‘ Feud’ draws the battle lines between Davis and Crawford
FX series aims for gravitas, but the best part is going to camp
In case you haven’t heard, Bette Davis and Joan Crawford didn’t like each other.
That’s not the only lesson you’ll learn from FX’s Feud: Bette and Joan ( Sunday, 10 ET/ PT, eeeg out of four) — the entertaining, undemanding period piece that launches producer Ryan Murphy’s latest anthology series. But it is the dominant theme of this glitzy eight- hour project, one that amuses, horrifies, and sometimes even saddens.
Of course, if bitterness and camp were all Feud had to offer, odds are Murphy would never have been able to attract two Oscar winners as his stars: Susan Sarandon as Davis and Jessica Lange as Crawford. These are big, fun, flashy roles, but it still seems likely that at least part of what attracted the women are the larger issues at play: the sexism, ageism and misogyny that plagued Davis’ and Crawford’s careers and continue to haunt women today.
The centerpiece of Feud is Davis’ and Crawford’s co- starring vehicle What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, the 1962 classic that launched an entire Grand Guignol horror genre built around older actresses acting demented. Once Hollywood queens, both women were in their 50s — and both were considered has- beens.
Determined to re- establish herself as a star, Crawford set to work creating her own project. She found the book and the director — Robert Aldrich, appealingly played by Alfred Molina — and persuaded Davis to join her. She was savvy enough to know that teaming up could mean big box office and foolish enough to think working together might earn her Davis’ respect.
It doesn’t, and the battle begins. We see it on set and off. We hear about it from friends and foes, famous ones such as Jack Warner ( Stanley Tucci), Hedda Hopper ( Judy Davis) and Joan Blondell ( Kathy Bates) and not- so- famous ones such as Crawford’s housekeeper Mamacita ( a breakout turn by Jackie Hoffman).
Throw Catherine Zeta- Jones, Kiernan Shipka and Sarah Paulson into that mix, and you truly have an all- star cast. Even so, Feud’s focus seldom wavers from Lange and Sarandon, and rightly so.
Feud is beautifully shot and easy to enjoy, but it isn’t quite compelling, and it never really sells the broader points it seems to be trying to make. For every slam at the men manipulating them or the unfair treatment they’ve received, there’s a scene that revels in Davis and Crawford behaving horribly, as the series tries to both wallow in camp while claiming the moral high ground. It doesn’t work.
But then, Crawford and Davis would probably be horrified to think we were feeling sorry for them. For all they suffered under the studio system — and they did suffer — they were far from helpless victims, and they gave almost as good as they got.
Hence the horror. And the fun.