Bette Davis & Joan Crawford: The Divine Feud | Audio Book (Part 3)

I met Joan in the spring of 1949 when I came back from London after making the hasty heart said Sherman I was assigned to direct her in a picture called the damned don't cry during the pre-production meetings on the damned don't cry Joan began to come on to the cultivated virile director on day one I looked at her and said to myself no way am I getting involved with this one she looked like a lot of trouble said Sherman on location in Palm Springs Crawford had her director placed in the motel room next to hers I was put off by that he said she came on too strong almost [ __ ] Joan then transmitted her patented charm and generosity she was very hard to resist said Sherman even my wife who met Joan and a party at her house liked Joan unlike Betty who tended to ignore or confront women Joan went out of her way to be nice to my wife she took a real interest in her on the way home the night of that party my wife remarked there's something there underneath the movie star facade there's a human being that I could probably like then she turned to me and said Vincent are you having an affair with her yes I answered just be careful my wife said Sherman directed Joan in two consecutive movies the damned don't cry and Harriet Craig their affair continued and reached the open ears of Betty Davis I was told that Betty was furious when she heard I was seeing Joan how could he have anything to do with that woman she said I knew nothing about the animosity between the two stars said Sherman although later I wondered if John hadn't deliberately pursued me to get what Betty couldn't Crawford always looked up to Davis as someone who was superior said the director but in terms of ability and I guess in terms of background well the truth was there wasn't any great difference Betty didn't come from any highfalutin family either in my opinion they were sisters under the skin in December 1950 both Davis and Crawford's names appeared on many of the years best actress lists Betty led all the honors for her magnificent romp as Margo Channing in All About Eve while Joan was cited for one or both of her Vincent sure films the damned don't cry and Harriet Craig in January 1951 both were voted most popular actress by photo play and each agreed to attend the gold medal ceremonies in February on the morning of the photo play awards party the Oscar nominations were released All About Eve received an unprecedented total of 14 nominations with Betty Davis and Anne Baxter cited his best actress Joan Crawford who had expected a nomination was not mentioned that afternoon she became ill and canceled her appearance at the photoplay awards dinner that night but Betty attended wearing a black cocktail dress and a flowered hat she showed up at the party with Gary Merrill happily quaffing champagne she accepted kisses and congratulations from former co-star Ronald Reagan and his new wife Nancy and from Jane Wyman and her new beau attorney Greg Bowser at one point in the evenings proceedings waving her cigarette in the direction of an adjoining table Davis asked who is that little boy seated between Ann Blyth and Elizabeth Taylor he keeps staring in my face that was Joan Crawford's nine-year-old son Christopher she was told he was accepting the award that night for his mother how sweet said Betty and where is Joan at home ill the answer came Oh said Betty something fatal I hope 15 the fabulous 50s it was a terrible decade for Hollywood the old studio system as we knew it began to crumble actors with long-term contracts were let go they worked in independent films on television or they went out of their minds Betty Davis I was never questioned because I was never involved Fran chose war 2 that when he took the stand he was deeply involved and was questioned for months by all committees now does that answer your duped question I need no retraction want no retraction or involvement in this whole messy uprooting filth on people's pasts Joan Crawford in 1951 in the wake of strikes riots and the destruction of lives and careers by the McCarthy witch-hunts the power and autonomy of the major Hollywood studios was eroded further by severe economic sanctions and structural changes ordered by the Justice Department to divest themselves of their large theater chains MGM Warner Brothers Fox and the other studios could no longer book their own pictures into their own theaters exhibitors were now free to purchase their features from independent distributors or from the growing European market where film production had boomed during the post-war period another serious encroachment on box office revenues was from a new form of domestic entertainment television as the purchase of TV sets quadrupled in two years with a box in one out of every five homes the attendance at movie theaters dropped drastically to recoup their losses and save on overhead the studio's radically trimmed their employee ranks the rosters of talent were examined then slashed the contracts of many actors writers directors and producers were either broken or not renewed scores of talented personnel were discharged and dumped on the open market Betty Davis was one of the first to feel the economic pinch in March 1951 when All About Eve failed to provide her with a third Oscar Judy Holliday won for born yesterday and no other scripts materialized she went to England to work on a film entitled another man's poison the job came via Douglas Fairbanks Jr actor producer ex-husband of Joan Crawford I had a production company with a man called Daniel Angel Fairbanks said in 1988 we made one picture in which I appeared the name of which I can't remember when this second script came along my partner said you must know Betty Davis from your Hollywood days could you possibly ask her if she's interested well of course I did know Betty but not very well she was never at the house when I was married to Joan but we worked at the same studio in the early 1930s and we made one picture together parachute jumper which I have conveniently forgotten most of I do remember that she was very professional if not always agreeable she always did as she pleased and she was very good at her job so when the script of another man's poison came along I approached her she apparently liked the story and wanted to know if her husband Gary Merrill could play the male lead I said yes because he is a very good actor and the part seemed right for him Betty asked to be directed by Irving rapper that was a dirty trick that was played on me by Betty's agent Lew Wasserman said rapper he sent me the script and after I read 20 pages I called Wasserman and said this is terrible he said well Betty Davis doesn't think so it's going to be her next picture and it's going to be a great box-office hit so he got me to agree to do it but eventually I learned this was just an excuse for Betty and Meryl to get a free honeymoon in England on arriving in Great Britain with Gary Merrill her personal maid a secretary a nurse for their two children including newly adopted daughter Margot Betty got peaked at the Fleet Street press when they called her husband mr. Davis and described her as a middle-aged matron she threatened to catch the next Boat back said reporter David Marlow she made dark hints about putting a stop to this kind of treatment of American stars by the British press you must remember that most of England was still destitute after the war said Douglas Fairbanks Jr they did not have the means or the inclination to indulge anyone we tried everything foul means and fare to win her confidence said screenwriter Val guest miss Davis is not winning any new friends or admirers during her dinner breaks at the Walton on Thames film studios a writer for picture show magazine stated while the rest of the cast and crew make do with soup or fish & chips the American star dines on sirloin steak which is flown over daily from the states for the film stars consumption yes that was an unfortunate occurrence said Fairbanks Jr she did have her own food flown in but once it was brought to Betty's attention that meat was still rationed in England she took her meals alone in her singham one evening the Merrill's dined at John Gill Goods house arriving as Ralph Richardson was departing he's been a favorite of mine for years said maril scrambling out of his car to meet him why didn't you bring your autograph book said Betty another weekend they visited Vivien Leigh and Larry Olivier at their old monastery estate when the Olivier's hung over from the night before made their late appearance they bounded in with Peter Finch and Noel Coward and headed straight for the bar later resting on the patio of the Abbey House when Miss Lee drifted by wearing a large hat and carrying a basket of flowers Noel Coward dryly explained she's doing her gardening bit betty davis could be jolly with a toilet sense of humor said Britisher val guessed she was frequently loud and boisterous especially during the long cocktail hour she and Meryl shared in their hotel suite the manager of the sedate hotel in which they were staying had frequent complaints from other guests about the nocturnal fights between the couple it was very embarrassing when I had to explain to her why we were moving them to another hotel said Douglas Fairbanks Jr this is the weirdest most unrelieved and at times the happiest bit of goings on this side of awake said a reviewer when another man's poison was released in January 1952 they were so right it was a lousy less than B picture said director rapper who had hoped to make amends with another film with Betty Davis how Wallace visited me in England and told me he purchased the rights to come back little Sheba the director recalled he also mentioned that he wanted me to direct the film back in Los Angeles I was told that Daniel man who directed the Broadway version with Shirley booth was signed that was all right things change words are said then forgotten but then I got a call from Hal Wallis is assistant Paul Nathan who said Hal wants you to make a test of Betty Davis for come back little Sheba I was confused where was Danny man I called up the boys at MCA and they confirmed that man was about to be signed but he had never worked with Betty before so I was being asked to go behind his back and test her for the role I said no the next morning Betty called me she never said hello so you don't think I could do the part she began I tried to explain the situation and told her it had nothing to do with whether she could play the part you could do anything I said she persisted I said well I don't see you playing a defeated woman go to hell she said and hung up when Hal Wallis gave the part to Shirley booth whom he wanted in the first place Betty blamed me again for her loss she never forgot it either with time her rage grew stronger some 30 years later she went on the Johnny Carson television show and tore my reputation apart she said I never did anything for her she remembered the loss of The Glass Menagerie and come back little Sheba which were never really hers in the first place and she preferred to forget that I directed her in one of the most romantic films of her career now Voyager my idea of a movie star is Joan Crawford who can chew up two directors and three producers before lunch Shelley Winters I saw Shelley Winters in a Place in the Sun she gave a very moving performance which surprised me because Shelley is not a sensitive girl socially Joan Crawford by 1952 the Hollywood studios were preparing to launch their first defense against the competition of television to combat the lure of the small box each major studio announced plans to make bigger and better films to be photographed in 3d cinema scope this division and todd-ao with stereophonic sound at Warner's House of Wax a horror film shot in 3d by a one-eyed director Andre de Toth became a top grocer but the new medium did not impress durable star Joan Crawford I like people coming out of the screen but I prefer they do it with their talents and not special effects she said anyone who appears on TV is a traitor Crawford stated when bed Davis made her 3-minute debut on Jimmy Durante TV comedy show Joan had her own way of combating the new medium as the movie screens became larger so did the Crawford features the mouth got bigger the eyebrows got thicker her face began to resemble that of a man her father said one writer her roles became equally macho in this woman is dangerous she played the tough mistress of a killer and the mastermind of his holdup gang the story inspired novice TV comedy writer Neil Simon to offer this synopsis as audition material Joan Crawford plays the mistress of a murderer he gets caught and his fried in the electric chair she promises to wait for him this woman is dangerous would be the last of three Crawford pictures directed by Vincent Sherman when it ended so did their romantic relationship that was stormy to say the least said Sherman Joan threw me out of her house many times for various reasons after one battle she called my wife and said hello dear I am sending your husband home to you my wife said thank you Joan and we remained good friends in February 1952 Crawford asked that her contract with Warner Brothers be terminated they were grooming doris day to take over the top spot she said Jack Warner asked me to play her sister in one picture storm warning I said come on Jack no one could ever believe that I would have Doris Day for a sister Warner gave that part to Ginger Rogers and Crawford went to RKO Pictures to make her first independent film a first-rate thriller entitled sudden fear offered two hundred thousand dollars as salary she agreed to put the entire sum in escrow in exchange for 40% of the profits and co-producer status the latter title ensured her approval of her leading man to play the young actor who marries then plots the murder of his older playwright wife Joan wanted Marlon Brando a year before Crawford had been at Warner's when Brando arrived to make a streetcar named desire her first of the newcomer matched that of her good friend Vivian Lee both agreed that Brando was an ill-mannered slob but after attending the premiere of streetcar and watching Brando an animal action is Stanley Kowalski Joan dropped her reserve and hopped on board the caravan of feverish Hollywood women who were openly lusting for the mumbling muscled t-shirt at genius the morning after the premiere Jones sent Marlon a telegram praising his performance and inviting him to park his motorbike on her front lawn sometime in the near future he ignored the telegram when she signed on for sudden fear she sent another telegram followed by phone messages to his service but again Brando did not respond Joan the co-producer then went through the regular channels submitting the script to his agent the agent passed it to Brando who sent backward to Joan that he wasn't interested in doing any mother and son pictures at the present time after that crass rejection Marlon made it all the way to the top of Joan's active list and another newcomer Jack Palance was signed to co-star in sudden fear but his working relationship with Joan was also stormy she argued that Palance wasn't handsome enough for a star of her glamorous stature also like Brando he was a method actor and she objected to their style of realism in one kissing scene she was shocked when Jack shoved his tongue down her throat he kisses me like I'm his wife she complained to the director but the chemistry between the two worked on the screen at the first preview of the picture Joan's special guest Louella Parsons predicted that sudden fear would be a big moneymaker and bring another Oscar for Joan other columnist sugreev with Parsons prognosis in a piece devoted to the widespread unemployment and paranoia sweeping through Hollywood Walter Winchell reported while many female stars in Tinseltown are scrambling to find work in movies or television Joan Crawford with the smell of a new hit movie sudden fear on her hands is lining up jobs for the next three years she's putting all offers right next to the requests for dates from every eligible male on both coasts producer Norman krasna dated Nancy Davis on the last day of July by the first week of August he had switched to Joan Crawford Hollywood Reporter 1950 when asked by a movie magazine to name her favorite male sex symbols for the 1950s Joan began with Clark Gable his magic has not dimmed with the years she told silver screen William Holden was tops too she felt he's a dream he isn't flashy he doesn't seem to have sex appeal but brother he's got it in fact I like Holden so much I'm putting him on the list twice in 1952 her list led off with Kirk Douglas Kirk's got it he knows it and he knows you know it Joan said and put Burt Lancaster in the next spot because Byrd is perfectly proportional and never shows off in June of that year Joan was in New York taking in the new plays when she spotted that town's newest sensation Yul Brynner onstage in the king and I after sweeping backstage to pay her respects to Gertrude Lawrence Joan asked if she could be bold enough to ask for an introduction to Brenner Ewell the bare chested Mongolian sex symbol fixed his hypnotic brown eyes on Joan and said an honor a privilege then kissed her hand exceeding to her request for a photograph Yul sent a large portrait to her hotel the following morning the pose showed the smoldering gypsy star sitting cross-legged on the floor naked and semi tumescent an appreciative Joan called Ewell within the hour and their affair began that afternoon in his dressing room he was married so they were discreet she became a frequent visitor backstage and they sometimes dined in her hotel suite after his show it was here that Yul taught Joan how to play the balalaika guitar and other Russian instruments she was on her way back to Los Angeles when she stopped in Chicago to change trains while shopping at Marshall Fields she looked at her watch then told columnist Tony whitesell it 4:30 in New York my darling you'll is between shows I must call him on his day off you'll flew to California for a 24-hour visit with Crawford it was a date said writer call John's but Brenner was exhausted from the trip and when he got to Jones he fell asleep which infuriated her when Sheila Graham reported that Brenner had separated from his wife Joan denied she had anything to do with the break-up no one can break up a happy marriage unless the crack is beyond repairing she said astutely then just as suddenly you'll cooled the romance after flooding her with flowers and attention in New York he hinted he was the pursued said Walter Winchell nothing of the kind said Joan it was she who dropped you'll only to pick him up again when he came to LA to make the movie version of the King and I in her memoirs daughter Christina told of the night she opened the front door at home and gasped when a half-naked bald-headed gypsy man stood there say hello to your uncle you'll Joan instructed the girl Betty plays Joan I love the new poodle cut hairstyles for women I saw stripper Lily st. Cyr wearing one in her act at Ciro's I went out the next day and got the same style Betty Davis those new poodle hairdos are not for elderly women I think they look better on dogs and teenagers I should know I have one of each Joan Crawford there were no feature film scripts awaiting Betty Davis when she returned to California from England in July 1951 that September Garry Merrill was given the lead in a Fox episodic drama phone call from a stranger reading the script Betty volunteered to play the supporting role of Murray Hoke an invalid the role was budgeted at $1500 for a minor actress but Betty for three days work had the salary upped to 35,000 the producers got back more than that in publicity alone the star playing a bit part said Gary Merrill six months passed before another job materialized for Betty in July 1952 she returned to 20th Century Fox to play in a small independent film the star the story was about a shallow alcoholic former Hollywood star who tries for a comeback they can't put me out to pasture said the movies lead character why I'm an institution girls talked like me imitated my makeup my hair I was a star I am a star that was one of the best scripts ever written about a movie mad actress said Davis of course you know whom it was written about don't you Joan Crawford the writers were Kathryn Albert and Dale unison long-term friends of Crawford Albert was Joan's favorite fan magazine reporter she was given the exclusive