In The Movies: Bette & Joan on the Big Screen

[Chaos Theory]

Because I think it is actually appropriate to discuss.  What movies have you all seen of these two ladies?  Of course I've seen Baby Jane.   I have actually not seen any other movies of Joan Crawford but I have seen a couple from Bette Davis.   All About Eve and Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte.  Burnt Offerings also seems familiar but I cant remember if I saw it or not or just had it on my Netflix Queue at some point.

[Growsonwalls]

Joan: The Woman, Grand Hotel, Mildred Pierce and Baby Jane

Bette: Of Human Bondage, The Petrified Forest, Jezebel, All This and Heaven Too, Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, The Letter, The Little Foxes, Now Voyager, All About Eve

[psychoticstate]

Oh gosh, I've seen so many it would probably be easier for me to mention what I haven't seen! 

ETA:  Here goes.  Only listing theatrical releases, not TV. 

Joan:  The Circle; The Boob; The Unknown; Our Dancing Daughters; Our Modern Maidens; Montana Moon; Paid; Dance, Fools, Dance; Laughing Sinners; This Modern Age; Possessed, Grand Hotel; Letty Lynton (saw a bootleg copy many years ago); Rain; Today We Live;  Dancing Lady; Sadie McKee; Chained;  Forsaking All Others; No More Ladies;  I Live My Life; The Gorgeous Hussy; Love on the Run; The Last of Mrs. Cheney;  The Bride Wore Red; Mannequin;  The Shining Hour; The Ice Follies of 1939;  The Women; Strange Cargo;  Susan and God; A Woman's Face;  When Ladies Meet; The All Kissed the Bride;  Reunion in France; Above Suspicion; Mildred Pierce; Humoresque; Possessed;  Daisy Kenyon; Flamingo Road;  The Damned Don't Cry; Harriet Craig;  Goodbye My Fancy; This Woman is Dangerous; Sudden Fear; Torch Song;  Johnny Guitar; Female on the Beach; Queen Bee;  Autumn Leaves; The Story of Esther Costello; The Best of Everything; Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?;  The Caretakers; Strait Jacket; Berserk; and Trog.  

Bette:  Three on a Match; Ex-Lady; Dangerous; Jezebel; The Sisters; Dark Victory; The Old Maid; All This and Heaven Too; The Letter;  The Great Lie; The Bride Came C.O.D.; The Little Foxes; The Man Who Came to Dinner; In This Our Life; Now, Voyager; Old Acquaintance; Mr. Skeffington; A Stolen Life; Deception;  Beyond the Forest; All About Eve; Payment on Demand; Another Man's Poison;  The Star; Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?; Dead Ringer; Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte; Burnt Offerings; Return from Witch Mountain; and Death on the Nile.

Edited March 13, 2017 by psychoticstate
Added movies. Lots of them!

[blaase]

Love Joan in The Women, she played a bitch so well and actually made me root for her over Norma Shearer.

Edited March 14, 2017 by blaase

[caracas1914]

Seen so many of Bette's films, especially loved her in 1939 "Dark Victory" and 1951's  "All about Eve".

Joan Crawford, in the 30's her peak stardom era loved her in "Grand Hotel",   the comedy "Forsaking all others",  of course "The Women",  really loved her in "A Woman's Face".

Strangely enough, in her critically more lauded period, the noirish mid to late 40['s Warners period, other than Mildred Pierce I find her excessively mannered i most of the films, particularly "Possessed" it's just too much.

However, the 50's  "Johnny Guitar" is such a Freudian "what the fuck" it's a hoot.

[CraftyHazel]

Joan Crawford: Our Dancing Daughters, Our Modern Maidens, Dancing Lady, The Women, Mildred Pierce, Daisy Kenyon, Harriet Craig, Torch Song, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, I Saw What You Did, Straight Jacket, and Berserk.

