her a different kind of stardom. she became a cult star. by the 1980s, she had passed into legend with a hit song, bette davis eyes. the whales of august with lillian gish after davis suffered a bout of breast cancer and stroke is considered one of the greatest. she died in 1989 aged 81. she was gifted with a talent for playing the hardest characters film could offer but also tenacity. it gave her longevity and integrity few could rival. i had the privilege of meeting bette davis several decades ago when she was shooting on location on a small island off the coast of maine.

the film in question was the whales of august, which emma jones just referred to in her report. interviewing bette davis was a truly terrifying experience. she could be quite intimidating. and on the day i visited the set, she seemed to be in a vile mood, and i think she found me rather irritating. anyway, for reasons i cannot quite remember, i was woefully unprepared for the encounter. it was all very bewildering, and just before the interview began, she lit two cigarettes simultaniously in her mouth and she kept puffing on them the whole time during our conversation. anyway, we talked about her career in hollywood and the film that she was shooting on location. what colour is your hair now, sarah? the film she was making was a drama involving two elderly sisters. the co—stars included cinima great, lillian gish, a legendary name in silent film. ms davis, you haven't done a theatrical film for quite a long time, what was it that attracted

you to this particular picture? the same thing that attracts me to any picture i like, it is a good script. that is the reason why i accept something. what is it you like about the script? oh, you're asking me to tell the plot and all, i just liked the script. what about the character, do you like the character? yes, i think she's interesting. it is the first time i have ever played a blind woman, which was a challenge. very interesting, when you play a blind woman day after day, you get the feeling you really cannot see anything, it is sort of a hypnotic kind of thing, you really don't see anything. what about working with lillian gish, because she really is quite a legend, isn't she? yes, i have enjoyed meeting her very much. and you too are a quite legend in many ways, aren't you? i think we are different. she is a legend from silent

pictures and i am not. i'm a legend, they say i am a legend. i think you should only be called a legend after you have gone. it is a bit bold to have legend. i meet a lot of young people and they often remember lines from your pictures, very famous lines. yes, i have quite a few famous lines. i think that's fine. of course, one is, "fasten your seat belts", from eve. another one is, "i would love to you but i have just "washed my hair" from one of my first films, cabin in the cotton. of course, i cannot claim credit for those lines, they were written by mr mankiewicz and a few other people. do you find acting becomes easier as you get older? no, the more famous you become, the harder it is to live up to that fame. and you set a certain standard for yourself and with other people and you just mustn't let yourself let down that standard.

we're so different from you and i. we are strong stock. what do you hope the audience will get out of this film? well, i hope the producers and all of us get a lot of money, that is what we are making it for. we just have to wait and see, but that is our biggest hope. and there is no way of telling whether the film is going to make money is there? no, if we had people who could guess that, they would be very important to us, wouldn't they? no, no, it is all a gamble. you can only do something you believe in and hope the audience does. thank you very much, indeed. you are very welcome, you are very welcome and you are very brave to have braved this freezing day on this island. lovely to meet you. a persistent theme in the work of bette davis was one of mental illness. in several of herfilms, she portrayed characters who were explicitly or implicitly struggling

with mental health problems rarely seen on screen. you like making fun of me, don't you? you think it's fun making fun of me, don't you?! ”119112, bette davis stared in the celebrated film now voyager, in which he plays charlotte vale, a woman with mental health problems who is transformed by a psychologist and then embarks on a passionate love affair. it features one of davis's most restrained performances, for which she was nominated for an oscar, and it was also ground—breaking in its depiction from a woman also ground—breaking in its depiction of a woman suffering from mental illness. it stands as a very interesting emblem for female madness in cinema partically because it shows a sense of hope and interiority for the character that i don't think you see in a lot of other representations of women dealing with mental illness. lunch, ms hudson! why certainly ms hudon! she tilted closer to her

in 1962 in whatever happened to baby jane. she played a famous grown—up child actress suffering from an unidentified form of mental illness and from an unidentified form of mental illness, tortures her sister. although it is a far more sinister performance than now voyager she finds moments of sincerity and the film works to understand how life in hollywood can ruin a woman's mine. davis had a reputation of being combative on the set and when combined with her wild eyed acting style, led some film critics and historians to diagnose her from afar as being bipolar, suffering from poor general mental health. to be clear, there is no evidence this was the case, and some see this armchair psychology as a destructive dynamic that was too common for actresses at the time. i could give you chapter and verse on male directors behaving badly on set. people would say they were monsters,

sadist — they wouldn't say, "oh, they are bipolar." that's a label that gets slapped a lot more on a woman. bette davis played a lot of women who were just on the edge. you know, like in crisis, traumatised, you know, working fiercely to try and get or get back something that they needed. and the way she played those characters was all—out. other characters davis played in films like jezebel, the letter, or in this 0ur life, have characteristics that can be associated with mental illness, such as narcissism, paranoia, or even a kind of sociopathy — even though they never describe it that way specifically. and davis certainly puts a little madness into these characters. it makes for an interesting read of her career, in which the actress —

who was often mislabelled as crazy — challenges viewers to ascertain the difference between mental illness and the woman who has simply been pushed to the brink by a patriarchal society. what's fascinating for me, as a woman who is diagnosed with bipolar disorder, adhd, and anxiety — i am hyper aware of these portrayals and the sort of complications for women and how easily women get diagnosed or looked at as mad. and that is true in biographies of actresses, that's true in how we talk about film characters, and that's true in how we talk about women even today — even though we've made so many gains in the mental health field since now voyager came out in 1942. as both our understanding of mental health and the pressures women in hollywood endure continued to grow, the work of bette davis gets more important. at a time when even majorfemale stars had to fight for roles with some emotional depth,