scoops on the stars marriages and divorces from Douglas Fairbanks Jr and Franchot own in 1939 Albert also wrote a novel remember Valerie marsh it was about a tough ambitious frank sexual Little [ __ ] from Oklahoma who became a star that was based on Joan Crawford Albert's husband writer Dale unasyn confirmed but the couple's friendship with the star did not go into deep freeze until the summer of 1952 when the second Crawford inspired story the star went into production with Betty Davis the idea for the movie came from Mildred Pierce producer Jerry Wald he met with writers Albert in unison one day and said you - no Hollywood very well why don't you do a story about a star who has fallen on hard times and goes to her own auction sale that was our starting off point said unison once we had the script written we tried to get the film made with Lucille Ball but her movie career had never taken off and we couldn't raise any money on her Lucy weary of trying to become a star in movies then made a pilot for a CBS TV comedy series which finally established her fame contrary to reports Joan Crawford was never approached to play the role in the star frankly it was a little too close to her which is one reason Betty liked it said unison with a la Betty could play Joan Crawford to the hilt oh yes that was Crawford Betty told playboy in 1983 I wasn't imitating her of course it was just that whole approach of hers to the business as regards the importance of glamor and all of the offstage things I adored the script prior to production Betty met with the writers and suggested some changes she came to us and said there was just one scene that she thought was a cliche said unison it was the scene where she's locked out of her apartment by her landlord she felt it had been done a great deal not knowing Betty too well or how to handle her but feeling the scene was absolutely necessary i sat down and wrote her a note I said it was a cliched scene but it had never happened as far as I know to a movie star to be locked out of her house before I sent the note to her and at seven o'clock the next morning I got a telephone call from her Dale you are absolutely right she said from now on I intend to keep my big mouth shut another scene written specifically with Crawford in mind had minor input from Betty after being evicted and jailed for drunken driving the star desperate for a comeback auditions for a character role in a film but upon reading the script she decides to audition for the younger aunjanue part instead wearing heavy lipstick makeup and exaggerated gestures Betty as Joan Crawford flirted lewdly at the camera then exiting the set after her test she bestowed the familiar Crawford bless you on the crew rehearsing the scene Betty conferred with the writers you know she said being careful not to mention Crawford by name when these people say bless you once they say it several times so if it's all right with you I will repeat it a few times as I leave the set I often wondered if Joan knew the movie was about her Davis asked this writer years later Crawford knew and she apparently planned her revenge carefully not on Davis but on her good friends Katherine Albert and Dale unison the Yoon's were the parents of lovely daughter Joan who was named after her godmother Joan Crawford at the age of 15 as Joan Evans the unisons daughter was signed to a contract by Samuel Goldwyn she subsequently appeared as the lead in Roseanna McCoy and in our very own the beautiful teenager had a promising career until 1952 when she met and fell in love with a young man Kirby Weatherly a car salesman at 17 she was too young for marriage the youn syns felt and they appealed to Joan Crawford to talk some sense into her goddaughter in mid-july while the star was in production Crawford invited the young couple to her home at midnight she called the Unison's and gave them the happy news dear Catherine and Dale said Joan I want you to be the first to know Joan and Kirby were married at my house tonight she set the whole thing up behind our backs said Dale unison she called the judge and the press she didn't invite us to our own daughter's wedding we were both very angry and heartbroken the following morning when the Unison's arrived on the set of the star Betty Davis was reading about the wedding in the paper sympathizing with the parents she told them they should go to Crawford and scratch her eyes out during the remainder of filming the writers became good friends with Davis they also terminated their 25-year old relationship with Joan Crawford our daughter was close to Joan for a while and her marriage became a lasting success but Katharine refused to speak to Crawford again said daily inson in 1988 then some time later after catherine had died and i remarried i heard from joan she had once met my second wife Berenice also known as Binks at a party Binx disliked her enormous Lea but when we married Joan sent us a letter this was the first time I had heard from her since the star dear Dale and Binks the letter said I am so happy that two of my best friends are married love Joan naturally I laughed because this was the kind of senseless thing that Crawford would do a scoop from Louella Parsons December 1952 two of Hollywood's most durable stars Joan Crawford and Betty Davis will be seen on Broadway next season Betty will appear in two's company and Joan will do Norman Krasner's play kind sir with Charles Boyer as her co-star I am returning to the stage to refine my craft that's what Hollywood actors always say but that's a bunch of BS no one leaves movies for the stage unless they can't get work and I'm no exception Betty Davis for $3,000 a week and 10 percent of the House receipts Betty agreed to return to Broadway in a song-and-dance revue entitled two's company certainly I'll sing it's a musical isn't it said Betty who described her range as three octaves and somewhat masculine in tone stage by Jerome Robbins and directed by Jules Dassin the review would include 22 original sketches including one featuring Somerset mom's famous character Sadie Thompson her interpretation however would veer from the original stage portrayal by her idol jeanne eagels it would be closer to the cinematic performances of Gloria Swanson and Joan Crawford I am doing a burlesque of the part said Betty with lots of Swanson and Crawford touches you'll be able to see my makeup and hear the clanging of my jewelry down on 14th Street that season Joan Crawford also announced her return to the Great White Way in a straight play a comedy written by Norman krasna in November 1952 while Betty was in Boston in tryouts for two's company her rival flew to New York to read on stage for krasna and director Joshua Logan she was electrifying said Logan It was as though she had been onstage always she read two acts then the third and we offered her the role on the spot oh no said Joan turning down the job never I just wanted to know whether or not I could do it for my own satisfaction I could never play a long run on the stage I'd be bored to death but thank you for letting me make the experiment this was a new experience for me said Logan planned frustration on December 15th after playing two months of tryouts on the road two's company with Betty opened at the Alvin Theatre in New York the ovations I received was heartwarming she said but the reviews were blood-curdling she bumps grinds struts kicks and shimmies said the New York Daily Mirror while the times compared Davis has returned to the stage with much the same kind of all that might attend the spectacle of Eleonora Duse a deciding to play comic Bobby Clarke in January as two's company continued to play to respectable houses the movie of the star was released the reviews for Bettie were excellent Newsweek found her Joan Crawford inspired performance to be an acute frightening picture of a woman possessed with her past career and legend self accusing and humble at times but then again utterly callous to the ordinary and wonderful business of human relations in February Davis received her 10th Oscar nomination for the role but placed one slot ahead of her for sudden fear was Joan Crawford I am honored to be in the same company as Julie Harris the member of the wedding and Shirley booth come back little Sheba said Crawford ignoring the other two nominees Susan Hayward with a song in my heart and Betty Davis she claims she had not seen Betty's picture of course I had heard she was supposed to be playing me she said years later but I didn't believe it did you see the picture it couldn't possibly be me Betty looked so old and so dreadfully overweight in March when the major Hollywood studios said they couldn't afford to subsidize the cost of the annual award ceremonies the Academy accepted a bid from NBC television on the night of March 19 1953 the shotgun wedding of the movies and TV was held the first telecast of the awards was transmitted from two theaters one in Hollywood and one in New York nominee Betty Davis had planned to host the New York segment but the week before she checked into new York hospital to be operated on for osteomyelitis of the job nominee Joan Crawford was present in Hollywood but ever loyal to the movies she refused to appear on TV as a presenter if her name is called as Best Actress that's a different ballgame said Dorothy Kilgallen I'll be thrilled to accept Joan agreed the award went to Shirley booth for come back little Sheba from her hospital bed Betty said her loss was doubled because come back little Sheba was offered to me first but I turned it down because I didn't want to take the part away from Shirley booth had she won for the star she might have been offered other scripts Betty lamented with two's company closed on Broadway the actress checked out of the hospital packed up her three children now including adopted son Michael and moved to Maine with husband Gary Meryl announcing her retirement Betty said that at last she could indulge in a dream she had harbored since childhood she could now become a housewife and mother after settling in a big white clobbered house by the ocean Betty called the place which way she explained that's because a witch lives there and we don't know which way we're going hitler's diaries were released today it turns out that he too dated Joan Crawford TV host Johnny Carson at the start of 1953 Joan Crawford aged 49 had no intention of retreating or retiring to the country when her share of the profits from sudden fear came to more than three hundred thousand dollars she decided to plow a good portion of that back into the maintenance of her career television and CinemaScope be damned she was an old-fashioned movie star and she intended to keep her name suspended in lights for as long as her talent energy and cash held out to start the year off Joan and decorator Billy Haynes co-hosted a black-tie dinner dance at her home for mr. and mrs. Stanley Marcus of Dallas with her guests seated eight to a table on the badminton court and around the pool the hostess shimmering in diamonds and a short white strapless chiffon gown greeted each one of the 150 while her teenaged daughter Christina watched from an upstairs window whirring when her mother was going to pay the long overdue school bills a week later Joan showed up in black satin and emeralds at the Marion Davies party for Johnny ray and while a jealous Fernando Lamas fought with Lex Barker over Lana Turner why don't you take her outside and her in the bushes and angry Fernando told Lex Joan adept at being quoted in any situation said that she felt embarrassed for hostess Marion and that she honestly believed it was time for the overactive Lana to take a rest in the romance department look who's giving advice Lana could well have replied for Crawford was hardly on a sabbatical from sex that year socially her name was linked with Kleenex heir James Kimberly and with director David Miller while silver-screen said that Joan was seeing a lot of Jennings lang these days the popular agent appears to be completely recovered from the gunshot wounds incurred when Walter Wanger husband of Joan Bennett fired on him one evening in a Beverly Hills parking lot Crawford also had a short fling with a notorious gigolo playboy Porfirio Rubirosa the former Dominican Republic diplomat known as Ruby the swordsman was often described as priapic indefatigable and enormous Lee proportioned ruby was sweet said his second wife Doris Duke but we weren't married more than a few hours and he was already diddling the maid as a wedding gift from doris ruby received a check for $500,000 a house in Paris a string of polo ponies a plane and three sports cars thirteen months later he left Duke and went in search of new and wealthier women in Argentina he'd a lead with Evita perón in Mexico it was Dolores Del Rio when he reached Hollywood he said he wanted to meet the luscious Lana Turner but she was already busy shedding fiance Fernando Lamas for Tarzan husband-to-be Lex Barker Ruby then called ginger Rogers but she was in France someone then suggested Joan Crawford he called then visited and since she was no slouch in the bedroom herself it was said that the lusty pair cleared the birds out of the trees in and around Brentwood for the first few days and nights of their lovemaking for a break one night they went dancing Joan also arranged for Ruby to meet some Hollywood producers with time to spare he toyed with the idea of becoming a big movie star she got him a minor role in a Western but having no work visa he lost the job so as a consolation the couple drove to Palm Springs for the weekend it was there that the Playboy made the mistake of telling Crawford that she was stingy compared with his ex-wives in their 10 days together all Joan had given him was a silver cigarette case from Cartier's and a gold money clip with no cash attached unperturbed the star told the gigolo not to worry his macho head over such paltry matters she had something unique and priceless already on order for him with visions of a new car or a yacht on his mind Ruby made love to Joan that night and the next morning when he woke up there was a small box and an envelope placed on the table beside the bed opening the box first he found what appeared to be a hand knit scarf or muffler the enclosed note explained that it wasn't a scarf or muffler but a sock perfectly measured and knitted by Joan in the letter she bade a fond farewell to Ruby explaining that she had been called back to Los Angeles on some urgent business she hoped that he would call when he was in town again and signed the letter a more etc Joan Crawford on calling the front desk Ruby then learned that the star had checked out leaving him the great lover stuck with the hotel bill Rubirosa would of course recover his losses the following month in Deauville France he met Barbara Hutton who bestowed 3.5 million dollars in cash and gifts on him in the 53 days of their short marriage Joan and the universal beefcake boys recently I heard a wise story that I had a party at my home for 25 men it's an interesting story but I don't know 25 men I'd want to invite to a party Joan Crawford 1953 in New York Joan met a business executive milton rackmill he was the head of Decca Records owned by MCA and he was about to be transferred to Los Angeles to take over production for Universal Pictures the studio connection interested the star once considered a minor Universal had recently moved into television production and had increased their output of regular feature movies when rackmill arrived in California Crawford gave a party in his honor he in turn invited her to tour the studio where she met some of the writers and producers on her own the star also introduced herself to the universal chorale of young male contract players the emphasis here was on the word young because according to one agent Joan had already exhausted the older members of the Screen Actors Guild and was working her way through the junior division by then Crawford had her own production company and as a producer she acted no different from any man in town she used her executive position to purchase scripts and to sample the talent in town said Adela Roger st. John's according to the agent when Joan saw an actor she liked she set up a preliminary meeting at the studio if pleased she followed through with an invitation to dinner at her house the procedure was always the same after the main course Joan would lead her guests upstairs to her bedroom for dessert I barely got out of there with my virtue intact said teenage idol Eddie Fisher Tony Curtis was in the hot male newcomers stable at Universal he was one of the sexiest and best-looking Joan told modern screen usually when a guy has his kind of face and sex appeal you can't touch him with a ten-foot pole she said but Tony has a refreshing humility and gentleness she invited Tony for dinner at Brentwood he showed up with his bride Janet Lee whom Joan chose to ignore for most of the evening at Universal Jeff Chandler was being groomed as the studio's answered Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas the previous year he made Joan's list of popular male pin ups in Screenland Jeff was purely male without resorting to any of those muscle barbell distortions that ordinary body beautiful boys indulge in said the star Jeff in a pre parlance of the times took a meeting with Joan at Universal then dropped by her house for dinner he returned a second and a third time married he then separated from his wife and moved into his own apartment Joan was a frequent visitor she picked out his furnishings and his clothes making sure everything he bought complemented her wardrobe although they were seldom seen on dates in public jeff was always in the background alone at whatever function Joan attended to wit some fanzine items Joan Crawford in strapless white net and all gorgeous diamonds showed at the premiere of Moulin Rouge also there were Tyrone and Linda power Robert Wagner Debra Paget and Jeff Chandler stag enjoying Edith Piaf at Mocambo was Zsa Zsa Gabor and husband George Sanders Robert Wagner and Terry Moore and Jeff Chandler recently separated from his lovely wife Marjorie was seated at the same table as Joan Crawford who looked breathtaking in blue eventually Sidney Scholl ski blew the whistle on the secret affair Joan Crawford needs a real cool romance and Jeff Chandler isn't it the columnist wrote it's over Joan told Jeff but I love you said Jeff what do we care what some crummy columnist says I care and my fans care said Joan they would be so disappointed in me if I was seeing a married man exit Jeff and enter Rock Hudson in 1953 at Universal Rock Hudson was still a year away from hitting the big time with Jane Wyman in magnificent obsession but Joan after seeing an early cut of captain Lightfoot told Milton rackmill that guy has got it he's a combination of Gary Cooper and Robert Taylor Hollywood lore said that Joan with her normal enthusiasm sent rock her usual telegram a dinner meeting at Brentwood followed but on this night perhaps heating a rumor that Rock was gay Joan changed her routine it was a warm California evening so after dinner they sat outside drinking brandy by the pool she entertained the bashful actor with stories of his favorite MetroStars Garbo Harlow and his idol Clark Gable whose lopsided grin rock had borrowed for some of his early movies then the star suggested they swim in her heated pool there were brand-new trunks in the pool house for her guests to wear and as he swam she sat nearby nursing her drink and watching the Magnificent rock as he cut through the water afterwards she suggested he shower and change so they could go dancing the story told true or fabled was that rock was back in the pool house taking a shower when the lights went out suddenly he felt the warm naked body of Joan Crawford beside him Shh baby she whispered close your eyes and pretend I'm Clark Gable in March 1953 with no man left it Universal to conquer Joan decided to marry the boss Milton rackmill the ceremony was scheduled for Las Vegas on the morning of the wedding according to daughter Christina they left her house together in the limousine because they both had studios to report to before leaving for Las Vegas on the way to work they had a fight over who was going to be dropped off first that was the end of the marriage plans guests were called in the party in Las Vegas was cancelled it also temporarily shelved Joan's plans to work at Universal but she still believed that she was a big star able to call her own shots at the