Bette Davis: (also my favorite actress of all time) The Cabin in the Cotton, Fashions of 1934, Of Human Bondage, Dangerous, The Petrified Forest, Jezebel, Dark Victory, The Old Maid, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, All This and Heaven Too, The Letter, The Great Lie, The Bride Came C.O.D., The Little Foxes, The Man Who Came to Dinner, In This Our Life, Now Voyager, Watch on the Rhine, Thank Your Lucky Stars, Old Acquaintance,  Mr. Skeffington, Hollywood Canteen, The Corn is Green, A Stolen Life, Deception, All About Eve (my all time favorite movie), Another Man's Poison, Phone Call From a Stranger, The Star, The Catered Affair, Pocketful of Miracles, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, Dead Ringer, Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte, The Nanny, Burnt Offerings, Return From Witch Mountain, Death on the Nile, Watcher in the Woods, and The Whales of August.

Edited March 14, 2017 by Marmiarmo

[enoughcats]

I have avoided seeing WEHTBJ a second time.  I saw it first time it played in theaters (I am that old) and I really have vivid enough memories of it. 
In retrospect, I've seen a lot more Bette Davis movies than Joan Crawford.  I think it's time to revisit both

Our library has copies of The Women and Mildred Pierce and both are coming to my closest library.  I'm surprised (and a little saddened) that there's not a waiting list for both.  I really thought that Feud would set off a watching frenzy.

[mariah23]

Joan: The Unknown, Our Dancing Daughters, Dance Fools Dance, Possessed, Grand Hotel, Letty Lynton, The Gorgeous Hussy, The Shining Hour, The Women, Strange Cargo, Susan and God, A Woman's Face, Mildred Pierce, Possessed, Daisy Kenyon, It's a Great Feeling, Harriet Craig, Goodbye My Fancy, Sudden Fear, Queen Bee, Autumn Leaves, The Story of Esther Costello, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?

Bette: Waterloo Bridge, So Big!, Three on a Match, The Petrified Forest, Satan Met a Lady, Kid Galahad, It's Love I'm After, Jezebel, Dark Victory, The Old Maid, The Privates Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, The Letter, The Great Lie, The Bride Came COD, The Little Foxes, The Man Who Came to Dinner, In this Our Life, Now Voyager, June Bride, All About Eve, The Catered Affair, Pocketful of Miracles, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte, Death on the Nile, The Whales of August

[ennui]

On 3/13/2017 at 3:37 PM, Chaos Theory said:

Burnt Offerings also seems familiar but I cant remember if I saw it or not

I think I've seen it twice but it was a long time ago. Karen Black so dominated the film that I barely recall Bette being in it. 

[MyPeopleAreNordic]

The first Bette Davis movie I ever saw was "The Watcher in the Woods," when I was a kid.  I was an 80s kid and I loved to have my mom rent it from the video store. Ha. As a young adult I saw "All About Eve" and loved it so much that I bought it on DVD.  My best friend from college got me "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte" as a gift and I love it (I live somewhat near the plantation that was used for some of the filming now). I watched WEHTBJ years ago and was so uncomfortable when watching it (I mean that in a good way; I felt for Bette's & Joan's characters so intensely because of the great performances). I never watched it again because it was so unsettling (again, this isn't a knock at the film, but a testament to the performances). I may have to watch it again now, though.

I've only ever seen Joan in "Mildred Pierce" and WEHTBJ. Frankly, I thought Kate Winslet's performance in the remake of MP blew Joan's out of the water. I have been meaning to see "Johnny Guitar." 

Edited March 16, 2017 by MyPeopleAreNordic

[Milburn Stone]

On 3/13/2017 at 6:09 PM, psychoticstate said:

Oh gosh, I've seen so many it would probably be easier for me to mention what I haven't seen! 

I agree. In particular would be interesting to see posts on "great movies that I, a lifelong fan of classic film, guiltily have to admit never to having seen."

In that vein, I have never seen Mildred Pierce from beginning to end. Large portions in random order, but never the whole thing.

Edited March 16, 2017 by Milburn Stone

[ennui]

I've seen both Bette and Joan in repeats of The Virginian. does that count? Bette was on last night, as a matter of fact. She ran into the street and was run over by a horse. But she had written a letter beforehand that cleared Trampas of the charges. (I knew you would want to know that.)

[psychoticstate]

37 minutes ago, Milburn Stone said:

I agree. In particular would be interesting to see posts on "great movies that I, a lifelong fan of classic film, guiltily have to admit never to having seen."

