‘BETTE & JOAN: THE DIVINE FEUD’ BY SHAUN CONSIDINE

Two years ago when I sat down to watch TVs FEUD created by Ryan Murphy I immediately remembered this bio by Shaun Considine which I had a blast reading and which is the inspiration for the high-rated series. In it Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange, playing Bette Davis and Joan Crawford respectively, winningly bring back the Hollywood glamour as well as the much-publicised rivalry between the two. It was a fabulous eight-parter of bitchiness, cigarette smoking, on-spot re-enactments, superb gowns, lavish locations, and most importantly, a slew of dramatic moments that touched a nerve in all of us. Murphy and his crew delivered a great season—and we would have gladly taken another one if FX hadn’t cancelled the series soon after.  

Thank goodness we still have the Considine reprint from Graymalkin Media to go back to (in my case it’s the 1990 paperback edition from Dell) if we are ever in need of a fix. I never get tired of reading about these two legendary divas who allegedly nearly came to blows on the set of WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE. Their love-hate relationship is as famous as their tormented lives behind the camera. The author clearly has fun taking us back before, during and after the filming of this timeless classic. It is a thrill ride you’ll likely never forget. Sure the content sometimes reminds of an ET interview vault but, who cares, the fun is certainly there for any movie classic buff to enjoy. 

I will certainly pick up BETTE & JOAN: THE DIVINE FEUD again one of these days, just to remind myself how much cray-cray these two broads really were. I have a better penchant for Crawford, probably because of the MOMMIE DEAREST craze, but give me a Davis or a Crawford film marathon on TCM and I’m gone for the day. It’s probably a gay thing but to those who get it with or without the label attached to them, more power to you I say. Now if only Ryan Murphy could tag himself to Shaun Casidine’s other highly delectable bio BARBARA STREISAND: THE WOMAN, THE MYTH, THE MUSIC and adapt it to the screen, big or small, I would die a very happy fan.

Until next post—Martin  

The 2017 reprint edition

BAD GIRLS CLUB: BETTE DAVIS IN 'BEYOND THE FOREST' (1949)

Ever since I heard how awfully  wonderful 1949 BEYOND THE FOREST was I made my life mission to track it down.  But alas the journey to there has been far from easy since the DVD version of the film is MIA in North America; something to do with rights or some legal crap.   Anyway, to make a long story shorter, after years of coming up short I finally got my hands on a copy.  How?  I will never tell. ‘Cause if I do, I’d have to kill you.  And I would have none of that.  You guys mean too much to me.  But let just say that the find was unexpected and so worth it.   

The film stars the great Bette Davis.  In it she plays a restless aging small town doctor’s wife who sports not only a Morticia Adams black wig but has an Alexis Carrington bitchiness about her that makes you smile a lot.  Chewing the scenery whenever she can, she struts her tush aplenty, uttering kitschy lines like the infamous “what a dump” (regarding her modest house) to her amorous but impoverished hubby Joseph Cotton who mostly ignores her antics.  And just like Alexis, she uses her charms and cunning ways to get what she wants, most noticeably when hooking up with city-based business man Neil Latimer who promises her the world.  But when he doesn’t hold his end of the bargain Davis is humiliated and forced to settle back to a life she hates. 

When she is expecting a child from her husband later on and on the verge of accepting her fate as a small-town citizen, Latimer reappears and announces that he wants her after all. Enthusiastic to say the least, Davis plans an escape route that involves the murder of her hubby’s BFF who wants to throw her under the bus; a quick trial; a self-imposed miscarriage by jumping over an embankment; and a trudge toward an awaiting train that ends up being one of the longest scenes in movie history.  In between you get an overall keen eye from director King Vidor, a wonderful score from famed composer Max Steiner (GONE WITH THE WIND), a definitive film noir look from Hitchcock’s fave cinematographer Robert Burks, and plenty of over the top moments from la Bette. 

Rumor has it that Davis was contractedly forced to make BEYOND THE FOREST and that she was less than a happy trooper.  Fights with the director and producers led to an unhappy set.  Still despite her overblown performance she manages to be quite effective as a long in the tooth crazed vixen.  The novel on which the film is based depicts the character to be much younger, but Davis makes it her own and gives the film an interesting twist.  There are times when you can almost feel her desperation.  Far from being perfect, BEYOND THE FOREST is certainly enjoyable.  This portrait of a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown will leave no one unfazed—whether you like your films campy or not.

Until next post—Martin