major studios you have to be self-reliant and strong to survive in this town otherwise you will be destroyed Joan Crawford shortly before her own decline it was the success of sudden fear that made Joan too cocky some people said in January 1953 after she had agreed to play Karen Holmes the adulterous army wife and From Here to Eternity she overplayed her hand and contract talks with Columbia Pictures her agent had already secured the cash $100,000 and a percentage of the gross and top billing for Joan in the all-star cast she would come second after Montgomery Clift but before Burt Lancaster Frank Sinatra begging for a comeback would come forth below the title Joan would also receive full perks these included a first-class suite on the ship to Hawaii her own house on the island and her screen wardrobe to be custom made by Sheila O'Brien her personal designer reportedly it was a fight over the clothes that led to the stars exiting the picture but executive producer Jerry Walt said Joan's main objection concerned the script she wanted her part beefed up with less emphasis on the army and Pearl Harbor and more on her said Harry Cohn using the excuse of her wardrobe as an out and the roll went to Deborah Kerr that March Joan landed a to picture deal at her old studio MGM at 125 thousand dollars per film her first project would be torch song which was described by one critic as a Technicolor musical version of All About Eve with all of the female characters rolled into one with a soft name and a hard heart Jenny Stewart Crawford's character was an aging neurotic compulsive arrogant Broadway star who bullied her staff and co-workers she's tough because she's really lonely at heart said Joan who added that she was thrilled because she would be doing her own singing in the movie you may not know this but many years ago in this same studio I made some recordings she told one young scribe they were never released because my boss lb Mayer thought I was a threat to Jeanette MacDonald well dear Jeanette is gone now and so is mr. Mayer so audiences will finally get a chance to hear me sing and I don't mind saying I am very happy about that after losing ten pounds and undergoing slight surgical improvements Joan boasted to MGM costumer Helen Rose the face and the breasts are new but my ass is the same as flattened as firm as a 20 year olds described by one critic as a drag let loose on film she had her hair dyed apricot orange and styled in a brutal pageboy her on-screen dialogue also matched her rigid appearance people will only do what you want if you hit them first said Joan is Jenni later snarling you get paid a lot of money to dance around that leg to a terrified chorus boy her off-camera lines were also unfriendly a metro publicist recalled welcomed back to the studio after her 10-year absence Jones strolled around the lot and was introduced to the current crop of players including Debbie Reynolds Bobby van and Anne Francis lovely children but where are the stars the established legend snapped the role of the blind pianist and torch song was played by British actor Michael Wilding who had recently been signed to MGM on the strength of his marriage to the studio's hottest commodity Elizabeth Taylor Joan at 49 was not taken with Elizabeth age 20 princess brat was how she referred to her co-stars wife and one afternoon when Elizabeth drove up to the outdoor filming in her pink Cadillac convertible leaving a twister of dust in her wake Jones suggested to Michael Wilding that he put a harness on his young wife when Elizabeth persisted in visiting her husband on the in Dorset during filming Joan had a security guard put it the sound stage door barring Taylor from entering Elizabeth for all her youth managed to pitch a few bomoh at the older star Michael is making his first and last picture with Joan Crawford she told one reporter while another learned how fortunate her husband was to be playing a blind man in his first American role that way he doesn't have to look at Joan Crawford throughout the entire movie said Liz in years to come Joan would get the opportunity to retaliate against Taylor but that season she had a more provocative newcomer to challenge Marilyn Monroe Joan and Marilyn Monroe was like Crawford she had an affinity for the camera there's a lot of her type around today they're not actresses but creatures of the can Joe mankiewicz there's nothing wrong with my tits but I don't go around throwing them in people's faces Joan Crawford on Marilyn Monroe in 1953 Joan was once again voted favorite actress by photo play and Marilyn Monroe was named fastest rising star at the awards dinner the two stars clashed and while the Press reported that this intergalactic confrontation was their first meeting the aging movie Queen and the blonde starlet had been introduced before under private circumstances author Fred Geils claimed the two met in 1947 in a church st. Victor's in Los Angeles when Monroe was making ladies of the chorus attorney Greg Bowser said the Crawford was with him when they first met Marilyn at the home of Joseph Schenk an old-time producer and patron of aspiring starlets including Joan in her younger hungrier days bouts her story was that Crawford was with him when they spotted the provocative young starlet dressed in a tight tan skirt and white angora sweater standing in line at shanks buffet table taking the initiative Joan approached Marilyn and said sincerely you're very pretty my dear but you don't know about clothes during that evening Joan also extended an invitation to the struggling actress to dine at her Brentwood home Marilyn a longtime fan of Crawford said she was thrilled to accept the invitation she was also eager to meet Joan's adopted children but on the chosen night when she arrived at Crawford's home there wasn't sight or sound of the Crawford children furthermore Joan never served dinner she served a drink - Marilyn replenished her own then without much ado brought the girl upstairs to see what a real stars wardrobe looked like Marilyn reportedly gasped when she saw Joan's dressing room which was bigger than most people's living room the walls were stacked with shelves and plastic color-coded boxes containing shoes gloves hats and handbags while underneath hundreds of dresses coats and evening gowns were hanging on multiple racks a special room nearby held her furs in minx and Sables some 70 in number try one on Crawford told the impressed starlet who reached for a skimpy white fox stole in her bedroom Crawford presented Marilyn with a box inside was an expensive brand-new black cocktail dress in Monroe's size take off your things and try it on said Joan if it's not okay I'll send it back tomorrow oh the breathily excited Marilyn whispered then slipping out of her clothes the nubile young Beauty sent the semi intoxicated Joan into a state of cold sobriety underneath her street dress Marilyn wasn't wearing a stitch of underwear Oh said Joan her eyes widening and her temperature rising as she began to experience the full impact of seeing the naked exquisitely formed body of America's future sex symbol it has been said that what transpired between Crawford and Monroe that night was more than a mere Fashion Show some also believed that Joan's intentions were strictly philanthropic Joan was very generous to newcomers said Vincent Sherman although I remember when we were at Columbia there was a girl who was always hanging around her we often wondered about her mother had lesbian proclivities said daughter Christina revealing how when Joan was drinking she sometimes wanted to sleep with the children's nurse actress Louise Brooks also decreed that Crawford was one of those girls who went back and forth while director Jo mankiewicz said he thought that Monroe was attracted to her own sex I often wondered about Marilyn said publicist Harry minds but Joan we were very close friends I never saw it and I doubt it seriously she liked men too much author Fred Geils claimed that at another brunch and with the hostess slightly drunk Crawford made a sexual pass at Marilyn and the friendship ended Marilyn who saw nothing wrong with lesbianism recoiled more from shock than offense said Geils supposedly Joan's grudge began then and it grew in proportion to Monroe's growing popularity eventually exploding public on the night of the photo play dinner among the other stars gathered for the awards dinner in the Crystal Room of the Beverly Hills Hotel that evening were John Wayne Maureen O'Hara Susan Hayward Doris Day Lana Turner and Lex Barker arriving late making a grand entrance wearing a chiffon gown of muted grays and blue with real diamonds in her hair was Joan Crawford seated at her table were Gary Cooper Grace Kelly Rock Hudson and his date Mamie Van Doren in no time at all I realized that Crawford was on the way to becoming blind drunk said Van Doren every so often she'd knock back a slug of her drink and look around the room malevolently whole goddamn place is full of newcomers if you ask me right Rocko said Joan to Rock Hudson with whom she tried to flirt but it only made her look like she had indigestion said Mamie who confessed in her memoirs that she made it with rock later that night on the kitchen floor of her parents home in the valley fixing her eyes on Mamie Jones spat out pretty new faces with nothing going on behind them pretty few real stars here meanwhile on the front dais 20th Century Fox boss Darryl zanuck sat with an empty seat beside him reserved for the fastest-rising star Marilyn Monroe who was still at the studio being sewn into a gold LeMay dress by designer William trivia to be thin enough for the dress she went on to high colonics the designer confided finally wriggling in two hours late wearing the skin tight gold LeMay gown it was just the kind of dress I'd hoped my studio would make for me said Mamie wistfully Marilyn swayed sinuously down the long room to her place on the dais while gasps and wolf calls filled the air it was like a burlesque show said a horrified Joan Crawford to Associated Press reporter Bob Thomas the audience yelled and shouted and Jerry Lewis got up on the table and whistled but those of us in the industry just shuddered Marilyn was a cheap joke who flaunted sex in people's faces Joan went on to say in the the wire press interview kids don't like her and don't forget the women they are the ones who pick out the movie entertainment for the family underneath it all they like to know all actresses are ladies Crawford's comment on Monroe made every newspaper across the United States it was also picked up by the radio and TV news reporters the Foreign Press and the important weekly news magazines the dispute went on for days as the pros and cons from the media added more fodder to the fire Crawford was accused of being jealous of the younger sexier Monroe others applauded Joan as a brave and responsible arbiter of Hollywood's morals her loyalty to Hollywood goes above and beyond the call of duty said Edith Gwynn she was following the normal middle-aged trend to conservatism said Bob Thomas who believed that Joan enjoyed the controversy and the wide publicity her criticism generated Marilyn who cried all night after the attack from Crawford was reportedly so embarrassed that she did not go outside her apartment for a fortnight yet like most celebrities in times of contention the distressed sex symbol did manage to drag her beautiful body to the phone to talk to Louella Parsons who was also willing to open her vitally important column so Marilyn could express her agony at first all I could think of was why should she select me to blast Marilyn whispered she's a great star I'm just starting the thing that hit me the hardest is that it came from her along with Betty Davis and Katharine Hepburn miss Crawford was one of my favorite actresses I've always admired her for being such a wonderful mother for taking four children and giving them a fine home who better than I knows what it means to care for homeless little ones this upload is made by the concluding chapter of Crawford 16 gunfight at the not OK Corral I'll never know why Joan Crawford didn't keep her real name Joan Crawford was a Lucy elasaur she certainly was never a Joan Crawford you could believe that lucila sewer would strap her adopted children to the bedpost but a Joan Crawford would have to be sitting in the solarium sipping Pepsi with Cesar Romero Mercedes McCambridge the quality of Mercy putting Marilyn Monroe on hold as soon as Crawford finished torch song she went over to Republic studios to make her first talking Western Johnny Guitar her director was Nicholas ray married to Gloria Graham he met Joan when she and Graham made sudden fear not long after ray and Joan were an item and Graham no slouch in the allure department began to date her stepson Tony ray whom she later married Crawford and Nick Ray were scheduled to make a film called Lisbon at Paramount but the script of Lisbon had no balls said Joan and when ray landed a deal at Republic's Studios for Johnny Guitar he induced Crawford to play the main role Johnny Guitar was not the usual shoot-'em-up Western but an existential allegorical true colour parable with two women as the leads Joan would play Vienna the ambitious owner of a saloon who in pursuit of urban Commerce wanted the railroad to come to town her opposition Emma small a bitter sexually repressed cattle owner was against the railroad and against Joan whom she tried to lynch Crawford had two actresses in mind to play Emma she wanted Barbara Stanwyck or Betty Davis said Nick ray I agreed with her either one would have been fine except herbert yates the boss at republic was a cheap son of a [ __ ] he was famous for making cheap pictures the only way he got Crawford to come to Republic was because he made the quiet man the year before that won the Oscar and made a lot of money although John Ford had to sue Yates to get his profits when I told him Jones suggestion of using Stanwyck or Betty Davis in the second lead Yates said no the budget wouldn't pay for two stars I had to go with someone lesser-known thereby cheaper when I told Joan that she said well you better get someone who can hold her own with me or the picture won't work ray got actress Mercedes McCambridge who won an Oscar in 1950 for her portrayal of Sadie Burke the sharp tough assist to the redneck politician in all the king's men the talented McCambridge said she had a certain edge over Joan Crawford when they first met she had recently married Fletcher Markel an orchestra leader he was a very attractive man who had received a pair of gold cufflinks from Joan shortly before eloping with McCambridge he had picked me so there miss Crawford so there said Mercedes to herself with a smirk when she met Crawford for wardrobe tests on Johnny Guitar Joan was smirking too when she gave supporting player McCambridge the shabby side of the wardrobe tests late while she was outfitted in expensive gabardine jodhpurs and silken shirts crawford decided that mercedes would wear nothing but a heavy black slightly modified nun's habit throughout the whole film in makeup Joan also insisted that Mercedes hair be dyed jet-black to contrast with her own warm russet Brown also a dye job said McCambridge and during a break in the color tests when Mercedes sat down the star stood by her side then after bestowing a truly sensational Joan Crawford smile slipped out of one of her shoes lifted her bare foot and placed it firmly up against McCambridge his stomach looking like a flamingo in a splint with one foot on the floor and the other in her co-stars navel Crawford constructed McCambridge to examine her funny little feet they had grown from a perfect model size four and a half when she was sixteen she said to a huge five and a half from all that dancing in all those films good heavens Mercedes cried yet to learn that Crawford's feet were actually size seven in leather boots which would soon dance a tarantella on her head and spirit when she arrived on location in Sedona Arizona with 30 pieces of luggage and 29 cases of vodka Joan became fast friends with most of the men in the company and none of the women on the first day of shooting during a scene with her co-star sterling Hayden Crawford spied his wife watching from the sidelines she ordered my husband to take me off the set said mrs. Hayden Sterling refused saying if she Lee I leave two describing himself as not too bright but a decent enough guy Hayden confessed he was an actor only for the money which enabled him to indulge in his first love ships and the sea on the set he did not endear himself to Joan Crawford when comparing her with Betty Davis the lead of his last film the star he said listen I'll say my lines and kiss any actress my paycheck says to kiss whether I like him or not I've never seen a woman who was more like a man looks like one acts like one and sometimes makes me feel I'm not a cowboy in Johnny Guitar joined by her son Christopher Crawford wrote home to columnist had a hopper that she and the boy were thriving outdoors and that they had become real tough Cowboys shooting in a place called Oak Creek Canyon with the red dust blowing into their eyes and teeth and the sand biting into their flesh Mercedes McCambridge said everybody looked like Margo and lost horizon everybody but Joan Crawford never got on a horse except for her close-ups and those scenes took hours to light when you were as big a star as Joan Crawford was in those days said Mercedes you don't allow anybody to photograph you outside not in harsh light and only in long long long shots if you are a cameraman and you think you are going to get any closer than the length of a football field to take pictures of miss Crawford in anything but elaborately diffused interior light you had better get out of show business and a few of them had to in her memoirs Joan referred to the unnamed McCambridge as a friend of Sterling Hayden's and a rabble rouser she of course did her gracious best to be charming I was always friendly she said I asked her to my dressing room for tea she told me she never wanted me in the role said McCambridge she wanted Claire Trevor and then she threw me out of her dressing room on the set when the crew applauded Mercedes McCambridge in a difficult outdoor scene Crawford watched from a nearby hillside and the trouble intensified I tried to be friends with Crawford said Mercedes five times I went to her dressing room and five times she ordered me out Joan was drinking a lot and she liked to fight said Nick ray who lost an eye in a barroom brawl in Madrid ten years later describing the star as very attractive with a basic decency Ray said he was personally involved with her during the making of the picture that only added to the problems because McCambridge and the others didn't like it he spent his evenings with her and left orders not to be disturbed an assistant told the Los Angeles mirror one evening an important message arrived for Ray the assistant approached Crawford's cabin and overheard a wild argument between the two the door opened suddenly and Ray stalked out the assistant came face to face with a raging crawford the next day the assistant director was off the picture when a reporter for the Arizona Republic wrote about the erratic behavior of Crawford on the set she retaliated by having a letter signed by the crew and printed in the rival newspaper the Phoenix Gazette the letter was a loving epistle if there is a more cooperative charming talented understanding generous unspoiled thoughtful approachable person in the motion picture business we have not yet met him or her it read when news of the fracas reached columnist Erskine Johnson in Hollywood he called mrs. sterling Hayden who said that Crawford had abused Mercedes McCambridge so badly that the poor kid had to be hospitalized McCambridge when asked about her hospital stay said she was suffering from Crawford itis after reading our scan Johnson's story Joan called the columnist at home is this Erskine Johnson she asked yes it is this is Joan Crawford said the star and you're a Joan then called columnist Harrison Carroll with a quote on McCambridge I wouldn't trust her as far as I could throw a battleship she said that same night when director Nick ray refused to take sides in the dispute Joan threw him out of her cabin at midnight roaring drunk she went to the movie company's wardrobe truck gathered up McCain bridges costumes then screaming they stink scattered them along the Arizona Highway I now know what it takes to become a movie star