In that vein, I have never seen Mildred Pierce from beginning to end. Large portions in random order, but never the whole thing.

So true!  

I've never seen Citizen Kane.  I've also never seen Casablanca in its entirety (for shame.)   

Do try to watch Mildred Pierce from beginning to end.  It's really a nifty little film noir. 

[CraftyHazel]

Here's my guilty confession...I have obsessively watched some classics so many times I can recite the dialogue as they play, but I have never been able to make it all the way through "Casablanca" without getting distracted by something else.  And goodness knows I've tried!!

[LilWharveyGal]

A few years ago, I made a concerted effort to watch several of the "classic" movies that I had heard of but never seen.  I found Casablanca to be hard to stick with and highly overrated, which I know is an unpopular opinion so I'm glad to hear I'm not alone!  (On the other hand, I absolutely loved Citizen Kane, which a lot of people recognize for its ingenuity but don't necessarily enjoy.  Go figure.)

I enjoy both Bette and Joan, but I still haven't seen WEHTBJ.  I'll have to check it out when the series is over.

[atlantaloves]

I am a huge Bette Davis fan and have seen them all, but I have to say that Now Voyager is my favorite of all time, then All About Eve, and of course The Great Lie with the wonderful Mary Astor. I just love it when Bette suffers, I really do, because normally she plays such strong women. You want a laugh riot, see Joan Crawford in Possessed...I had never seen it until a month ago, BOY DOES SHE SUFFER.  Not a big Joan fan, but Lord what a beautiful face that gal had. She was made for the silver screen, not for color, she's just too too much. Bette can do no wrong, EVER. 

[NowVoyager]

12 hours ago, atlantaloves said:

I am a huge Bette Davis fan and have seen them all, but I have to say that Now Voyager is my favorite of all time, then All About Eve, and of course The Great Lie with the wonderful Mary Astor. I just love it when Bette suffers, I really do, because normally she plays such strong women. You want a laugh riot, see Joan Crawford in Possessed...I had never seen it until a month ago, BOY DOES SHE SUFFER.  Not a big Joan fan, but Lord what a beautiful face that gal had. She was made for the silver screen, not for color, she's just too too much. Bette can do no wrong, EVER. 

:D   Oooooooh...., you meant the movie.... lol!

[enoughcats]

15 hours ago, atlantaloves said:

have seen them all

But have you seen "The Bride came C.O.D."?

Wandering through our library's website, that one just stood out, for all the wrong reasons. What a demeaning title! What serious actress would want to be in that? And what better movie to typify the old school when a studio owned an actress (and actors) and could put them in anything that would possibly puts people in theater seats?  

Here's a link to the imdb.  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033432/

The alternative titles (in 1941) aren't much better for those my fractured foreign language skills can translate.

[ennui]

1 hour ago, enoughcats said:

But have you seen "The Bride came C.O.D."?

Wandering through our library's website, that one just stood out, for all the wrong reasons. What a demeaning title!

Well, it is a romantic comedy. 

[caracas1914]

Bette when she's bad almost unbeatable.

"The Letter" is classic "bad" Bette, boy is she bad.  "Jezebel" is such fun, but for over the top bad melodrama Bette there is "In this our life"; I can't defend the film aesthetically but Davis does every thing but run over a dog and make life a living hell for her family in this film.

Edited March 17, 2017 by caracas1914

[sugarbaker design]

Bad Bette in The Little Foxes:

 I hope you die! I hope you die soon! I'll be waiting for you to die!

[ennui]

Daisy Kenyan was on one of the cable channels last night. I only saw the second half, but I enjoyed it. Joan was beautiful, but I liked Henry Fonda. It's been so long since I've seen Henry in a film, I'd almost forgotten him. I hope it's on again so I can watch from the beginning.

I enjoy the period details. In one scene, they order martinis, and they were tiny little cocktails compared to what you get today. And Joan's fur coat was stunning. 

Edited March 19, 2017 by ennui

[JudyObscure]

I'm loving the quotes and reminders everyone is coming up with.

11 minutes ago, ennui said:

I enjoy the period details.

