Bette and Joan: the big battle
An eight-part TV series examines the feud between iconic movie starlets Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, writes
Jenny Cooney Carrillo.
Ryan Murphy was 10 years old when he wrote a fan letter to screen icon Bette Davis. She wrote back, and their correspondence continued for years, including an interview at her home after he became a journalist in his 20s.
Now the writer/director/producer/ show runner behind shows including Nip/Tuck, Glee, Scream Queens, American Horror Story and American Crime Story: The People v O.J. Simpson has come up with a new anthology series, Feud, and devoted the first season to the famous feud between Bette Davis (Susan Sarandon) and Joan Crawford (Jessica Lange). Over eight episodes, the story flashes between pivotal moments in their relationship, but largely focuses on their only onscreen collaboration, in the 1962 horror film What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?
‘‘I wasn’t really interested in doing anything that was campy,’’ Murphy explains. ‘‘I was interested in something a little deeper with more emotion and pain because I think ultimately what happened to both women was very painful. I got to know Bette Davis a little through the years and while she put on this larger-thanlife camp image in public, in person she was very emotional and real, and that’s what interested me. What I love about the show is that even though it’s set in 1962, the themes and issues are so modern because women are still dealing with sexism, ageism and misogyny 50 years later.’’
Susan Sarandon, who won her own Oscar for the 1995 drama Dead Man Walking, says she was initially hesitant to take on 11-time Oscar-nominated actress Bette Davis, who won two Oscars and is best-remembered for the 1950 classic All About Eve.
‘‘The good news and bad news with playing someone well-known is that there are so many pieces of film and TV and interviews and recordings to study, but I came out of watching that and I was terrified,’’ says the 70-yearold Thelma and Louise star. ‘‘I read everything about her I could get my hands on; I got a dialect coach and he made recordings for me to listen to every day and every night. In the end, I just jumped in and hoped to channel Bette in some way.’’
While the two movie icons had been longtime rivals since their heydays in the 1930s and 1940s, their attempt to bury the hatchet and salvage their careers in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? was a miserable failure. The studio planted newspaper items to deliberately fan the flames of their rivalry and create buzz around the film. Davis made fun of Crawford’s obsession with her looks and use of falsies in her bra; Crawford loudly complained to the press about Davis kicking her in the head during filming and having body odour.
Jessica Lange, a two-time Oscar winner herself (for 1982 comedy Tootsie and 1995 drama Blue Sky), laments she never got to meet Joan Crawford, who died of a heart attack in 1977. ‘‘But I did meet Bette Davis once,’’ recalls the 67-year-old. ‘‘We did an event together when I was starting out in my 20s and I remember her saying to me, ‘You better court the press, honey’ and she was right!’’
Murphy surrounded his two leading ladies with an all-star cast, including Kathy Bates as bombshell Joan Blondell, Sarah Paulson as Geraldine Page, Stanley Tucci as studio boss Jack Warner, and Aussie Judy Davis as gossip columnist Hedda Hopper.
Murphy also managed to lure Catherine Zeta-Jones out of a long acting hiatus to play movie star Olivia de Havilland, best known for Gone with the Wind and one of Davis’ closest friends. Although de Havilland is still alive (she turned 100 last year), Zeta-Jones didn’t try to meet her but instead relied on her own father-inlaw, actor Kirk Douglas, for research.
‘‘Kirk helped me understand who she really was,’’ Zeta-Jones says. ‘‘She was a tough, ball-breaking woman of her time and went up against the studio, which is rare today, let alone back then.’’
Feud: Bette and Joan
screens on SoHo at 8.30pm, Tuesdays.