![]() Baby Jane? would forever consign their iconic images engaged in dramatic conflict and defining their rancorous relationship for an eternity. Both married four times, and both were at the receiving end of hostile and vengeful children ultimately ending up as reclusive alcoholics.Īldrich’s iconic offbeat Gothic thriller What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) brought these two legends together culminating in the classic pairing of two bitter adversaries not only on screen but behind the scenes as well. Both are ironically similar indomitable, independent, and possessing great fortitude. Most of Crawford’s leading men found her sexual magnetism hard to resist.īut she proved she could command the screen with an invincible vigor and facility to emoteand Davis who had a determined streak of flair manifested itself into an unyielding spirit and incomparable depth. They were each on divergent paths to stardom, Crawford gaining her power remote from the proverbial casting couch “She has slept with every male star at MGM except Lassie.” –Bette Davis. The notable feud, fueled by rumor, gossip, falsehoods, and dished-up dirt, drew so much juicy attention to these fierce Divas whose careers and lives often traversed each other in ironic and titillating ways giving us a peek into the tumultuous allure of Hollywood.īoth were incredibly talented, super ambitious, independently driven, and possessing strong personalities. But, for the sake of my theme of the feuding divas, I felt like putting the more sordid version of the saga out there. Some people assert that while they never became close friends, the two stars only wound up being not so friendly to each other in the end. ![]() Finally in regards to Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte when Joan C rawford saw that Bette Davis was acting more like the director taking control and adding more of her own presence in the script while cutting Crawford’s dialogue to shreds, she decided to bow out of the picture claiming illness so she could be let out of the contract. When Joan Crawford started to gain momentum with her best melodramas at the studio where Bette Davis’ was queen, Davis was already planning an exodus anyway. With all that’s been written about the infamous feud, there are also those who try to dispel it as a myth, stating that rather than loathing each other Bette and Joan were actually cordial to each other-even chatting on the phone occasionally from the 30s until the making of Baby Jane? And that contrary to what’s been asserted, Davis wasn’t threatened by Joan’s coming to Warner Bros because she felt they were suited to playing different types of roles so there was no conflict there.īette Davis, photographed by Maurice Goldberg in 1935 for Vanity Fair. I want to preface this piece by qualifying something. Joan Crawford on Bette Davis: “ She’s phony, but I guess the public really likes that.” “If equally matched adversaries are bound to create sparks and flames of conflict, then Bette Davis and the late Joan Crawford should offer a good battle.” – Publisher’s Weeklyīette Davis on Joan Crawford: “Her eyebrows are like ‘African caterpillars’ and her best performance was “Crawford being Crawford.” As the documentary ‘Bette and Joan: Blind Ambition‘ (2005) insightfully decries ‘Betty Davis was the screens great Sadist and Crawford was the screen’s great Masochist.’ Of all the notorious rivalries identified with Hollywood celebrities, the most enduring in the public consciousness is that of legendary Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. ![]() As part of the Dynamic Duos of Classic Film Blogathon hosted by Once upon a screen… and Classic Movie Hub
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