and I want none of it Mercedes McCambridge four weeks later in Arizona the final scene with bad woman Emma small in which she crashes through a wooden railing and falls to her death 200 feet into a canyon was filmed I really don't remember whether Jones gun killed me or whether I just fell off a balcony said McCambridge in California a week later the reaction shots of Joan said against a canvas sky and a scenic backdrop were done at the republic' ranch in the San Fernando Valley accompanied by her retinue of ten including one director two assistant directors script man secretary costumer wardrobe lady makeup man hairdresser and a prop man who carried sweat spray and spirits of ammonia ampules to make her cry because Noble leading ladies like miss Crawford don't kill people easily even bad guys like me said McCambridge in Los Angeles Crawford received some bad news torch song her big musical had been edited and scored but without Jones vocalizing her singing voice had been dubbed by India Adams in a voice so husky it could pull a dogsled on the night of the Hollywood premiere Jones showed up and spoke in the lobby with guests Marlena Dietrich and butch Romero at the post premiere party at Chasen's with the photographer's present she spied Mercedes McCambridge across the room and rushed over to embrace her when asked about the feud McCambridge shrugged and said some days it's on some days it's off I guess this is one of the off days torch song flopped as did Johnny Guitar released the following May in 1954 reviewing Jones true color Freudian Western Bosley Crowther of the New York Times said no more femininity comes from her than from the rugged Van Heflin in Shan for the lady as usual is as sexless as the Lions on the public library steps and as sharp and romantically forbidden as a package of razor blades miss Crawford went thattaway another critic observed she screeches nastily and mr. Haden galumph surround morosely let's put it down as a fiasco it was a mistake said Crawford during the filming I never knew what in the hell the script was about it was full of metaphor and double meaning which in terms of entertainment means that the audience is going to be bored out of their skulls don't talk to me about any of that New Wave our existential crap said Betty Davis agreeing with her rival if a story doesn't have a beginning a middle and an end then it just ain't a story Johnny Guitar was a hit in France said Nicholas ray it was given a dubbed soundtrack in which the Cowboys call each other Monsieur Francois Truffaut calling ray and author in the best sense of the word but the film itself phony a hallucinatory Western said he was captivated by the image of Crawford in a white dress playing the piano in the cavernous saloon with a candlestick and a pistol beside her the film was made to order for the star just as Rancho notorious was made by Fritz Lang for Marlena Dietrich Truffaut wrote but of Crawford's patriarchal rigid beauty he noted she has become unreal a phantom of herself whiteness has invaded her eyes muscles have taken over her face a will of iron behind a face of Steel she is a phenomenon she is becoming more manly as she grows older her clipped tense acting pushed almost to paroxysm by Ray is in itself a strange and fascinating spectacle Joan gets lynched by the press miss Crawford has a remarkable gift for public relations she knows by lines I've never heard of a reporter will say something nice about Joan and pretty soon a pleasant note or a small present will arrive for the writer John O'Hara Colliers 1954 when Crawford and Davis were the Queen's of MGM and Warner Brothers they're powerful press offices ensured that when their Majesties spoke to the media their words were never questioned those that dared refute what the Stars said were duly chastised or denied future access to the entire Royal Duchy so most of the Hollywood press played professional ball churning out coverage that was fluffy and flattering with the breakup of the studio system in the early 1950s the stars lost the protective barrier that existed between them in the press Betty Davis learned that in her divorce from artist William grant Sherri when she tried to paint him in colors more violent than he deserved Betty Davis could be very moody and difficult she was always fighting with someone and she never forgot a wrong said Sheila Graham but Joan Crawford was a pro she knew we had a job to do and she was always good copy so we tended to look the other way when it involved her drinking or having affairs especially with married men in those days most of our editors were married men having affairs all over the place but by 1954 as television continued to make deeper economic cuts into the advertising revenues of the once powerful print media more sensational news stories were needed to boost circulation the private lives of stars no matter how sacred were no longer considered off limits to interviewers and reporters and Crawford st. Joan of the fan mags was one of the first to be burned at the tabloids stake in March 1954 a month before the opening of Johnny Guitar an enterprising reporter named Roby heard of the Los Angeles Mirror called Republic's press office and said he wanted to do a story on Crawford to break when the movie opened it was to be part interview and part overview of Joan's long illustrious career the writer informed Crawford gave the interview the overview was expanded and the piece was scheduled as a series I am thrilled said Joan granting Hurd access to members of her family and to her friends the son of a [ __ ] never told me he was going to put a knife in my back the star soon complained Joan Crawford queen or tyrant the star thrives on feuds was the headline of the nationally syndicated story offering their help in the dissection were Marilyn Monroe Jack Palance Mercedes McCambridge Greg Bowser Gloria Grahame Nick Ray Jones mother and brother and her ex servants not quoted were Betty Davis in retirement in Maine and Joan's children who were possibly too young for telephone privileges opening with Jones long ago dog-eat-dog fight with Norma Shearer reporter heard jump to her more recent diatribes against Marilyn Monroe I criticized Marilyn Monroe as I would criticize my own daughter said Joan no comment said Marilyn jealousy caused Crawford to attack Marilyn she should develop benevolence towards other human beings said Marilyn's former roommate natasha light s Joan was also tactless and cruel to Gloria Grahame during the making of sudden fear the previous year they hated one another said a cast member Gloria was always late for work said Joan sometimes we didn't even know where she was if I was sleeping and had a dream and if miss Crawford appeared in my dream I always woke up screaming that went on for months after we worked together said Graham Joan's behavior on sudden fear was the talk of Hollywood an unnamed columnist confided once in the presence of the entire company she berated David Miller the director and slapped him in the face she also abused Jack Palance look I don't want any more squabbles with Crawford I have my future to think about said Palance adding she's difficult unless she's handled properly she's lots of trouble she's a woman and has to have her way in everything she hates all women said mrs. sterling Hayden except for those who can help her if I ever see her again I'll probably strike her in the face it is apt to be necessary to step on people on your way to the top Joan's mother mrs. analyst or believed I have the same driving force but those of us with talent and ambition must develop tolerance must make allowances for people less gifted said former silent star Theda Bara dear theta said Joan no one knew she was still alive I haven't seen my sister in more five years for personal reasons I must refrain from saying why said Hallas or asked Joan why we stopped going out together no comment from me said Greg bouncer asked miss Crawford why she abused a Johnny Guitar actress so badly the player had to travel 28 miles across the desert to enter a hospital said mrs. sterling Hayden over the years she has built up so much power in the industry that she knows she can lord it over the little people said Mercedes McCambridge everybody is afraid of her she destroys those who oppose her I quit after two weeks an ex servant in Jones household told the reporter she made me take off my shoes when I entered the house so I wouldn't get dirt on the rugs let's not be too critical said Johnny Guitar actor John Carradine after all she was the star of the picture she is our one really great star said actor David Bryan I don't see her very often she's a very busy woman I've only seen her twice said actor Rory Calhoun once at a party and once as she drove her car and I'll never forget her as a human being Joan Crawford is a great actress said Nicholas ray I've had all I want to do with working with miss Crawford and I don't care to continue the contract sterling Hayden concluded I'm still glad I worked so hard to give an important part to mr Hayden in spite of his feelings towards me bless him said Joan after the smut series appeared Crawford blamed the negative coverage for besmirching her name and putting her on unemployment for a year she lost numerous roles she claimed including that of Georgie Elgin the alcoholics wife in the country girl when in fact that part had been given to Grace Kelly in January six months before the articles appeared when the movie offers stopped Crawford considered joining the enemy television she offered herself and an old script about a schoolteacher miss O'Brien to CBS but they turned her down a second concept for a series was sent to Joan by Hedda Hopper who received this reply Hedda dear I think it's a brilliant idea for unknown or someone who's done a couple of pictures but certainly not for a star god bless and thank you again for your belief in not only a devoted friend but as Billy Haines calls me an iron reindeer in a Victorian garden my name however is still Joan Crawford her career was on the decline her love life was she was getting old losing power when you're in a situation like that your nerves give way I felt sorry for her not the kids reporter Arthur Bell that summer while Betty Davis was content playing mother Merrill in her maritime retreat in Maine the cracks in the facade of tenacious star Joan Crawford began to widen unemployed and near broke due to bad investments she attempted to fill her days supervising her fan Patrol the faithful Crawford disciples who came to her home to address and stuff envelopes with thousands of eight-by-ten photographs and mimeograph news sheets to be sent to other fans to retain their allegiance while she was off the silver screen at night no longer invited to the a events in Hollywood Joan's stayed at home where spurred on by alcohol and seized by fits of madness she stormed through the house screaming obscenities daughter Christina recalled 14 at the time the girl claimed she was on frequent call to carry her mother to bed after she had passed out drunk in various rooms of the Brentwood mansion sober Joan's subjected the bewildered teenager to many acts of mental torture she through Tina's tight toreador pants bought without Joan's permission into the incinerator and made her do messy housework mother never scrubbed floors I did and so did the fans for her birthday she gave Christina a box with a single earring inside the other earring would come at graduation time if Tina got good marks her mother promised Christina admitted she could be a maddening handful at times when she was nine she said she caught on to Joan's publicity game of using her and the other children for display purposes only it was then she started tuning out on mommie dearest's requests mother could no longer control our every thought gesture and move said the girl when she was not yet ten years old she became an expert bartender taking secret delight in making drinks too strong for her mother's boyfriends just to see what effect they'd have on them at 11 and a half Christina made love to an older boy in a stable at school then told others until the word reached Joan arriving at the school in a station wagon with her secretary to pick up the expelled youngster Joan was drinking vodka from a plastic glass on the way home she needed replenishments and the helpful girl volunteered the name of a liquor store in the vicinity Joan slammed on the brakes sending Christina sprawling halfway into the front seat the secretary nearly into the windshield and mother's drink all over the floor she slapped me across the face and yelled you always know where to find the boys and the booze don't you then she slapped me several times again at 13 Christina said she finally put her foot down she refused to call any of her mother's boyfriends uncle it would be plain mister from here on unless I particularly liked them or they lasted more than a couple of months but by the summer of 1954 Crawford's love life was non-existent it had vanished along with her career when fan magazine writer June Wilkie visited the star she was ironing a dress holding up the steaming iron Joan commented wryly that's the hottest thing that's been near my ass in months Saturday nights were the worst she told director friend Vincent Sherman when she didn't even have a man to have a hamburger with come on now Sherman told her you're Joan Crawford there are hundreds of guys in this town who would drop everything to take you out actors said Joan with disdain who only want to get their pictures taken having dinner with Joan Crawford at Chasen's or guys who only want to brag to their buddies that they went to bed with Joan Crawford that summer to escape the frustration and boredom of staying at home all day waiting for the phone to ring Joan began to take off on long drives alone wearing sunglasses a head scarf slacks and a raincoat she would cruise up and down the highways in Northern California stopping at diners and truck stop restaurants along the way she dropped Louella Parsons a line from one stop telling her about the fascinating characters she bumped into I might write a script about life on the open road wrote Joan at first these John's were day trips but eventually they became two and three night lay overs I call my babies the twins every night she told Parsons then the next day I drive on to a new location without mentioning her name one publication printed that the star was often seen intoxicated in the company of unsavory male companions leaving and exiting highway motels Joan Crawford and the handsome bartender was the heading for a story and confidential magazine months later but by then the star had stopped her wandering ways her anonymous road trips apparently ended one gray rainy morning when Crawford woke up on the floor of a strange motel with a sore jaw and a badly bruised eye during the night she had either been beaten or had fallen down drunk rolled by one of her gallant highwayman her watch and the cash in her handbag were gone but she found her car keys intact tucked into a side flap of her raincoat and she made it back to LA safely that afternoon after that unpleasant incident the star never patrolled the highways again and she was seldom seen out at night in Los Angeles without her secretary or a friend for company we were driving home after dinner one night said Vincent Sherman as we passed Grauman's Chinese Theater there was a big premiere going on kidding I said to her hey why weren't you invited to that shindig Joan looked out at the lights and crowds and said fuck'em I'll be back she kept her word of course durable tough tenacious the word come back were all words invented for stars like Joan Crawford and Betty Davis the jobs were minor at first for $10,000 Crawford agreed to act as a hostess that November shaking hands at the opening of a hotel in Las Vegas some critics the actress was demeaning herself but writer John O'Hara defended her employment she was worth every penny O'Hara believed because Joan was an authentic celebrity always punctual and glamorous there are of course actors and actresses who would gladly supply the oil if they could be sure Joan would be boiled in it said the author I am NOT an actor and I am very fond of her in December Crawford landed a 1 picture deal at Universal old boyfriend Milton rackmill offered her a low-budget suspense thriller called female on the beach checking in at the studio Joan made her customary showy entrance wearing white shorts a white shirt a black bowtie and black high heels she drove onto the lot in her white Lincoln convertible carrying her two white miniature poodles she headed for costume fittings and gave the once-over to the starlet's gathered in the universal wardrobe room she surveyed the room imperiously said the resident blonde sex symbol Mamie Van Doren it was obvious that she was checking out the young on Jews to see who her new competition would be zeroing in on Mamie Joan said you have such a sweet face you look like a doll thank you said Mamie liking her in spite of myself have we met before Joan inquired Mamie tried to remind her they had at the photo play Awards two years before when Joan was drunk and attacked Marilyn Monroe really said Joan I don't remember it I would never forget a face like yours dear female on the beach was the story of an older wealthy widow and a young good-looking beach bum who was out to kill her with love or a blunt instrument to play the beach bum Joan requested Tony Curtis he was 29 the right age but rackmill told her he photographed too young for the role audiences would feel queasy if they saw the young Tony in bed with the older Joan Jeff Chandler was only 2 years older than Curtis but with his prematurely graying hair and wearing skin tight pants and bathing suits he appeared more compatible with the aging star you're about as friendly as a suction said Joan in character to her former boyfriend in the opening scene I don't hate women said Jeff I just hate the way they are I wish I could afford you murmured Joan save your pennies Jeff advised grabbing her in his arms she bites his wrist the script read he rips her dress off her eyes dilate she clutches her breasts protectively he kisses her brutally she goes limp then slowly her arms as if moved by a will of their own go gliding around him her fingers dig greedily into his flesh just once the lonely but worldly wise widow sighs just once love me a little when 1955 dawned Crawford's personal fortunes rose considerably she signed a three-picture deal with Columbia her first film would be queen bee in which she played a ruthless depraved southern woman who dominates and destroys those who loved her that wasn't any acting job on mothers part said Christina it was exactly the way I knew her at home in the spring Joan found true love again he was Alfred Steele the president of Pepsi Cola not one of her usual glamour boys steel was portly older but a powerful take-charge man he loves me even without my makeup and in the sack he's a tiger said Joan happily on the night of May 9th they flew to Las Vegas in his Pepsi jet and got married back home Joan told daughter Christina that Steele was too fat wore glasses and was hard of hearing in one year but he was a nice man and she instructed the girl to introduce herself when I tried to kiss my new father said 15 year old Christina mother slapped me and pushed me up against the wall damn it she said I got my man you go out and get your own for a honeymoon the couple sailed from New York to Capri where they were serenaded at night by the villagers in Rome and Paris the rich mrs. Steele bought new wardrobes for her children but her school bills were still not paid christina wind stateside the press were told that the steels would have two homes his townhouse on Sutton Place in New York and her mansion in Brentwood in August the couple flew to Los Angeles so Joan could begin work on her second film for Columbia as mrs. Alfred Steele she soon let Hollywood know that she was no longer hustling for jobs or publicity invited to a cocktail party for a trade paper columnist she sent a magnum of champagne with her regrets she explained that as a working star and an executives wife her schedule left no time for socializing writer Bob Sherman was hired as a dialogue coach on her new film autumn leaves and he recalled meeting with the star at that time Bob Aldrich the director asked me if I'd go out to Crawford's house on a Sunday afternoon to go over the script with her said Sherman when I got there I was ushered