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The Real Story Behind the “Feud” Between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford

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Written by Patti Pauley

Tonight, American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy premieres his series Feud on FX which dabbles in the true stories behind Hollywood’s elite and the most notorious rivalries. And what better way to kick off the series with what is quite possibly, one of the greatest and most intriguing feuds between two celebrities even to this day-Joan Crawford and Bette Davis.

That’s putting it mildly…

Feud

These two ladies were at each other’s throats for years, and in the sub-genre horror film of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, it only seemed fitting to pit the two divas against each other. However, that really just brought it to a head, and not an end to it. Which may be why that movie is just so damn good. The hatred between the two Hollywood goddesses didn’t need a whole lot of practice for the film as the pettiness and tension behind the scenes only fueled the fire on-screen. Which in turned earned Bette Davis an Oscar nomination; but not Crawford. Oh boy….

 

 

Yeah so, the antics between the fiery-tongued Davis and the sly gerrymander that is Crawford make for an interesting tale to be told through a series, and the best part of it is, you really don’t have to add any razzle-dazzle to it. The shenanigans that clothed the pair throughout their career needs exactly zero embellishment, only a great pair of actresses to portray them, and it’s clear as day without even having seen the first episode that Davis played by Susan Sarandon, and Crawford played by AHS veteran Jessica Lange, are going to nail this no question. However, in the case maybe you aren’t up to speed on the great Hollywood battle between the glam girls of the Golden Age of cinema, here’s some fun facts highlighting the real life bitterness among the women.

 

The feud started over a man..

According to my official Joan Crawford Biography by Bob Thomas, said man was one of Crawford’s many husbands, Franchot Tone. Tone had starred with Davis in 1935’s Dangerous, and Bette took a shine towards the handsome actor. Now it has been rumored heavily though Crawford biographies that Joan was bi-sexual, and that she was in love with Bette. It has also been said that Davis turned down Crawford’s advances flat, which in turn, became revenge for Miss Crawford when she learned about the fiery love Davis had for her co-star Tone. So what did she do? Crawford married the guy. The marriage only lasted four years, but it sparked an intense rage of bitterness between the two actresses that wouldn’t end until the pair’s death. In an interview in 1987, Davis said this, “She took him from me, She did it coldly, deliberately and with complete ruthlessness. I have never forgiven her for that and never will.”

Tension in the Workplace..

Mildred Pierce is considered one of Joan Crawford’s crowning achievements in cinema. It even earned her an Oscar-much to the dismay of Bette Davis who was initially the first choice for the starring role. The role in which she turned down for another film, and Crawford had to fight tooth and nail through screen tests to nab. Said movie Bette opted to work on, grabbed zero Oscar nods. And the bitterness ensues…

The Claws Come Out on the Set..

The infamous film that brought this feud to its boiling point brought along an entire shit show behind the scenes. Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? drew a level of pettiness to epic proportions on both sides of this war. Joan loaded up her pockets with heavy rocks in scenes where Bette had to drag her across the floors in the film, causing Davis to throw her back out. However, Bette one-up’d her there. That scene where Davis’ is kicking the shit out of Joan in the film? That was real. Crawford got a swift kick in the head. Some claim she even needed stitches.

feud

 

 

 

More Oscar Drama..

As stated above, the success of Baby Jane led to Bette Davis to be nominated for an Oscar for best actress, while Joan got the snub. Crawford diabolically phoned in to the other nominated actresses bluntly asking if in the case they should win, if she could accept on their behalf. Well, as fate would have it, Davis lost to Anne Bancroft who obliged Crawford’s plea. So Bette had to watch Joan smile and slink onto that stage like the fox she is, and accept the best actress award for an actress she most likely gave zero fucks about. We all know why you did it Joan. You cheeky little devil.