 Oh me, too, anytime the dialogue gets the  least bit boring I get a chance to study the background.  Susan and God is one I've watched over and over for the furniture, some sofas you have to see to believe, a large round coffee table covered completely in full  booze bottles, Joan Crawford in one of the final scenes wearing a dress decorated with about thirty loops of white cord, it's totally distracting and hilarious,   and a wild pack of half a dozen dachshunds running everywhere, but never mentioned.

 I can't list all the films by these great women that I've watched, because it would be too much like work, but I've watched everything mentioned here and, I think all their films that are on the TCM playlist.  TCM has whole days dedicated to one or the other, quite often.  Someone from the period said that the films they made were about "exaggerated women" and I think that's why I love them so much.  It's so rare these days to have movies with a woman's name as the title and know it's all about her.

[ChiCricket]

Recently, I watched Bette Davis in an episode of Wagon Train. I was thinking how funny it was that even in black and white, you could tell she had on eye makeup, and also a lot of lipstick....playing a pioneer woman. Could you imagine how the dust on the trail would gunk up that thick layer of lipstick in real life? ;-)

[benteen]

Just watched Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? and thought it was really good.

[psychoticstate]

7 hours ago, ennui said:

Daisy Kenyan was on one of the cable channels last night. I only saw the second half, but I enjoyed it. Joan was beautiful, but I liked Henry Fonda. It's been so long since I've seen Henry in a film, I'd almost forgotten him. I hope it's on again so I can watch from the beginning.

I enjoy the period details. In one scene, they order martinis, and they were tiny little cocktails compared to what you get today. And Joan's fur coat was stunning. 

I really enjoy Daisy Kenyon.  Joan and Henry played well off each other and I think it's a good story. 

I adore Joan as Daisy's Greenwich Village loft in this.  Amazing!   Maybe not supposed to be the greatest place back then but now?  Could you imagine having it today? Wow!  

All three leads were good and as a special FYI for daytime soap fans - - Ruth Warrick, who played Phoebe on All My Children, plays Dana Andrews' wife here.

[Jan Spears]

I rewatched Flamingo Road (1949) with Crawford, Sydney Greenstreet and Zachary Scott (Crawford's co-star in Mildred Pierce) this weekend.

I love the first 45 minutes or so as the movie exerts a steadily building pressure. But I find that the pressure begins to evaporate at the halfway mark as not enough time is devoted to Crawford and Greenstreet going toe-to-toe. Instead, there's too much of Crawford's romance with David Brian and too much of political corruption involving Greenstreet and Brian. It's as if the director/producer/writer couldn't make up their minds as to what kind of picture they were making in the second half. Was it a film noir? A "women's picture"? A message picture about political corruption?

That being said, Crawford is great during the first half, especially when she meets Scott at night in her carnival tent and she gives her speech about being tired of life as a carnival dancer.

[JudyObscure]

14 hours ago, Jan Spears said:

But I find that the pressure begins to evaporate at the halfway mark as not enough time is devoted to Crawford and Greenstreet going toe-to-toe

That's such a great scene where Crawford confronts Greenstreet on the hotel porch! I was so frightened for her I thought he was going to kill her right then and there.

[enoughcats]

I feel as if Mr. ECats and I took one for the team as we watched "The Bride Came C.O.D.".  

I'm not sure where the romance was ......Jack Carter as the slimy would be bridegroom of the heiress was such an unmitigated egocentric cad, I almost found myself rooting for him. I liked the cariacature of a rich father by the guy who played Bette's Father. 
Bette Davis, it must have hurt her, down deep, to play such a dumb broad, Engaged to the slime ball after four days?  And then she did have this thing about falling into cactus.  Once into a cactus is enough for pretty much everybody.

The studio put their major stars in.  Which brings me to James Cagney, who I had forgotten how much I didn't care about any of his movies.  The guy was short, and I found myself focusing on how the scenes were shot to compensate for his lack of stature.  

Then after it finally ended, I compared it to my memories of "It happened one night" .  Clark Gable is ALWAYS going to beat out Cagney in my mind, so that the comparison can't be fair.

Maybe I should have looked at it as if all the characters were caricatures.  (Yes, I looked up the definition of caricature.)

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 3/14/2017 at 11:29 AM, enoughcats said:

I have avoided seeing WEHTBJ a second time.  I saw it first time it played in theaters (I am that old) and I really have vivid enough memories of it. 