through the white living room with the white couch and white pillows and white rugs at the back of the house two little girls were dressed in their white crinoline dresses playing with two white French poodles mr. pepsi-cola al Steele was standing by the Greek white pool area with two white pool houses on each side and then I saw Joan she was lying on a white Shaz long wearing sunglasses having a manicure and a pedicure while dictating letters to a secretary sitting on one side she patted a chair on her other side and I sat there reading lines to her whenever she had a moment to spare she was playing the executive actress to the hilt accompanied by her secretary Crawford arrived at the studio in a long black limousine wearing her daytime pearls she gave dictation as they cruised through the lot suddenly Joan spied a familiar figure exiting from one of the buildings she instructed the driver to slow down and follow as the car drove alongside the glamourous Joan lowered her window and called out to the matronly figure walking along the street Betty is that really you said Joan hello Joan said Betty Davis at Columbia to make a film called storm center Darling said Joan can we give you a lift Betty kept walking I got married said Joan good said Betty can I give you a call said Joan no said Betty and without a hint of goodbye she turned a sharp right into a cul-de-sac and disappeared through the side door of a soundstage settling back in her limo Joan turned to her pepsi stenographer and said do you know who that was no said the stenographer that was Betty Davis said Joan no said the stenographer with surprise yes said Joan quite pleased and she looks old enough to be my mother seventeen black years for Betty I went back to work because someone had to pay for the groceries Betty Davis 1955 in 1954 Betty and Gary Merrill's three-year-old adopted daughter Margot was diagnosed as [ __ ] refusing to return the child to the adoption agency the distraught couple enrolled the girl in a special school in Geneva New York later that same year Merrill's contract with 20th Century Fox was canceled and in February 1955 Betty went back to work they're all fatter and richer and stupider than ever she said of the people in hollywood upon her return yet she did accept the work and the $50,000 that Darryl zanuck offered her to repeat her role as the older more imperious Elizabeth the first in the Virgin Queen her co-star Richard Todd was a shy competent actor but another British import the fresh sultry Joan Collins was not to Betty's liking she can speak correctly said the plump Betty but she can't act for I had been warned that miss Davis did not take kindly to pretty young actresses and she lashed out at me a couple of times said Joan in August when she went to Columbia Pictures to play a librarian in storm center Betty bumped into Joan Crawford and also had a very unpleasant experience with the head of the studio Harry Cohn known for his antipathy toward women of talent but unconventional looks openly berating actresses Judy Holliday and Kim Stanley Cohen admitted he liked sexy women with good tits and a keister earlier that month when Crawford checked in for autumn leaves the studio boss welcomed her to his office over drinks he said he was willing to forget their differences of the past he fired her from From Here to Eternity and once at Ciro's she lambasted his eating habits with my dogs have better table manners he admired her style and Thailand Cohn said in his office that day and she had guts during this spiel the mogul stood up behind his desk and placing his hands in his trousers he commenced to play a very active game of pocket pool they were going to make some hit movies together the mogul promised racking up an impressive lower score he moved closer to Crawford until she stopped him in his tracks keep it in your pants Harry she warned the mogul I'm having lunch with Joan and the boys his wife and young sons tomorrow when Betty arrived at Columbia she was assigned the star dressing room one night after shooting she was sitting at her makeup table cold creaming her face when the wall next to her swung open and Harry Cohn walked in without looking at her he made an obscene gesture until Betty screamed how dare you come in here get out immediately Harry fled the next day when she told the story to her producer her ego was deflated Cohn wasn't looking for sex with her he was on the prowl for Kim Novak who's dressing rooms she occupied and who had been moved to a larger suite without notification to the boss that fall Betty realized another early dream when she went to work at Crawford's old studio MGM unfortunately she said the studio was no longer the symbol of glamor and grandeur nor was I for her role as Aggie Hurley in the catered affair she padded her body powdered her arms to make them appear heavier and older subdued all of her familiar mannerisms and gave what she considered was the most unappreciated but self satisfying performance of my career when the picture was completed Betty and Gary Merrill intent on putting some harmony into their marriage bought a black Mercedes SL 190 with red leather seats and drove to Florida for a second honeymoon without the children or an entourage Joan Crawford also traveled extensively that year in August accompanied by husband Alfred Steele she went to England with 42 pieces of luggage her traveling wardrobe with a change for every three hours included five first oles one full-length mink half a dozen jeweled sweaters 36 pairs of shoes four suits 25 cocktail dresses 20 daytime cotton dresses and 25 Jean Louie evening gowns ten of which were old but rehabbed to accommodate the new shorter styles sweeping up to the Dorchester Hotel in a long black limousine the couple were followed by three white Pepsi vans atop of which was Joan's luggage with each piece embossed Jaycee at a press conference in the Oliver Messel suite the star told the reporters she was there to make a film entitled the golden virgin changed to the story of Esther Costello she was the star and co-producer mindful of the latter responsibilities and of her new position as the wife of an important cost-conscious company executive my darling Alfred Steele stand up and take a bow dear she had gone over the film's budget and cut some of the expenses to the bone the original budget for her movie wardrobe was $70,000 but after countless grueling hours of conferences she whittled it down to a measly forty thousand dollars by such drastic measures as leaving the mink off the bottom of one dress and having a coat lined with velvet instead of real seal at a hollow London party held at the lace ambassador Club in 1956 Joan asked that her guests wear either ballerina or full-length gowns she herself wore a gown of her own creation an aquamarine silk organza embroidered with green and blue sequins short in front and long at back flanked by old friends Sir Laurence and Lady Olivier mr. and mrs. steel greeted such guests as Noel Coward Marlena Dietrich John Gielgud Dame Edith Evans Helen Hayes who came straight from the set of Anastasia and Rita Hayworth who arrived stag wearing no makeup or jewelry yet she was asked to dance every dance and at the evenings end she waltzed off with the boyfriend of the much younger starlet Joan Collins notable no shows from Crawford's party were ingrid bergman who pleaded fatigue from anesthesia filming and sir Lawrence's current co-star in The Prince and the Showgirl Marilyn Monroe who sent a telegram explaining that at the last minute she had come down with the flu Marilyn would annoy Joan further when the two stars were invited to meet the reigning British monarch Queen Elizabeth the second the Queen is a lady and expects to meet other ladies but most of today's actresses can't even act politely said Joan when Marilyn Anita Ekberg and arlene dahl failed to attend the afternoon rehearsals for the Royal Command performance that night said Joan as Her Majesty came up the staircase Monroe's hairdresser was still doing her hair and the girl didn't even know how to curtsy when Esther Costello was completed Crawford and Al Steele hit the Pepsi trail logging over 125,000 miles opening bottling plants from Denmark to West Germany to South Africa back in New York they bought two penthouse apartments at 32 East 70th Street and proceeded to convert them into a duplex reducing sixteen rooms to eight including Joan's spacious geranium pink bedroom with an open fireplace and a special custom-built closet for her 300 pairs of shoes to help with the 1 million dollar renovations the star sold her house in Los Angeles at a pepsi stockholders meeting a gadfly voter questioned the cost of the apartment to the company and was told that mr. Steele had been advanced a loan of three hundred eighty seven thousand dollars which he was to return at 6% interest when the voter asked to talk to mrs. Steele Joan Crawford Rose took a bow then ordered the stock holder to make it brief boy when he asked how many shares of stock she owned Jones snapped it's none of your business besides I owned them before I married mr. Steele as another stockholder insisted on making critical comments about the management Joan was heard to murmur shut up shut up if anyone attacks my husband I bristle she told variety on Thanksgiving night when Pepsi sponsored the TV special Annie Get Your Gun starring Mary Martin some last-minute changes were made in the commercial messages miss Martin had been asked to deliver the end of the show holiday greetings but she was bumped and replaced by Joan Crawford sitting beside her husband and her twin daughters in front of an open fireplace in their penthouse apartment Joan wished viewers across the nation the happiest of times it was an ideal arrangement said the stars third but unseen daughter Christina referring to her mother's new role as the official Pepsi spokeswoman it enabled her to play movie star again to throngs of adoring fans Christina it seemed also had a yen to become famous during this time after a year of college she dropped out and decided to become an actress in New York she got her own apartment with furniture supplied by Joan Crawford but Tina did not appreciate her mother's decorating or her help in getting media coverage for her aspiring career booked on the Jack Paar TV show through Joan's influence Tina was radiant during the first few minutes of her interview but got visibly miffed when Parr asked too many questions about her famous mother and not enough about her own anonymous eighteen year old self the next day after complaining to Joan she was told to go out and make it on her own Crawford also forbade her to use her established surname you're cruel you're hard you want me to suffer Tina yelled at her mother in front of a reporter you're right dear said Joan I do want you to suffer I want you to struggle and fear and worry the way I did I want you to fight every step of the way because when you suffer you don't forget that's what it takes to become an actress a star something great and not just a personality Crawford's fifteen-year-old son Christopher also appeared in the news that year when he and three other boys were arrested in Greenport New York after a wild 3 day shooting spree with air guns they shot out a hundred windows in private homes at street lights and at two girls who received facial injuries when informed of the incident his mother got hysterical al Steele told a reporter that the boy was morally insane and that he had been living at the home of a psychiatrist in Greenport for several years the other three Crawford children are all jewels said mr. Steele when Christopher was sent to a reformatory Joan broke the news to her grieving twins your brother didn't live up to society's expectations she explained and society has a way of taking care of these things when he learns to behave the way he is expected to behave he'll come back home early in May 1959 after a barnstorming eight week tour through the United States opening new plants and attending conventions Alfred Steele and his wife returned to New York to repack for a vacation in Bermuda the following Monday on Saturday night they watched TV together played a hand of gin rummy then went to bed the following morning when Jonah rose she found the bed empty her husband was sprawled out on the bedroom floor she ran over to him crouched down and touched his forehead said a movie magazine she felt his pulse then put her hands to her face and began screaming tears were running down her face it was more than 10 minutes later before she became calm enough to go to the telephone and call a doctor at 57 her husband had died of a heart attack he had drunk too many cocktails eaten too many banquet meals flown on too many jets said The Associated Press it was the combination of too much work and too many pet pills said variety Joan arranged the funeral down to the exact seating in the limos two days later she met with the pepsi board they told her they were appreciative of her efforts on behalf of the company she would be receiving her late husband's death benefits including a partial pension but her days as a spokeswoman were over they also asked that her late husband's estate repay his outstanding personal loans as soon as possible wearing a black hat veil and black gloves Joan listened calmly to their requests then after peeling off one glove and the other she placed them in front of her regally lifted the veil of her hat and told the board don't with me fellas I fought bigger sharks than you my husband loved me for my spirit and soul and he'd come back and haunt me through eternity if I didn't go on now with happiness and joy Joan told Louella Parsons that evening she also confessed to the syndicated columnist that she was flat broke I haven't a nickel only my jewels his company did not reimburse me for the half-million dollars I spent on the apartment it was a sob story that would have brought tears to a glass I said Louella who printed the entire confession in an attempt to shame the giant corporation within a week Pepsi announced that Joan had been elected to fill her late husband's position on the company's board of directors she would be receiving $40,000 annually for the next five years her own office a secretary and the use of the Pepsi plane which would be redecorated in colors of aquamarine turquoise and brown I told myself why stay home and mope pick yourself up and be the glamorous person you're supposed to be said Joan announcing plans to return to California to appear in Jerry waltz the best of everything it was only a cameo role but Crawford would receive $65,000 and her customary star privileges on the dais she appeared the set was cooled to 50 degrees which caused the stars of the film hope Lang and Stephen Boyd to do an Irish rumba to keep warm reporter Charlotte dent described a tense shooting scene between Joan and hope lang Joan as Amanda fare a waspish editor was to leave junior editor hopes office and closed the door behind her they shot the scene once then twice on the third try hope interrupted would you mind letting me close the door when you leave Jones stared at her no you can't it's my line and my exit I closed the door but I don't know what to do with my hands hope argued again there was a pause said reporter dent again Jones eyebrows raised and then this icy voice at which top directors famous leading men and wealthy producers have all trembled said loud and clear I suggest you find something to do with them dear much to Joan's chagrin the director Jean Nagle ESCO sided with Lang and the scene went to her Nagle s Co also cut a subsequent sequence between Crawford and model actress Suzy Parker that scene was the reason I took the movie said Joan it was set late at night in Amanda's apartment she had been drinking she was all alone in life no man no family just a career certainly I knew a few things about that predicament and I gave it everything I had I have just come from the Actors Studio where I saw Marilyn Monroe she had no girdle on her ass was hanging out she is a disgrace to the industry Joan Crawford - photographer Eve Arnold I should have never come back to Hollywood I hate all of you and Apple Annie most of all I must have been out of my mind to come back here Betty Davis 1961 in 1959 Betty Davis sat for a year in Hollywood without working oh yes she recalled I had a chance to go to Mexico to play Burt Lancaster's mother in the Unforgiven I turned it down I'll be damned if I play Burt Lancaster's mother after 30 years in the business the following year after Helen Hayes rejected the role of bag lady Apple Annie and pocketful of miracles the part went to Davis on the opening day she posed in costume serving strawberry cheesecake to the producer star Glen Ford and his co-star Hope Lange a week later Sheila Graham reported the first signs of discord on the set you could hear a pin drop when Hope Lange asked to have the dressing room next to Glenn Ford's because the lady in that room was Betty Davis mr. Ford wanted his girl hope next to him said Betty who moved to the smaller trailer then blasted Ford for his bad manners and lack of professionalism this upload is made by the concluding chapter of Crawford trying to make amends the actor producer gave an interview saying he had always been grateful to Betty for giving him his start in pictures with a stolen life in 1946 he was now repaying the favor by putting her in this picture hoping it would be a comeback for her who is that son of a [ __ ] that he should say he helped me have a comeback Betty raged in reply that shitheel wouldn't have helped me out of a sewer the filming went downhill after that said director Frank Capra who regretted not trying to understand Davis better I didn't see that she needed consolation and reassurance after so long away that she was in fact vulnerable living on her nerves she'd only become a monster to take care of herself in a monstrous business underneath she was a neurotic woman deeply afraid and uncertain of everything except her own genius she was coming out of a bad cycle she said later the end of her ten black years her marriage to Gary Merrill was almost finished he fell out of love with her when she became a housewife she believed that's nonsense said Meryl in 1988 I gave her the best ten years of her life but she was never a playmate she would never play golf she never wanted to leave the house photographer Phil Stern recalled staying with the couple in Maine Betty asked me to work on the Edmund muskie campaign my wife and I stayed in their house and Davis was never still she was a fanatic about cleaning she went around all day with a rag in her hand dusting the lamps and the furniture she drove everyone crazy you're not Harriet Craig Gary maril would yell at her so sit down for Christ's sake Betty had a compulsion to create her own dramatic scenes Meryl continued when she decided to become the little woman she threw herself into it with energy wanting everyone else to play their part in her drama when that didn't happen her short-circuits would blow everything apart gary was a good actor but a lazy son of a [ __ ] said Betty and when he drank he had an explosive temper so did Betty he stated after a few martinis in vino veritas the shouting matches began the noise level was so intense I'm surprised we could speak the next day there were some laughs the pair agreed he hated birthdays so she surprised him once with a party and a prop cake across the top she had inscribed you and they had fun with the kids and the animals which included dogs cats chickens a horse a burro a goat in heat and some pet sheep which eventually ended up on the dinner table the children named the Sheep but weren't upset when the time came for lamb chops or mutton stew said Meryl they would say calmly I wonder if we're eating mark or Luke Merrill frequently beat her up Betty complained said Meryl he had a cute trick in wintertime she insisted Gary took delight in pushing me out of the car into a 20-foot snowdrift in the middle of the night then he would drive off screaming with laughter that happened only once said Meryl we were walking along a snowy road one day and had an argument I don't remember what it was about but she kept screaming in my face she slapped me so I pushed her into a snowbank he was a natural character always up to some prank said Phil Stern once we were at the airport in Maine and he spotted William Buckley dressed in a suit and tie standing at a payphone Gary was carrying this walking stick and he went up and poked