davis pushed to explore the intricacies of the human mind in ways that were years ahead of her time — and perhaps even ahead of ours. bette davis has long enjoyed a strong fan following, and that includes some gay people who really embrace her. and the actress has long been parodied by drag artists. bette davis has gay icon status around the world — as we now report from berlin. suppose you drop dead. what about your inventory? strong. if it fits me, i'm going to wear it to the olympus ball. streaked. direct, honest... not like some i know who marry the first tart who winks them into the nearest bed. fierce. how dare you kiss me?! wiped my mouth! there are many words to describe the inimitable bette davis. she has won over audiences

all over the world with a strong following in europe and north america — particularly with older gay people familiar with her work. what is it about bette davis that makes her a gay icon? bette davis really took on significance among the gay community when she was famous. and the reason that they probably had such an affinity for her at the time was because of her strong—mindedness, her strong wilfulness to really battle the patriarchy and to stand up for what she believed in. you dare?! betty davis is not only an icon to the gay community but also to the drag community. and it's because she's so fun — not to make fun of — but to perform and to even make larger than life than she already is and she is larger than life. this is a woman whose mannerisms are iconic, her line readings are like no one else,

so drag queens obviously love capitalise on that. i made your favourite! 0n rupaul‘s drag race, alaska won for her spoof of what happened to baby jane. queer people have typically been cast out of society so when somebody like bette davis comes along and she says, "well, i am not going to do that, i am going to continue working and carry on." we as gay people see that, and we find strength in that, we find inspiration from that. she didn't care about being ugly, dirty, blah, blah, blah but as long as her role was perfect and complete. the big thing is really, i think bette davis never really was a real diva, but a really clever woman who really wanted to work good and hard and was really straight.

i distinctly remember addison crossing you off my guest list, what are you doing here? with plenty of accolades to her name, she has remained a beloved and an enduring gay icon but is her appeal dripping down to newer generations and audiences? i feel like she has crossed over into greater culture. there are songs, "bette davis eyes". we know her as this idea of movie star. so, yeah, i think the children know who she is. i hope they do. if not, we should teach them. # she's got bette davis eyes. # she'll turn her music on you...#. well, that brings our special tribute to bette davis edition of talking movies to a close. i hope you have enjoyed the programme. remember, we are online and you can find us on facebook and twitter.

so from me and the rest of the production team in new york, london and berlin, it's goodbye. # she'll tease you... # she's got bette davis eyes. # she'll expose you. # she's got bette davis eyes. ..# hello. 0ur spell of unsettled and mild mid—december weather is set to continue for another few days yet, before things get a little bit cooler into next week, but certainly for friday, it's going to be a windy day, very mild once again with some heavy rain around. now, the heaviest of the rain will be affecting south wales, where the met office haveissued

an amber rain warning. that rain could be bringing some travel disruption and some flooding, up to 100mm falling over the higher ground of south wales. now, through the course of the early hours of friday, that rain is moving its way in from the west. throughout friday, it's going to be heavy for the south west of england, wales, moving into northern england, into scotland as well. this is 3pm in the afternoon. not only will there be a lot of heavy rain, it will be drier in the south east. but the gusts of wind will reach around 60 mph three exposed parts of the irish sea, 30—110 mph gusts of wind elsewhere. northern ireland will see that rain clearing to leave sunshine and some scattered showers, but a wet and to the day for much of scotland, northern england, wales and the south west. very mild once again, 13—14 degrees. we could see 15 celsius and one or two spots. that rain will continue its progression, across east anglia and the south east, during friday evening and overnight into saturday. so, again, it's an unsettled picture as we head through into the first part of the weekend. plenty of showers on the map first thing saturday, frost—free certainly once again

with overnight temperatures between about 7—11 degrees to start off your weekend. so the weekend will be dominated by an area of low pressure sitting out towards the north—west. we're going to be seen showers rotating around that area of low pressure, driven in on quite a brisk south westerly wind, so still quite a mild direction, but a little bit cooler than it's been over recent days. lots of scattered showers, most of them in the west and along some of these exposed southern coasts as well. sunny spells, nowhere immune to catching one or two showers, but generally driest in the east. temperatures still around about 10—12 degrees, a touch down on recent days. heading on into the second half of the weekend, and it's a fairly similar story, with a mix of sunny spells and a few scattered showers, again mainly in the north and west, but some coming in along the english channel as well. not quite as warm by this stage, temperatures around about 8—11 degrees on sunday. stays unsettled and a touch cooler as we head into the middle part of next week. bye for now.

welcome to bbc news, i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: nigerian officials say more than 300 schoolboys taken captive by gunmen last week, are safe and well, and on their way home. a moroccan man is sentenced to life in prison for attempting to kill passengers on a french high—speed train, we speak to one of the passengers who overpowered the gunman. long story short, spencer stone choked him unconscious while i was hitting him in the head with his ak—47. us cyber—security experts say a major hacking campaign, uncovered this week, posed a "grave risk" to the government's nuclear stockpile. politicians are blaming russian intelligence. and, the british actor jeremy bulloch, who played boba fett in the original star wars trilogy, has