STACK #122 Dec 2015

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by the murder of her childhood sweetheart, who was beheaded by an unknown killer.The title was changed to Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964), Davis was cast as Charlotte and Crawford as her distant cousin, Miriam. Filming began on location in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Neither of the stars spoke to each other, except when in front of the camera. As the shoot progressed, Crawford

Continued...

Award nominations were announced, their temporarily dormant feud reignited again. Davis was nominated for Best Actress for her role as the deranged former child star, Baby Jane, but much to Joan Crawford’s chagrin,

Bette Davis and Joan Crawford in an early publicity shot for What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

instinctively knew that her part was inferior to her co-star’s, which meant that once again, Davis would be the star of the film.The decidedly frosty atmosphere worsened when the company returned to Fox studios to film

she was not among the four other nominees. Davis wanted desperately to be the first actress to win three Oscars and was furious to learn that Crawford had volunteered to accept the Best Actress award on behalf of the winner, should she be absent from the ceremony. Davis would later admit that she fully expected to win, as she nervously paced backstage to await the announcement. “And the winner is... Anne Bancroft for The MiracleWorker ”. A devastated Davis felt a hand on her shoulder. “Excuse me, I have an Oscar to collect,” said Crawford as she strode across the stage to thunderous applause to receive the absent Bancroft’s award. Later, at the Oscar party at the Beverly Hilton, Davis ordered a large Scotch and shouted, “This is for Joan Crawford”. When told that Miss Crawford only drank vodka, Davis replied, “I don’t care what she drinks.This is going into her f–ing face”. Davis never threw the drink at Joan, but she would never forget that night and swore she would get her revenge.  Following the success of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? , Aldrich wanted to reunite the two stars. He got the opportunity when he received a four-page outline from Baby Jane author Henry Farrell, with the title What Ever Happened to Cousin Charlotte? .This time he had no problem with a tight budget, as all the major studios were falling over themselves to finance the next Davis/Crawford movie. The plot concerned an ageing recluse haunted

Publicity shot for Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte before Joan Crawford was replaced.

interiors.The rest of the cast and the film crew waited tenuously for the clash between the two divas to erupt.  For the first time on a film set, Crawford felt completely powerless, so she feigned another of her illnesses and got herself hospitalised. Crawford told her friend, film director Vincent Sherman, “I’m not sick. I just couldn’t spend another minute on set with that awful bitch Bette

one worse than the last. But after completing the dreadful Trog (1970), the now 64-year-old star finally called it a day and retired to her apartment in NewYork. When Davis was told by a reporter in May 1977 that Crawford had died, she replied, “My mother taught me to always speak good of the dead. Joan Crawford’s dead.

Good”. Davis survived Crawford by 12 years and continued acting in films and television shows almost right up to her death in 1989.  Although their feud became a Hollywood legend, Bette Davis and Joan Crawford were two pioneering alpha females working in a male- dominated business that was utterly soulless and run by money-mad moguls. But through their courage, determination and sheer bloody- mindedness, they were both able to maintain their star status long after all of their female contemporaries from the golden age of movies had faded from memory.They truly were two of Hollywood’s most durable and captivating dames.

Davis”. Crawford was eventually replaced in the film by Davis’s best friend, actress Olivia de Havilland. Queen Bette had got her revenge. When Davis was later asked about her treatment of Joan, she replied, “Why am I so good at playing bitches onscreen? Because I’m not a bitch. Maybe that’s why Miss Crawford always plays ladies”. Bette Davis and Joan Crawford would never speak to – or work with – each other again. However, they had both transformed themselves with What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, which set them up for a cycle of macabre/horror films. Crawford would make another five – each

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