Buckley in the ass hey William Buckley a big Garry yelled at him then poked him again Buckley turned around read livid with anger he called for the police a security guard came up and when he saw it was Gary he said mr. Merrill behaved yourself they all knew him at home the children were not immune from their parents rages Betty was apt to take her frustrations and disappointments out on Michael said maril in retaliation I used BD as a target for my discontent all my husband's beat me I don't seem to bring out the best in men said Betty finally separating from Meryl in the spring of 1960 the split was amicable she insisted if a man is willing to give up his house control of his kids and everything else divorce isn't much of a problem her ex spouse claimed I let go of all of it he did retain visitation rights to his son Michael and Biddy he was dropping them off at Betty's house in Los Angeles when an upstairs window flew open with a bang sticking her head out of the window Betty saw Gary's lovely companion rita hayworth and commenced to scream and yell using language a hardened sailor would have thought music to their ears she kept it up for about five minutes Meryl recalled I thought isn't that just like Davis she wants everything her way she doesn't want me but she doesn't want me to be happy with anyone else either he yelled right back of course but the had hit the fan the next day Betty went to court and tried to have his visitation rights revoked if you fight me she warned the actor it will be the dirtiest fight in history Meryl thought if I didn't she would tell the kids for the rest of their lives that their father didn't give a damn about them Betty had Meryl followed by a photographer who took pictures when he was with son Michael in court Betty produced the pictures and told the judge that Gary was a drunk he had committed acts of violence and was having an affair with a woman to whom he was not married Hayworth's name was mentioned and the details of their unconventional romance came up in court the couple were often seen walking around Beverly Hills with no shoes on they had an open brawl at the restaurant Oh patty in front of Rita's 11 year old daughter Yasmin Betty's lawyer said providing a witness I heard Rita screaming Betty's name at Gary and then the punches came it was awful Jean Louie the owner of the restaurant testified in court on that evidence Betty demanded she be given full custody of her son with visitation rights of one hour every Christmas for Merrill the judge refused her request I am starting a campaign to do away with all men Betty told had a hopper my son Michael showed up at my door one day said maril when Betty couldn't have full custody of him she packed up his things and said go live with your father she later abandoned our daughter Margot she stopped paying for her care in 1965 maybe I did fall in love with Margo Channing but Betty shattered all my dreams talk about life imitating art said All About Eve creator Joe mankiewicz Betty came up to me very drunk at a party two years after the divorce and she said mankiewicz you son of a [ __ ] you never told me the sequel throughout the winter of 1961 Betty and Joan were both living in New York in the same East Side neighborhood the two never met because each was busy indoors dictating her memoirs to a professional writer that summer in need of more money Betty decided to return to the Broadway stage she heard of a new Tennessee Williams play the night of the iguana and solicited a part the lead of the refined travelin spinster was already taken by the accomplished British actress Margaret Leighton which meant that Betty would have to take the secondary role of the boozy bossy landlady Maxine Faulk none of us had originally thought of her for the part said literary agent Audrey Wood who could have expected her to subordinate herself to a character role that was nowhere near the equivalent of the leads she played in her house Ian days at Warner's in signing up Betty did not consider her role as peripheral she demanded top billing in the star dressing room at all theaters in Rochester when the play opened the performances were rough but the audience and critics seemed receptive the following morning when the reviewers gave most of their praise to the incandescent miss Leighton Betty checked out of her hotel and was taken to a hospital in a wheelchair it seemed our coast had fallen backstage the night before said Audrey would why this hadn't come out sooner or why she had attended the opening night party ostensibly in good physical shape I cannot explain Betty travelled by limousine to the next performance stop Chicago where she immediately found fault with the director Frank Corsaro censuring his theatrical training she insisted he be barred from rehearsals he stayed out of the theater said Tennessee Williams but remained in Chicago but Betty complained she could sense his lingering presence in the city and said that he must be sent back to New York and that goddamn Actors Studio which had spawned him during the previews in New York Betty with newly dyed red hair appeared for some performances and missed others that happened so often that customers buying preview tickets would ask with justification is miss Davis going to be playing in this performance said Audrey wood she did show up for opening night December 28th 1961 making her entrance on stage Betty was greeted with an ovation from her fans in the balcony she halted the play turned to them and raised her hands above her head in a classic prizefighters gesture the following morning she hit the canvas again Kayode by the big league critics who found margaret Layton to be poignant and magnificent she reaches new levels in her illustrious career said Howard tabman in the New York Times Betty as Maxine freshly widowed but not exactly shattered by grief made much of her shocking flame colored hair in her unbuttoned shirt that shows the flaccid flesh down to her waist said the New York world telegram throughout her protracted absences co-star Margaret Leighton remained patient and kind to Betty after the New York reviews Davis turned on Layton calling her a [ __ ] so congenial she makes me sick fellow actor Patrick O'Neil was also frequently tongue lashed in retrospect Audrey would realized that Betty should never have taken the part Maxine her character is off stage for long periods during the play when you have been a great film-star it must be difficult to sit backstage in your dressing room with nothing to do but wait for your next entrance early in January one night after the show there was a knock on Betty's dressing-room door there was a lady to see her she was told I don't know any said Betty she strode to the door and pulled it open standing there dressed in Sables and jewels was an angel of mercy a saviour come to rescue her from this rotten play with an exciting new film project the woman in the doorway was Joan Crawford 18 whatever happened to Baby Jane I made a picture in 1934 too but the studio didn't want to show my film they were too busy giving a big build-up to that crap you were turning out baby Jane to sister Blanche the project began with Bob Aldrich producer and director of Apache Veracruz and autumn leaves the latter starred Joan Crawford in 1955 and since then the director said she had pestered him to find another project for them to work on she said she wanted to work with Betty Davis said Aldrich I could never see them working together in anything then I read baby Jane the book written by Henry Farrell told of two sisters former movie stars who lived in a dank foreboding mansion somewhere in Hollywood bound to each other in mutual hate there was never a thought of doing the picture with anyone but Joan Crawford and Betty Davis said scriptwriter Lucas Heller in July 1961 while filming Sodom and Gomorrah in Rome Aldridge instructed his agent at William Morris to buy the film rights to the book for $17,500 that October he sent a first draft of the script to Joan Crawford a week later she cabled him when do we start in January Joan visited Betty backstage at the Royale Theatre on Broadway at that meeting there were no show business kisses or embraces exchanged between the pair let's make this quick Joan said Betty curtly I'm going to the country in five minutes Joan told Betty that at last she had found the perfect film script for them to do together together said Betty with pursed lips and brows raised to her hairline yes dear said Joan I have always wanted to work with you I looked at her said Betty and I thought this woman is full of Joan gave Betty a copy of the book Betty took it to the country read it and thought well it could work you know it's all there phony Joan and crazy Betty in California that same month when the script was completed Aldrich mailed it with a letter to Davis I took a lot of time composing a letter that was arrogant but I thought it was necessarily so he said I wrote if this isn't the best screenplay you've ever read don't see me Betty replied that the script was okay and she'd meet with Aldrich she had only professional questions he said the first question was what part will I be playing Jane of course said Aldrich good said Betty I just wanted to be sure the second question was of a more personal nature Betty knew that Aldrich and Crawford had worked before on autumn leaves she also knew that Joan had a habit of developing a meaningful relationship with her male star or director to give her a certain power I did not know or care if she was the sexual athlete others have described said Davis I just wanted to be sure there was no partiality involved have you slept with Joan she asked the director no said Aldrich not that I haven't had the opportunity Joan tried to seduce Aldrich during production of autumn leaves he told his dialogue director Bob Sherman she would sit in her dressing room at Columbia forever drinking said Sherman sometimes she'd sleep there overnight one night she called Aldrich in for a conference she came on to him but he backed away at the last minute because he didn't want to be compromised he told me he didn't want her to have anything over him anything that he couldn't handle Davis agreed to do the picture with a few stipulations upfront she wanted first billing and more money than Joan I offered both actresses a piece of the picture plus some salary said Aldrich Joan accepted but Betty's agent held out for more than I could pay eventually a deal was struck Davis would receive $60,000 in salary plus 10% of the worldwide net profits Joan would receive less money up front thirty thousand and fifteen percent of the net profits the film would be shot over a six-week period in Los Angeles that summer of 1962 and both stars were assured of approval on costumes makeup and cinematographer with Betty and Jones set for the lead roles Aldrich attempted to secure financing and a distributor for the picture for major studios declined to even read the script or scan the budget he said I wouldn't give you one dime for those two washed-up old [ __ ] said Betty and Jones venerable old boss Jack Warner to make the package more attractive Aldrich considered adding a third name to the cast that of Peter Lawford he would play the part of Edwin Flagg the overgrown mama's boy whom Baby Jane hires as her accompanist Lawford accepted the part then withdrew two days later due to family concerns he felt the effete character might reflect badly on his real-life role as brother-in-law of the current President of the United States John F Kennedy Aldrich then signed an unknown 26 year old Victor Buono for the part which would bring the actor in Oscar nomination and the package was offered to seven arts a small independent company owned by an Englishman Elliott Hyman with Ray stark as a vice president Hyman told Aldrich he would finance the film on very tough terms because it's a high-risk venture but we feel it should be made by you and with Davis and Crawford in February 1962 after the financing was secured Jack Warner agreed to distribute the film but he would not allow it to be made at his studio his sound stages were tied up in production primarily with the big-budget musical gypsy starring Rosalind Russell and Natalie Wood for their comeback Joan Crawford and Betty Davis would have to hike it over to the producers studio a ramshackle lot reserved for be westerns on Melrose Avenue Joan and I have never been warm friends we are not simpatico I admire her and yet I feel uncomfortable with her to me she is the personification of the movie star I have always felt her greatest performance is Crawford being Crawford Betty Davis so I had no great beginnings in legitimate theater but what the hell had she become if not a movie star with all her little gestures with the cigarette the clipped speech the big eyes the deadpan I was just as much an actress as she was even though I wasn't trained for the stage Joan Crawford that spring while Betty played out her last weeks in the night of the iguana Joan flew to Los Angeles and rented an apartment on fountain Avenue in a building owned and occupied by Loretta Young on April 9th for renewed visibility Joan got herself booked as a presenter on the oscar show in a major slot the Best Actor category on the day of the event she arrived at the Santa Monica auditorium at 3:00 in the afternoon to supervise the placement of a wet bar and lavish buffet outside her dressing room that evening she stood in the wings and corralled the big winners as they left the stage Rita Moreno winner of the supporting award for West Side Story recalled her encounter with Joan I was in tears coming off the stage when suddenly I found myself locked in the arms of this woman in diamonds it was Joan Crawford there there she said clutching me to her bony bosom I'll take care of you one of the show's coordinators wanted to take me to the press room to talk to the media but Joan wasn't having any of that she wouldn't let go of me she took me to her dressing room so we could be photographed together a week after she sent me a thank-you note it said dear Rita it was so thoughtful of you on your night of triumph to take the time to stop by my dressing room love Joan I thought to take the time she would have torn my arm from its socket if I tried to break away from her people couldn't see the chemical combustion of these two ladies who were so different they act differently and they think differently their attitudes are so different you'd put them in a room and you know they've got to in terms of theater explode Robert Aldrich on May 9th Betty and Joan met in Hollywood to sign their contracts sitting at a table in posing for pictures Betty managed to grab the best position she sat in the far right chair which meant that when the photos captions were read from left to right her name would be first Joan wise to this old trick then stood up behind and to the left of Betty ensuring that her name would be first in those shots when the actual signing of the contracts commenced by mistake Joan was given Betty's contract the error was quickly rectified but not before Crawford's eagle eyes noticed that on page 1 in addition to Betty's $60,000 salary she was to receive 600 per week and living expenses 2 days later at Joan's insistence a new clause was inserted in her contract it said that in addition to her salary she would receive 1,500 per week for living expenses furthermore if production on the film exceeded six weeks she was to receive the same amount in overtime as her co-star with Crawford to contend with and her own comeback to ensure Davis moved into an expensive house in Beverly Hills and leased the flashiest car a blue Cadillac convertible with a white top and white leather upholstery the Beverly Hills house rented in advance by daughter BD had a projection room a volleyball court hillside Gardens a pool and a pool house inside was a sweeping curved staircase huge bedroom suites and sliding glass doors everywhere I must have been going through a Hollywood phase said BD who was 15 at the time Oh BD said Betty not another one strolling by the pool going over her lines for baby Jane Betty would frequently pause to admire her statuesque teenage daughter BD lying by the pool acquiring a golden tan look at her said Betty great face great body and smart too if I had a fraction of what she's got I'd be married to a millionaire and be miles away from this town meanwhile in North Hollywood Joan was preparing for her role as a [ __ ] by learning how to navigate in a wheelchair I had to push myself around wheeling myself back and forth she said the exercise with the chair made me as firm and hard as a brick bat I weighed only 91 pounds the thinnest I was in years a korean service veteran a paraplegic injured in an air crash showed her how to get herself in and out of bed he taught me how to hoist my body into the bed first and then lift each leg and how to fall out of the chair straight forward and then roll over the two stars met with costume designer Norma Koch a month before production a concerned Joan told Betty I do hope my color scheme won't interfere with yours color scheme said Betty I haven't a speck of color in any dress I wear wear any color you want besides it's a black-and-white film it was fun and a challenge to outfit Betty as Baby Jane Norma Koch recalled there were two distinct changes for Betty's character as Jane the sloppy housekeeper when she was slouching around the house drinking and being miserable to her sister I tried to come up with the sleaziest outfits possible then as Baby Jane when she was planning her career comeback I designs grown-up versions of dresses of what a little girl would wear they were supposed to be extensions of the child star she once was the outfit that Betty wore in public when she drove to downtown LA to place her show business ad in the newspaper had to be big Jane's idea of sexy said Koch the dress had a see-through top which clearly showed her grayish white brassiere straps it also had chipped pearl buttons down the front I deliberately made the dress a half size too small so she would look like one of those old chorus girls coming apart at the seams the accessories were equally tawdry a black waist cincher a black velvet beret with a zircon clip an old fox fur piece she pulled out of the claw and for her feet she wore the classic Joan Crawford chase me me pumps yes said Koch with humor the shoes were the final touch we tried various styles with the outfit some with stiletto heels some were slingbacks then someone I'm not sure if it was Betty said why not get a pair of those old ankle strap shoes the ones Crawford used to wear in the 40s we found a few pairs in the wardrobe department at Warner's I'm not sure if they were Jones but they fit Betty perfectly Crawford was also responsible unknowingly for Betty's outrageous platinum curls in the movie after Davis had tested in the original blonde wig for baby Jane Bob Aldrich asked for a private word with Jones personal hairstylist Peggy Shannon he had a problem with the wig said Shannon Betty's hairdresser brought in this Shirley Temple style wig from Max Factor it didn't look right Bob knew I had spent years at MGM so he said to me Peggy you worked on all those old musicals at MGM can you help us out were desperate that evening I went over to Metro and found this long platinum blonde wig I took it home and styled it with curls and ringlets at the nape of the neck the next day I brought it to Betty she put it on looked in the mirror and in a loud voice said it's the nuts I love it she wore it through the entire picture and she never knew that it was an old wig of Jones one that miss Crawford wore in an early MGM movie Norma Koch who would win an Oscar for her Baby Jane costumes admitted there were some slight wardrobe problems with Crawford she wanted to wear her own negligees and dressing gowns the negligees were low-cut and revealing nothing an invalid or recluse would wear I managed to talk her out of that by saying they were too lovely and knew that her character should only wear clothes that looked dated after all she was crippled and her sister Jane hated her so much she wasn't about to go to expensive stores to buy clothes for her Joan agreed on that and then we discussed the day where the dresses she wanted to wear were short they were supposed to show off her famous legs but again I explained that her character had been in a bad automobile accident having been an ex movie star Blanche was vain and would never want to show off her disfigured legs she went