I saw What Ever Happened to Baby Jane when I was five years old, when it was first released.  My parents went to the drive-in and took us kids and unfortunately, I didn't fall asleep before the movie started.  Yikes!

But bad movie decisions seem to run in the family--my grandparents once went to see the new western that was showing:  Midnight Cowboy.

BTW, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane is on TCM this Wednesday (March 22) at 1:45pm Eastern. 

Actually, TCM has an unusually strong slate in next three days.  Pertinent to this thread is The Letter this afternoon, and in the next few days are All About Eve, The Little Foxes, The Petrified Forest, and Mildred Pierce.  Plus Bonnie & Clyde, Peeping Tom, M, The Night of the Hunter, A Face In the Crowd, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and more.  Oh, and Casablanca, a favorite around here (which I've seen several times (in theaters so I wasn't distracted) and I still don't really know what happened).

[JudyObscure]

1 hour ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

Oh, and Casablanca, a favorite around here (which I've seen several times (in theaters so I wasn't distracted) and I still don't really know what happened).

The main thought I always take from it is, "Why did that wishy washy woman let Bogart make all her decisions for her?" ;)

Thanks for the heads up about "The Letter."  I've seen it many times but I'll tune in at 4:00 to watch the opening scene where Bette comes down the front steps shooting.  It's such a classic example of that Bette Davis style,  she even manages to do that pelvis forward walk while coming down steps.

Edited March 20, 2017 by JudyObscure

[psychoticstate]

On 3/20/2017 at 9:22 AM, enoughcats said:

I feel as if Mr. ECats and I took one for the team as we watched "The Bride Came C.O.D.".  

I'm not sure where the romance was ......Jack Carter as the slimy would be bridegroom of the heiress was such an unmitigated egocentric cad, I almost found myself rooting for him. I liked the cariacature of a rich father by the guy who played Bette's Father. 
Bette Davis, it must have hurt her, down deep, to play such a dumb broad, Engaged to the slime ball after four days?  And then she did have this thing about falling into cactus.  Once into a cactus is enough for pretty much everybody.

The studio put their major stars in.  Which brings me to James Cagney, who I had forgotten how much I didn't care about any of his movies.  The guy was short, and I found myself focusing on how the scenes were shot to compensate for his lack of stature.  

Then after it finally ended, I compared it to my memories of "It happened one night" .  Clark Gable is ALWAYS going to beat out Cagney in my mind, so that the comparison can't be fair.

Maybe I should have looked at it as if all the characters were caricatures.  (Yes, I looked up the definition of caricature.)

Bette supposedly wanted to try her hand at comedy, which I understand.  Especially after some of her "heavier" pictures.  I'm not sure about Cagney but he certainly wasn't know for comedy.  

Bride just wasn't all that funny.  Maybe it it had been made during the 30s screwball period, it could have been more humorous.  

The Man Who Came to Dinner is a much more enjoyable and humorous Davis comedic outing. 

[caracas1914]

Considering how "heavy" most of their films from that era  were, 1937 "It's love I'm after" with Bette and Leslie Howard is a surprisingly good comedy, with the bonus of Olivia De Haviland playing a giddy, starstruck ingenue.   It starrs Bette and Leslie as a married squabbling theatrical couple.   Lot of fun.

Edited March 22, 2017 by caracas1914

[AuntiePam]

I remember being shocked at the reveal at the end of Baby Jane.  Nowadays, twists are expected, and viewers would have figured it out in the first ten minutes.  That's kinda sad, that we can't be surprised anymore.

[Milburn Stone]

WB Archive is having a 4-for-$44 DVD sale including many "archival" Joan and Bette films.

http://bit.ly/2mx2QAR

[12catcrazy]

I'm loving "Feud" and loving all the comments people are posting on all the threads!

I grew up watching all the old Bette Davis & Joan Crawford movies (I was basically a film buff by the time I was 16).   I won't even begin listing all the BD/JC movies I've seen (seen just about all of them).  So far though, I'm surprised that only Psychoticstate has mentioned "Rain".  This has always been one of my favorite JC pictures and one where she was so overlooked.  If my memory serves correctly, I believe this was another movie role that she had to actively campaign to get as the part of Sadie Thompson was not exactly glamour girl material.  She had been under contract to MGM at the time and was loaned out for "Rain".  