The Pepsi Challenge

Why on Earth anyone thought it would be a good idea to put these two in another film again, is beyond my comprehension. But hey, it just gives us more dirt and who doesn’t love a good, juicy cat-fight, am I right? However, in Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte, tension didn’t last long as Crawford ditched the film after only two weeks into production. It could be the coke machine that Davis had installed in the newly named Pepsi Board of Director’s dressing room, may have had something to do with it. No smile with that Coke I suppose.

Last But Not Least, the Glorious Smack-Talk

Joan on Bette- 

“She has a cult, and what the hell is a cult except a gang of rebels without a cause. I have fans. There’s a big difference.”

“Of course I had heard she was supposed to be playing me, but I didn’t believe it. Did you see the picture? It couldn’t possibly be me. Bette looked so old, and so dreadfully overweight.”

“Bette will play anything, so long as she thinks someone is watching. I’m a little more selective than that.”

“Miss Davis was always partial to covering up her face in motion pictures. She called it ‘art.’ Others might call it camouflage—a cover-up for the absence of any real beauty.”

“She may have more Oscars … She’s also made herself into something of a joke.”

 

Bette on Joan

“Why am I so good at playing bitches? I think it’s because I’m not a bitch. Maybe that’s why [Joan Crawford] always plays ladies.”

“The best time I ever had with Joan Crawford was when I pushed her down the stairs in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?”

“She has slept with every male star at MGM except Lassie.”

“I wouldn’t piss on her if she was on fire.”——– OK, that is SAVAGE.

“You should never say bad things about the dead, you should only say good …. Joan Crawford is dead. Good!”

So now that we’ve educated you on the savagery of this feud, if you tune in tonight, let us know what you think of Murphy’s adaptation of Hollywood’s battle of the century!

 

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Melissa Barrera Says ‘Scary Movie VI’ Would Be “Fun To Do”

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Melissa Barrera might literally get the last laugh on Spyglass thanks to a possible Scary Movie sequel. Paramount and Miramax are seeing the right opportunity to bring the satirical franchise back into the fold and announced last week one might be in production as early as this fall.

The last chapter of the Scary Movie franchise was almost a decade ago and since the series lampoons thematic horror movies and pop culture trends, it would seem they have a lot of content to draw ideas from, including the recent reboot of slasher series Scream.

Barerra, who starred as final girl Samantha in those movies was abruptly fired from the latest chapter, Scream VII, for expressing what Spyglass interpreted as “antisemitism,” after the actress came out in support of Palestine on social media.

Even though the drama wasn’t a laughing matter, Barrera might get her chance to parody Sam in Scary Movie VI. That is if the opportunity arises. In an interview with Inverse, the 33-year-old actress was asked about Scary Movie VI, and her reply was intriguing.

“I always loved those movies,” the actress told Inverse. “When I saw it announced, I was like, ‘Oh, that would be fun. That would be so fun to do.’”

That “fun to do” part could be construed as a passive pitch to Paramount, but that’s open to interpretation.

Just like in her franchise, Scary Movie also has a legacy cast including Anna Faris and Regina Hall. There is no word yet on if either of those actors will appear in the reboot. With or without them, Barrera is still a fan of the comedies. “They have the iconic cast that did it, so we’ll see what goes on with that. I’m just excited to see a new one,” she told the publication.

Barrera is currently celebrating the box office success of her latest horror movie Abigail.

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Thrills and Chills: Ranking ‘Radio Silence’ Films from Bloody Brilliant to Just Bloody

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Radio Silence Films

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett, and Chad Villella are all filmmakers under the collective label called Radio Silence. Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett are the primary directors under that moniker while Villella produces.

They have gained popularity over the past 13 years and their films have become known as having a certain Radio Silence “signature.” They are bloody, usually contain monsters, and have breakneck action sequences. Their recent film Abigail exemplifies that signature and is perhaps their best film yet. They are currently working on a reboot of John Carpenter’s Escape From New York.