along with that and I designed to high-necked nightgowns for her a pen waar and a flowing monk's robe type of dress which Joan insisted on wearing with a belt to show off her waist when it was her turn to test her wardrobe for baby Jane Joan gave a full performance the camera was on a track said Bob Gary the script supervisor Aldridge wanted to see how every costume photographed and what the makeup looked like you started full shot then you da lead-in from head to toe by the time the camera got to Joan's face she was crying she was wearing the dress she was supposed to die in at the beach so she must have concentrated on that and the tears began to fall she is the only person I have ever seen who cried at her own wardrobe tests the [ __ ] could cry on demand Davis commented to Judith Crist early in July while rehearsals were underway Jack Warner took advantage of the growing media interest in the teaming of Betty and Joan by hosting a welcome home luncheon for the two stars at Warner Brothers he wouldn't let us film in his studio and now he wants to give us a luncheon said Betty yummy said Joan what should I wear on July 18th at noon wearing a colorful print dress with her auburn hair rolled back in a chignon Joan flanked by Betty also looking swell in a flowered hat three gold bracelets pearls and two diamonds sunburst pins attached to the scooped neck of her black silk and linen suit entered the trophy room at Warner's accompanied by their former boss all three Hollywood legends beamed broadly as the flashbulbs popped and the assembled press applauded this happy family reunion this was Betty's first visit home in 14 years and she was overwhelmed with emotion to see Papa Jack I can't exactly call you my father mr. Warner said Crawford because I give that credit to the late Louie be mayor but you are my second father talking to reporters the two stars were ultra careful to avoid even a hint of calumny toward each other I have been waiting 20 years to work with Miss Davis said Crawford it's a good script and we expect to do good things with it said Davis of her character she explained it takes guts to hurt someone this woman Mintz is no words she's full of hate Joan agreed this is wonderful for me I usually play the [ __ ] now I can sit back in my wheelchair and watch Betty do it all right Blanche Hudson miss big fat movie star Miss rotten stinking actress press a button ring a bell and you think the whole world comes running don't you Betty as Baby Jane on Monday July 23rd filming on whatever happened to Baby Jane began at the producers studio on Melrose Avenue the call was for 9:00 a.m. and at 15 minutes to Crawford arrived with her entourage her hairdresser makeup man secretary made junior agent from William Morris and chauffeur who carried a portable cooler filled with ice and bottles of Pepsi Betty Davis arrived alone their dressing rooms were exactly the same size placed at caddy corners at exactly the same distance from the soundstage Betty's was to the right of the stage door jones was to the left after inspecting her trailer Joan asked the studio carpenters to put in extra shelves and lights for her secretary who would be answering the fan mail while her mistress emoted Betty stood in the doorway of her dressing room watching all this activity said photographer Phil Stern when the Carpenters left Jones trailer they passed Betty and asked if she wanted anything done thank you no said Betty in a voice loud enough for Joan to hear dressing rooms do not make good pictures then the bestowal of gifts from Joan began she had a deep and gnawing need to be liked loved admired appreciated said Betty she could be touchingly generous she brought gifts for me to the set and presented them in front of the crew Betty did not reciprocate in a note thanking Joan for the gifts she asked that she discontinued the practice because I do not have time to go out and shop in front of the cast and crew the stars were painfully polite to each other said script supervisor Bob Gary they were very careful how they behaved each star was a professional said the directors seventeen year old son Bill Aldrich whose duties included knocking on the doors of their respective dressing rooms and saying we're ready miss Crawford we're ready miss Davis they were never late and they always knew their lines each one intended to outdo the other by being cooperative because they needed this picture and so did Bob Aldrich the first scenes were done on stage two in Blanche's bedroom in the opening takes director Aldrich told Davis that she was coming on too strong as Baby Jane who would you expect Betty shot back and live Joan complained that the parakeet perched on her shoulder was pecking at the makeup on her face it's a sign of affection the birds trainer told her then we'd better find one that hates me the star snapped back during the first week Betty Davis took her lunch breaks at Lucy's a restaurant across the street from the studio she would cross the street in her makeup and stop traffic said Phil Stern so after that she stayed in the studio and ate with the rest of the guys mother liked to be thought of as one of the boys said daughter Biddy but that too was a performance Crawford could also be very cordial at times said Phil Stern she wanted to show she could be a nice person too Crawford would yell and scream said continuity girl Adele Aldrich and so did Davis but afterwards she would teach me my job I was only 18 years old at the time and that was my first job to make sure things matched in the shots my dad had told the ladies to give me a hard time they both would question me very hard Davis did it with great fondness she was a wonderful teacher and I'll forever be indebted to her the Crawford was quite evil about it at nightfall Joan departed as she had arrived with an entourage she had all kinds of characters around her said Stern there was her maid her social secretary her manager this entire entourage would follow her then you'd see Davis she's stepping over the cables on the floor going home alone Hollywood expected an eruption when Joan Crawford and Betty Davis got together for whatever happened to Baby Jane but it turned out to be love in bloom had a hopper yes I know everybody believed we would kill each other but we fooled them we were tempted to hang a sign on the set saying sorry folks we're getting along beautifully Betty Davis there is no feud Betty told Mike Connolly of The Hollywood Reporter after the first week of filming we wouldn't have won a man and a woman yes and I can give you a list but never two women they'd be too clever for that there was an implied test of strength between the two women but they had to play that game of denying there was any competition between them said Betty's daughter Biddy mother's favorite line at the beginning of the picture was we're just two professional Dame's doing our jobs it was beneath them to compete with each other both felt so superior that they couldn't acknowledge their hatred let alone express it on their first free Saturday evening Betty and Joan had dinner with columnist had a hopper at her home the three of us were dressed in black said Hedda as we sat down to dinner I said we looked like three black widow spiders for cocktails Betty made do with heda's scotch on the rocks but Joan produced her own flask of hundred proof vodka from her handbag I say if you're going to have a drink have what you want she declared the filming was going beautifully they chorused Joan is wonderful she's going to win all the awards said Betty nono said Joan Betty has Oscar written all over her performance she had to concentrate very hard on getting into character every day Betty admitted I'm aware of that said Joan you didn't say good morning to me for a full five minutes today I get absent-minded said Betty and sometimes that can be mistaken for something else then there was the problem of the name-calling said Joan Oh said Hedda alert and ready for some good old-fashioned nasty dish yes said Joan to Davis you flip when they call you bet just as I do when they call me Joanne I was amused today when you told someone if you called me Betty I'd like you much better yes said Betty it can be tedious caught in the middle of this Girl Scout debate had it tried to liven up the proceedings by asking which star had Top Billing in the picture we tossed a coin and I won said Betty proudly she comes first said a smiling Joan she plays the title role a few cocktails later after the trio had discussed Hollywood today a ghost town said Joan it's been taken over by the agents said Betty the two stars freshened up for the journey home when Joan reached into her purse and began to apply lipstick Betty immediately followed suit applying lipstick to her mouth wrote Hedda then Joan exited first in her chauffeur driven car while Betty called her secretary ap reporter Bob Thomas was also treated to an act of sweetness and compatibility between the two a convincing performance he called it the display of felicity persuaded everyone perhaps even themselves but it couldn't last inevitably the spirit of competition entered into everything they competed in their interviews in their performances in their relationships with the cast and crew by week number two although the two stars were still pros in front of the camera during the day at night their fangs began to show my dad had to spend an awful lot of time trying to keep them happy said bill Aldridge but he never took sides luckily he had worked with some very tough guys in his time so he played it right down the middle with the two ladies he was just as tough as they were otherwise I don't think he would have survived when the director arrived home at night Crawford would call did you see what that bleep did to me today Joan would say as soon as he hung up the phone would ring again this time it was Betty calling what did that bleep call you about she would ask mother was on the phone to Aldrich for at least an hour every night said Biddy she would come home take off her makeup then with hair flying all over the place she would sit in her giant bed in her master bedroom with her papers all around her and the phone we would have to bring her dinner to her on a tray then she would call Aldrich she'd rehash everything that happened on the set that day that Aldrich had to apologize for all the slights she suffered that were unfair and the terrible things Joan had done to her which he would have to prevent her from doing the following day then she'd go into discussing the next day's scenes and how they were really going to fix Joan tomorrow and I always had this funny image of Joan Crawford calling Aldrich and saying the exact same things first one than the other said Aldrich I could rely on it every night they were like two Sherman tanks openly despising each other Betty felt that Joan was deliberately trying to upstage her by not adapting to the pace of her performance while she barked out such character lines as you miserable [ __ ] Joan would respond with an air of heavenly grace as if she were performing in a sweet null coward drawing-room play Betty had a certain tempo to her lines said Bob Aldrich which Joan wouldn't respond to she had her own softer rhythm which meant that when she came off her lines and Betty came in Betty would have to slow down this is not a fairy tale for Christ's sake Davis said to Aldrich at one point can't she at least snap back at me I will try do you Betty I will try said Joan the movie star oh brother said Betty the actress Crawford never reacted to anything said Lucas Heller she sat in her wheelchair or in bed and waited for her close-ups as the camera got closer she would widen those enormous eyes of hers she considered that acting according to Aldrich there were also problems over the makeup the two stars wore for their roles in the film Betty went to extremes with her cosmetic applications I wanted to look outrageous like Mary Pickford in decay she said it was my idea to wear the ghastly white bass scads of black eyeshadow a Cupid's bow mouth and the beauty mark it was Crawford's hairdresser Peggy Shannon who suggested that Betty add more layers each day I had worked with the extras in those Technicolor musicals at MGM said Shannon we would give them these gorgeous faces they were so in love with the way they looked they never washed their faces you would see them days later walking down La Brea Avenue with the original makeup still on each day they just added more I told Betty that she loved the idea yes she said that's it I'll put it on with a shovel every day as Betty became more hideous Crawford insisted on improving her looks when her original makeup tests were done she fought with Bob Aldridge she loathed the makeup he suggested she wear said Jones makeup artist Monte Westmore he wanted Joan to be horrendously ugly like Betty for the test I had to put huge lines under her eyes and the shadows on her face made her look like she had jowls she looked rotten like she had been on dope having been a glamour Queen all her life had upset her enormous Lee to look like that that was his concept and we tested that way but Joan would not approve the tests so a compromise was reached they met each other halfway miss Crawford was a fool said Betty Davis a good actress looks the part why she insisted on making Blanche look glamorous I just don't know I am aware of how miss Davis felt about my makeup in Jane Crawford said in 1973 but my reasons for appearing somewhat glamorous were just as valid as hers with all those layers of rice powder she wore in that ghastly lipstick but 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 my character in Jane was a bigger star and more beautiful than her sister once you've been as famous as Blanche and was you don't slip back and become a freak like miss Davis preferred to see her character blanch also had class Blanche had glamour Blanche was a legend lanch was a [ __ ] Betty Davis argued a recluse she never left the house or saw anybody yet miss Crawford made her appear as if she lived in Elizabeth Arden's beauty salon Ernest Haller the cinematographer had photographed Betty in Jezebel and mr. Skeffington and Joan in Mildred Pierce and humoresque on whatever happened to Baby Jane he was told to forget the past to photograph the characters not the stars if I lit either of them this way ten years ago they'd have my head he said when asked on the set to choose his favorite star the cinematographer diplomatically replied in terms of sheer beauty the most lovely face I ever photographed was hope Hampton according to the movies editor Michael Luciano both stars saw the rushes for the first few days then stayed away why do I have to look so damn old Crawford said after viewing the early dailies it's like I have a grandmother playing my part she started crying and crying and crying that first week said Vick Greenfield and Betty and exasperation finally said Joan if you're so unhappy with this film I'll play your part and you'll play mine with that Crawford broke down again and wept I can't play her she's twice as ugly Betty also sobbed when she first saw herself as Jane then she complained there were too many flattering close-ups of Joan there were far more close-ups than the script called for Ernest Haller agreed mother had a tendency to find many things wrong said BD Hyman she became so hysterical at the rushes she stopped going but she never stopped complaining about Joan and her tricks biddy who had a small role in the film had her own memorable encounter with her mother's rival on the first day she was introduced to Joan Crawford the star pulled back her hand as if I were diseased pointing to her twin daughters Cindy and Kathy who were sitting quietly on the sidelines wearing matching outfits and knitting Crawford asked BD not to talk to the girls ever they have been carefully brought up and shielded from the wicked side of the world said Joan and you obviously have not I don't want your influence to corrupt them biddies mouth fell open when she repeated the tale to Betty the star raged how dare she pulled that crap with me Oh killer that [ __ ] is loaded half the time Joan's spiked her Pepsi with vodka Davis claimed she had that bottle by her elbow every minute when one was finished her secretary would bring her another everyone knew what was in it she used to drink white water on autumn leaves said Bob Sherman it was a paper cup filled with vodka she'd start drinking it afternoon and continue throughout the day and night Bob Aldridge like to drink coke out of a paper cup said Phil Stern when he had a case of the stuff brought in Joan had a Pepsi vending machine setup every time his back was turned she used to throw out his coke and replace it with Pepsi one day when they were casually going over the script out of nowhere he said furthermore Joan I'd appreciate it if you'd stop filling my goddamn paper cup with Pepsi but Pepsi was good for you Joan told everyone it helped indigestion and irregularity and it was good for tired feet taking her slippers off she would demonstrate rolling the Pepsi bottle under each foot 20 times it relaxes the Tootsie's and keeps your ankles thin she claimed you hang around that woman long enough said Betty and you'll pick up all kinds of useless goodbye Norma Jeane although she was careful about saying anything nasty concerning co-star Betty during the making of Baby Jane Joan Crawford was not shy in chastising two other leading ladies of the day Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe in June when 20th Century Fox laid off 200 workers due to the 30 million dollar production costs and delays on Cleopatra and something's got to give Crawford felt it was time her to rap both stars on the knuckles again this upload is made by the concluding chapter of Crawford miss Taylor is a spoiled indulgent child a blemish on public decency said Joan it gets worse and worse with Marilyn said director Billy Wilder it used to be you'd call her at 9:00 a.m. and she'd show up at noon now you call her in May and she shows up in October Crawford it seemed had been silently seething at Monroe since November 1960 when Clark Gable had died his heart attack two days after the completion of The Misfits had been brought on by the grueling hot Sun in Nevada and by Maryland's chronic lateness Crawford believed so when the blonde star was fired by 20th Century Fox in July 1962 Joan was delighted I was proud to be a part of this industry when Marilyn was fired she told Joseph Finnegan of UPI I don't think she has a friend in this town because she hasn't taken the time to make any and the same with Liz she's a taker not a giver she deserves the same as Marilyn but nobody has guts enough to fire her but she'll get it Liz can get what Liz wants only for so long on Sunday morning August 5th Crawford was at home immersed in her weekly ritual of facials manicures and hair tinting when the phone rang it was answered by her maid the caller was a reporter from The Associated Press he spoke of Marilyn Monroe who earlier that morning had been found dead in her bed her body was on the way to the city morgue and the reporter wanted a quote from Joan gesturing wildly to her maid to hang up Joan immediately called George Cukor who had worked on Monroe's recently aborted Fox film something's got to give Joan came to my house that evening said cuecore she was in bad shape she had been drinking she was very angry I thought at first she was angry at me she kept saying damn it George this shouldn't have happened something should have been done I felt she was being a hypocrite as were many others in town people who were nasty to Marilyn when she was alive with good reason perhaps were now gathered in a weeping circle eventually I said to Joan what is this you never liked Marilyn Joan answered yes you're right she was cheap and exhibitionist she was never a professional and that irritated the hell out of people but for God's sake she needed help she had all these people on her payroll where the hell were they when she needed them why in hell did she have to die alone I hate this picture but I need the money and if it goes over I'll get a nice percentage of the profits Joan Crawford to writer roy new quest as filming of baby Jane continued embellishments to the characters and plot were added by both stars while Blanche was being starved to death by her evil sister Joan lost weight in some areas of her body as the hollows in her cheeks grew deeper and her waist grew smaller her breasts became larger Christ said Betty you never