And this leads me to comment on how both Joan and Bette were each in early 30s movies based on Somerset Maugham stories (Bette in "Of Human Bondage", and I believe "The Letter" was also from a Maugham story), and playing bad girl parts. 

[sugarbaker design]

On 3/20/2017 at 2:42 PM, JudyObscure said:

Thanks for the heads up about "The Letter."  I've seen it many times but I'll tune in at 4:00 to watch the opening scene where Bette comes down the front steps shooting.  It's such a classic example of that Bette Davis style,  she even manages to do that pelvis forward walk while coming down steps.

That opening is a must for me, everytime I see it listed on TCM I hit record!

[enoughcats]

Back, briefly, to The Bride Came C.O.D.

In McCabe's biography of Cagney, he quotes a Bette Davis biography (without saying which one) as having her say about her and Cagney's appearance in The Bride came C.O.D. "We both hit bottom in that one."

I was hoping to find Cagney's take on it.

[larapu2000]

When I was a kid, 3 movies absolutely creeped me out and terrified me:  Whatever Happened To Baby Jane, The Watcher in the Woods, and The Dark Crystal.  2 of the 3 star Bette Davis, and I think that's why I've never seen her other movies, including All About Eve-which, I should be flogged for, because I've heard it's great, I started watching it once and fell asleep (but that's normal for me with a lot of older movies-I find there are a LOT of quiet spots and non-plot dialogue/action that slows the movie down and can lead to sleepy time very easily!).  I'm a huge Hitchcock fan, so he's probably occupied most of my time that I could have spent with Joan and Bette!

AND, BY THE WAY.  It's a crime no one has yet mentioned the Watcher in the Woods.  1980's Disney movie.  Bette Davis.  A young Kyle Richards.  A creepy plot involving a girl that went missing in the 60's when her friends had some weird seance.  The main teenage character is beyond terrible at acting, but Bette Davis creeps.me.out.  

Do any of the streaming services like Netflix or Hulu have a good collection of Joan/Bette movies?  This show has me kind of dying to see what I've missed!

[enoughcats]

Before shelling out $$$ for a streaming service, if you are in a major metropolitan area, check your local library.  They aren't all just about books, any more. 

Ours has a huge movie collection and many of the very oldies that have been issued by Criterion.  And our "major metro" isn't that large, more of a minor metro.
 

[psychoticstate]

On 3/23/2017 at 0:09 PM, Milburn Stone said:

WB Archive is having a 4-for-$44 DVD sale including many "archival" Joan and Bette films.

http://bit.ly/2mx2QAR

I thank you for this, @Milburn Stone (although my checking account is already weeping.)   Excellent choices for $11 each! 

[Inquisitionist]

Did anyone else catch WEHTBJ on TCM this week?  While the plot relies on many people doing stupid things, its mood and the performance are effective, I think.  Davis was not afraid to go all out, that's for sure!

[enoughcats]

9 hours ago, Inquisitionist said:

 

Did anyone else catch WEHTBJ on TCM this week? 

 

My husband saw it for the first time.  I glanced at it every so often after it got started, and I was shocked (and somewhat depressed) at how vividly I remembered it.  I didn't remember the neighbors at the beginning (and because of Feud that meant more), but the !!!! scenes really were already seared on my memory. I used to be young (as were we all) and innocent, and that may have been the first horror movie I saw.  And somehow I remembered the singing to Daddy up above in spite of my husband's laughing loudly at that performance.  Really loud.  

[enoughcats]

Last night we watching "This is our life" and Bette Davis was memorable.  Even more so than Baby Jane. I had read a few reviews before watching it; the reviews only hinted at what an evil person she played.  
Not only was she evil personified, but the other actors existed to try to survive her.

It seemed so real, in a horrible way.  So I'd recommend it because there's not a character in there (well, maybe one) who doesn't move the plot along and all are affected by the radiating-evil  woman that Bette Davis so believable played.