We thought we would go through the list of projects they have directed and rank them from high to low. None of the movies and shorts on this list are bad, they all have their merits. These rankings from top to bottom are just ones we felt showcased their talents the best.

We didn’t include movies they produced but didn’t direct.

#1. Abigail

An update to the second film on this list, Abagail is the natural progression of Radio Silence’s love of lockdown horror. It follows in pretty much the same footsteps of Ready or Not, but manages to go one better — make it about vampires.

Abigail

#2. Ready or Not

This film put Radio Silence on the map. While not as successful at the box office as some of their other films, Ready or Not proved that the team could step outside their limited anthology space and create a fun, thrilling, and bloody adventure-length film.

Ready or Not

#3. Scream (2022)

While Scream will always be a polarizing franchise, this prequel, sequel, reboot — however you want to label it showed just how much Radio Silence knew the source material. It wasn’t lazy or cash-grabby, just a good time with legendary characters we love and new ones who grew on us.

Scream (2022)

#4 Southbound (The Way Out)

Radio Silence tosses their found footage modus operandi for this anthology film. Responsible for the bookend stories, they create a terrifying world in their segment titled The Way Out, which involves strange floating beings and some sort of time loop. It’s kind of the first time we see their work without a shaky cam. If we were to rank this entire film, it would remain at this position on the list.

Southbound

#5. V/H/S (10/31/98)

The film that started it all for Radio Silence. Or should we say the segment that started it all. Even though this isn’t feature-length what they managed to do with the time they had was very good. Their chapter was titled 10/31/98, a found-footage short involving a group of friends who crash what they think is a staged exorcism only to learn not to assume things on Halloween night.

V/H/S

#6. Scream VI

Cranking up the action, moving to the big city and letting Ghostface use a shotgun, Scream VI turned the franchise on its head. Like their first one, this film played with canon and managed to win over a lot of fans in its direction, but alienated others for coloring too far outside the lines of Wes Craven’s beloved series. If any sequel was showing how the trope was going stale it was Scream VI, but it managed to squeeze some fresh blood out of this nearly three-decade mainstay.

Scream VI

#7. Devil’s Due

Fairly underrated, this, Radio Silence’s first feature-length film, is a sampler of things they took from V/H/S. It was filmed in an omnipresent found footage style, showcasing a form of possession, and features clueless men. Since this was their first bonafide major studio job it’s a wonderful touchstone to see how far they have come with their storytelling.

Devil’s Due

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Perhaps the Scariest, Most Disturbing Series of The Year

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You may have never heard of Richard Gadd, but that will probably change after this month. His mini-series Baby Reindeer just hit Netflix and it’s a terrifying deep dive into abuse, addiction, and mental illness. What is even scarier is that it’s based on Gadd’s real-life hardships.

The crux of the story is about a man named Donny Dunn played by Gadd who wants to be a stand-up comedian, but it’s not working out so well thanks to stage fright stemming from his insecurity.

One day at his day job he meets a woman named Martha, played to unhinged perfection by Jessica Gunning, who is instantly charmed by Donny’s kindness and good looks. It doesn’t take long before she nicknames him “Baby Reindeer” and begins to relentlessly stalk him. But that is just the apex of Donny’s problems, he has his own incredibly disturbing issues.

This mini-series should come with a lot of triggers, so just be warned it is not for the faint of heart. The horrors here don’t come from blood and gore, but from physical and mental abuse that go beyond any physiological thriller you may have ever seen.

“It’s very emotionally true, obviously: I was severely stalked and severely abused,” Gadd said to People, explaining why he changed some aspects of the story. “But we wanted it to exist in the sphere of art, as well as protect the people it’s based on.”

The series has gained momentum thanks to positive word-of-mouth, and Gadd is getting used to the notoriety.

“It’s clearly struck a chord,” he told The Guardian. “I really did believe in it, but it’s taken off so quickly that I do feel a bit windswept.”

You can stream Baby Reindeer on Netflix right now.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.

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