(Sorry about using "evil" so often, but there aren't many synonyms for it"

[Arynm]

I watched All about Eve last night. What a great movie! So many memorable lines that still hear today and had no idea they were from this movie. Bette also met Gary Merril during filming a later married him. It also bears knowing that if Anne Baxter(Eve) hadn't pushed so hard for Lead actress instead of Supporting, where I think she belonged, they probably both would have won. As it was, Anne cost them both an Oscar as they split the vote.

Monroe was also in this, in her first role and Zsa Zsa was so jealous that her husband, George Sanders was filming with this young gorgeous blond that she showed up to set every day to watch him. So many behind the seasons tidbits! I live for this stuff.

[atlantaloves]

In this Our Life was really great, God, she was a total rat. I just watched on TCM (available on demand right now) good ole Dead Ringer, with Bette playing nasty twins.  I hadn't seen it in a couple of years and really enjoyed it again, Bette is a double threat, but know what, YOU STILL ROOT FOR HER...she's that good. Hope you all can find it to watch before the next episode of Feud, it was made in 1964, perfect time period and Bette is just dripping in jewels and fabulous clothes in this one.  

[enoughcats]

In this our Life has a lot more backstory.  The author of the book on which it was based was Ellen Glasgow who was born and reared in Richmond and who wrote about the South after the Civil War.  After her death, her autobiography revealed she (the author) had an affair with a married New Yorker.

This particular novel more than caught the attention of Hollywood, it won the Pultizer Prize for 1941.

I've become distracted by this author I had never heard of who lived a short drive from where I grew up.  

If anyone else feels like a jaunt through her works, here are the on line availables.

onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Glasgow%2c%20Ellen%20Anderson%20Gholson%2c%201873-1945.

[LilWharveyGal]

3 hours ago, atlantaloves said:

I just watched on TCM (available on demand right now) good ole Dead Ringer, with Bette playing nasty twins.  I hadn't seen it in a couple of years and really enjoyed it again, Bette is a double threat, but know what, YOU STILL ROOT FOR HER...she's that good. Hope you all can find it to watch before the next episode of Feud, it was made in 1964, perfect time period and Bette is just dripping in jewels and fabulous clothes in this one.  

I recorded Dead Ringer and just watched it for the first time.  "Enjoyable" probably isn't an appropriate word for such a morbid tale, but that's exactly what this movie was.  (The ominous harpsichord music kept cracking me up.)  Bette was great in both roles, and what a wonderful supporting cast of Karl Malden, Jean Hagen, and Peter Lawford.  And you're right, the jewels and dresses were great!

[voiceover]

Errol Flynn is one of my favorites among the Old Hollywood leading men, and I always thought he gave Bette a run for her money onscreen.  Too often she was paired with men she could've used to mop the floor (George Brent I'm looking at you!) -- never true of any moment the two of them shared.  He wasn't her type of actor, but he was such a manly man, I always thought, he brought out the sex in her (actually Gary Merrill did that too).

He wrote of their relationship in My Wicked, Wicked Ways.  They shared a loathing of Jack Warner -- both would battle the studio head for better roles over the years.  

One of the best of his stories is from The Private Lives of Elizabeth & Essex.  She was so pissed that he took so long making a particular entrance, that when the next close-up called for her to slap him, she didn't hold back.  And she was wearing some pretty heavy-duty rings!

He confessed to retaliating later in the shoot.  There's a not-really-scripted moment when the Earl swats Her Majesty on the bum.  Check her expression -- no holding back there, either.

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We watched "Our Blushing Brides" last night.  Joan Crawford by that time had top billing (not just on the DVD cover, but on the opening credits.  Her name was above the title and it was so much bigger than the other actors that it was her show.

Interesting that she played the really, seriously virtuous of the three friends who all worked in the department store.  The virtue was a bit of a conflict because she was a mannequin who modeled lingerie and she did seem to get the scantiest ensembles.  The men/buyers who were at the runways were sometimes with their women friends.  All that felt a bit strange for my mental version of that time - 

What surprised me happened early: in the opening credits, after the stars, the next was "Hedda Hopper.............Mrs. Weaver".

We're told how well Crawford treated the 'little guys' who worked on the movies.  I would guess that kindness extended to the actresses as well and it might explain the Crawford Hopper friendship of the future.