know what size boobs that Broad has strapped on she must have a different set for each day of the week she's supposed to be shriveling away but her tits keep growing I keep running into them like the Hollywood Hills famished from hunger in one scene Joan was to wheel herself to Betty's bedroom where she finds some chocolates hidden in a drawer and proceeds to Gorge herself averse to chocolate Joan prior to the filming of the scene had her maid substitute tiny chunks of chopped meat in the candy box unaware of the substitute Betty Davis during a break in filming reached for one of the fake bonbons popped it into her mouth began to chew then gagged Christ said Betty protein Betty protein said Joan it's good for you balls said Betty in the script another unsavory item was added to the invalids menu by the way Blanche said Betty in the setup I was cleaning the birds cage when it escaped and flew away that day for lunch Joan was served the dead bird laid out on a bed of pineapple rings columnist Sidney Scholl ski said it was Betty who suggested the next entree and contributed the tea our line by the way Blanche there are rats in the cellar I am not sure if it was in the original script said writer Lucas Heller Betty proposed that instead of a dead parakeet they substitute a dead rat said skull ski Aldrich called the prop man and a rat was found Crawford unaware of the switch lifted the silver serving cover and screamed loud and clear then fainted while Betty cackle dad Leigh in the background when I was at the Plaza Hotel in New York some months later I gave a big cocktail party Betty told this writer and I asked them to serve the pate in the shape of a rat when my guests lifted the serving cover they were horrified I laughed myself silly it was a wonderful idea during the third week of filming Betty's and Joan's respective autobiographies were released sisters under the celluloid Hollywood's most bonafide Dazzlers was how Bob downing a variety described them the books were accurate reflections of the two stars personas the reviewer believed Crawford's was sleek and shimmering with scarcely a jarring note while Betty's had flashes of venom it is the truer reflection of a human being Joan had the makings of a good book in her said Betty but this isn't it which prompted Crawford to observe that her rivals memoirs were depressing due largely to the lack of men in her life poor Betty said Joan it appears she's never had a happy day or night in her life what said Betty on reading this I've had affairs not as many as her but outside of a cathouse who has during a joint interview with reporter Jo Hyams when Joan appeared with her book under her arm and placed it on the table in front of her Betty excused herself went to her dressing room and returned with her book when the Hyams piece appeared he was obliged to feature both books on either side of his column Joan then proceeded to get herself booked solo on a local TV show the afternoon it was scheduled to be shown she asked Bob Aldrich if she could watch it at work Bob Aldridge had a portable TV brought to the soundstage said Bob Gary we all sat around big oval table to watch the show there was a chair for Joan and one for Betty and in between them Betty placed a chair for her baby Jayne doll when the show began Betty got up and went to a corner of the room where a phonograph was set up as soon as Joan appeared on the TV Betty turned on the phonograph and began to play her baby Jane's song I've written a letter to daddy while Joan was trying to watch herself on TV betty was dancing and singing in the corner as loud as she could I've never seen her be that far out rude to Joan before Bob Aldrich is sitting there being quiet he is walking on eggs the whole time and Joan is a model of control anyone else would haul off and belt Betty mother would have loved a confrontation with Joan but Crawford was too smart for her games said BD Hyman you could never lay a glove on Joan Crawford Bob Sherman believed she came from MGM and Louis V Mayer when she didn't like someone on a picture she would go to Uncle Louie and say cut his balls off Uncle Louie or else I'm going to be unhappy and he would do her dirty work by the fourth week of shooting Betty had had it up to her famous eyeballs with Joan's ladylike posturing and her pretense of infinite patience Betty came from Warner Brothers Bob Sherman continued unlike Joan she was a very straight on lady who wouldn't go behind your back she'd kill you right up front once during the movie she took off on me and hit me real hard this was the day Betty filmed the sequence standing in front of the rehearsal mirror she sees herself for the first time as Baby Jane and realizes what a hideous mess she is and screams said Sherman when it was over she seemed upset a little uptight we were standing outside her dressing room and to comfort her I decided to remind her that the next day she was going to work on the scene where she grabs a hold of Joan and batters her on the music room floor I threw my arm around her and said ah don't worry about it Betty tomorrow you'll get the chance to kick the brains out of Joan suddenly she pulled back and said to me oh you think I'm pretending to be upset you think that I'm being a phony like that and she proceeded to call me every dirty name she think of the door to Crawford's trailer was open during Betty's tirade Joan was in there listening said Sherman and then I realized what Betty was doing she was yelling at me but tearing off in a tangential way at Crawford she couldn't do it directly to Joan because Joan never gave her a chance so I got it with both barrels blasting and while she was screaming at me out of the corner of my eye I could see Crawford's door slowly closing Joan heard everything eventually to stop Betty I said I'm sorry you feel this way because I like you if I said I respect you she would have cut my head off but like was a better word because how can you yell at someone who likes you she said oh come on in and we went into her trailer and had a drink at home as in previous times of vocational stress Betty unleashed her repressed fury on her nearest and dearest but lacking a husband to fly at and with daughter Biddy already grown to 5 feet 10 inches I towered of her mother she wouldn't touch me Betty had to aim her punches at her real-life sister Bobbie recovered from two nervous breakdowns Bobbie was apparently still a source of irritation to Betty she's jealous of me said the star she's always tried to drag me down but she's never won ha even her bouts in the loony bin were kept from the press and didn't hurt me but they sure cost me a pretty penny she was in a rubber room at Payne Whitney more than once and what I went through visiting her I can't describe parallel to Blanche in Baby Jane Bobbie was dependent on her sister Betty for sustenance and survival during the making of the film she lived in a room above the garage at Betty's estate and for her keep she worked as her sister's cook and housekeeper but apparently she spoiled the children and spent too much money on food one night at dinner she ruined the roast beef knocking the serving plate out of her sister's hand betty was actually about to kick her when BD intervened the brawl continued in the kitchen mother let go with one hand and hit her in the face in an instant they were pulling each other's hair kicking at each other and screech like a pair of alley cats banished to her room over the garage Bobby told Biddy she forgave Betty she was scared to be on her own she said and she understood Betty she has pressures that she has to vent sometimes and I'm a convenient target but underneath it all I know she loves me I do said Betty she's a tough customer but she knows how to behave in my house or I'll kick her out on her ass in the scene where I was supposed to imitate Joan over the phone I wasn't able to do it Joan had to dub in her voice for me she was very pleased about that Betty Davis nobody can imitate me you can always see impersonations of Katharine Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe but not me because I've always drawn on myself only Joan Crawford to save time and money while one unit was filming the exteriors of the Hudson house on McCadden Drive a second cameraman strapped to the front of the car was filming Betty driving her beat-up Mercedes along Wilcox Avenue and at sunset in LaBrea at the McCadden drive house that evening Betty arrived in time to witness Joan being photographed through the iron bars of her upstairs bedroom window set up on a huge crane outside the window the camera was supposed to zoom in on the imprisoned Blanche clinging to her iron bars feebly calling out for help as Aldrich yelled for action Joan wheeled herself to the window and lifted herself to the bars as the lens moved in for its horrifying close-up the director looking through the viewfinder saw a frightened but fabulous looking Crawford Joan was wearing lipstick and ludicrously long eyelashes said Betty it was so funny in her cry for help my terrified co-star insisted on looking like she was posing for the cover of Vogue when Life magazine visited the baby Jane said Betty in the name of vanity got to compete with Joan a team had been assigned to photograph various Hollywood stars when Crawford and Davis were added to the list assisting on the shoot was New York illustrator Joe EULA we needed an old-time but classy background for Betty and Joan said EULA so we decided to photograph them sitting on the front of a vintage Rolls Royce I set it up we rented the car in Hollywood and drove it right up to the studio gates those doors swung up like an airplane hangar and we rolled that mother onto a section of the soundstage we had the lights set and we were ready for the two Dame's it was fairly early in the day and they arrived wearing formal gowns furs and diamonds behaving like they always dressed like this for breakfast Betty arrived first and miss Crawford was late so we sat and waited and Davis was a little miffed but once Crawford arrived the two pros got in there and did their stuff they arched their backs through their heads back and we were back in the golden days when these two superstars ruled the town there were no pleasantries or dialogue exchanged between the two EULA recalled not a word that's why we had them sitting on the headlights one on each side of the rolls we couldn't put them within arm's reach or the fur would really fly it was over in 20 minutes then one went off with her Pepsi bottle full of vodka and the other one muttered she's so unprofessional but somehow you could sense that deep down they respected one another when filming ran behind schedule the stars agreed to come in on a Sunday to rehearse the physically difficult scene where Baby Jane brutalizes her sister Blanche in rehearsals Crawford agreed that there would be no stand-in involved when the time came to shoot she changed her mind she amused me said Betty Joan was really not my kind of actress in one simple scene where I was supposed to slap her I knew how to do it without hurting her it's an old theatrical trick all you do is cup your hand as you touch someone the one being hit throws her head back and the sound is added later but she had her double play the scene which made it very tense and awkward for me the prelude to the terror where Joan as the crippled Blanche lifts herself downstairs by the banister then crawls to the phone to call the doctor had been shot previously and edited by Michael Luciano we used a close-up of Joan on the phone then cut to a long shot of Betty standing in the doorway behind her watching the next frame was of Joan she senses she is being watched she turns her head slowly sees Betty and begins to babble incoherently then the violence begins crossing the hallway Betty hangs up the phone raises her foot and viciously kicks Joan in the head with her shoe she keeps on kicking her savagely across the hallway and into the living room when it came to the actual filming of that scene Crawford became afraid again she said I'm not doing it I don't trust miss Davis she's going to kick my teeth in and she may have been right said bill Aldrich a dummy was used for the close shots while the handheld cameras stayed on Betty's face and upper body her flying feet were kicking a mannequin not Joan across the room she was kicking so hard and so viciously we were all afraid she would break her foot set a cast member and all the while Joan Crawford is watching this from the side of the soundstage not with fear or revulsion but with fascination pleasure almost as if she enjoyed the thought of being abused by Betty for the long range two shots Joan had to lie on the floor and keep rolling over as if propelled by the kicking from Betty as staged Betty's right foot encased in the familiar ankle strapped shoe was supposed to whiz past Joan without touching her on one take however it was reported that she did indeed manage to make contact with the Royal Crawford noggin Crawford screamed I barely touched her Betty said without apology she raised a fair-sized lump on Joan's head said had a hopper her scalp was cut and required three stitches another writer reported I don't believe that Betty ever hurt her said Bob Sherman if she did it was an accident she was too much of a pro for that kind of behavior to my credit I have never indulged in physical punches only verbal ones Betty claimed there are those with the scars who would claim otherwise said Bob downing a variety Joan would of course be avenged on Friday morning August 24th the last scene in Blanche's bedroom was shot bound and gagged and strung up underneath a spotlighted portrait of herself Joan was to be untied then carried from the room by Betty because of the camera setup Crawford knew no double could be used and she was determined that Davis experienced her full star weight and more there is a way of making it easy on the actor who was doing the carrying said Bob Aldrich but Crawford wanted Betty to suffer every inch of the way to add to the burden it was said that Joan had weights strapped on underneath her long gown I was told it was a special weight lifters belt lined with lead said author Hector R say I'm not sure just what she had on but you could clearly see that when Betty lifted Joan off the bed she was straining herself Bob Gary recalled it was a long difficult scene said Lucas Heller but he had to lift her from the bed carry her across the room and into the hallway in the first try halfway across the room Joan who was supposed to be unconscious began to cough and open her eyes which meant that the scene had to be done over there was no break in the shot said Heller it was one continuous take Betty carried her from the bed across the room and out the door then as soon as she got in the hallway out of the cameras range she dropped Joan and let out this blood-curdling scream it was the most terrible scream I have ever heard said Bob Gary my back Oh God my back she screamed as Joan got to her feet and strolled contentedly back to her dressing room and still no feud with one more week to go on the filming of whatever happened to Baby Jane the film is on schedule and there is still no feud between the stars Betty feeds her lines off-camera to Joan for her close-ups a press release from Warner Brothers tomorrow we're going to do that goddamn beach scene my big scene but just watch she'll find a way to steal it she always does when you play crazy ladies you always walk away with the honors Joan Crawford - writer ROI new Quist the final sequence of the movie took place on the beach where Baby Jane brings her crippled and battered sister to die according to Betty's memoirs this and that the filming at the beach was cancelled because Joan was drinking heavily and could not stand the heat of the outdoor Sun alcohol in the body makes one perspire freely said Betty Joan wasn't drinking at the beach said Adele Aldrich confirming that the shots were done outdoors we worked three days at Yuma Beach said Peggy Shannon it was two days near Paradise Cove Bob Gary believed all I remember is that it was hot said Phil Stern and Bob Aldrich had a hell of a time trying to keep the dolly tracks on the sand according to the production logs Betty stayed at a motel in Trancas while Joan commuted by limo both stars were accompanied by their daughters Betty with BD Joan with her daughters Cindy and Kathy but again no socializing was allowed between the girls Joan's daughters clad in long Shirtwaist dresses strolled on the beach a respectable distance from the filming while fifteen-year-old BD stayed near the action wearing a white two-piece bikini to perpetuate her tan and titillate the young males on the crew who stripped down on their lunch break and cooled off in the ocean the sequence where baby Jane totally unhinged sits on the beach making sandcastles while her sister lies dying beside her was vital for the plot and for Crawford this was her big acting scene it ran for four pages lying in the sand emaciated in near death Joan was to look up at Betty and confess that it was she who had caused the long-ago accident that crippled her legs and drove her sister half mad with guilt you mean after all this time we could have been friends was Betty's one-line reaction the rest of the time she was supposed to shut up and listen to Joan for days Joan was sure that Betty would do something to steal the scene Oh she'll roll her eyes or blow her nose she'll think of something to bring the attention to her said Crawford but during the first take of the scene Betty was a pro she made no effort to upstage her co-star with parched lips and wide eyes Joan gave a flawless delivery of the lengthy dialogue when it was over Bob Aldridge clapped his hands and yelled wonderful ignoring Joan Betty turned to the director and said thank you Bob it was a tough scene to shoot because Aldridge wanted different camera angles said Bob Gary it was also harder on Joan than on Betty Betty could get up and move about but Joan had to lie there in the hot Sun Betty was also wearing white while Joan were a long dark robe which absorbed the heat they had two guys standing over her holding these huge scrims to shield her from the Sun said Hector our say but the alcohol in her system was dehydrating Joan as soon as Bob Aldrich yelled cut said Bob Gary Joan would get up from the sand and get into her limo which took her to her dressing room parked a hundred yards away in one setup when Joan came back from her trailer and resumed her prone position on the beach Bob Aldrich turned to script supervisor Gary and said Bob do you think she's getting younger it was a subtle change said Gary every time Joan went to her trailer Aldrich suspected she was making herself more glamorous she was supposed to be dying but when it came right down to it Joan had been such a glamour queen all her life that it was hard for her to look bad she kept taking off her dying makeup bit by bit adding softer makeup Betty Davis told of another Crawford metamorphosis dying on the beach Joan decided to wear her largest falsies let's face it said Betty when a woman lies on her back I don't care how well-endowed she is her bosoms do not stand straight up and Blanche was supposedly wasted away after 20 years the scene called for me to fall on top of her I had the breath almost knocked out of me it was like falling on two footballs in the very last shot of whatever happened to baby Jane Betty Davis goes off to buy an ice cream cone for her sister almost magically the grotesque makeup and wrinkles disappear from her face as she does a dance of liberation cinema fantastique magazine although the Battle of the Hudson sisters was settled with Blanche's dying confession the combat between Betty and Joan continued straight through and beyond the filming in her determination to compete with the expiring glamorous Joan there was considerable speculation that Betty added some cosmetic improvements to her appearance for the famous waltz of liberation scene that ended the movie this may be spurious said Bob Geary but Bob Aldrich believed that when Betty saw what Joan Crawford was doing she decided to pretty herself up a little for the final shots in the picture on the last day at the beach Betty went to lunch and was unusually late in returning what Bob Aldrich suspected was that Betty went to her motel and had her own makeup man Jean Hibbs drive over from the valley he was a master at those instant facelifts of using tapes and hair clips to pull back the loose facial skin he worked on her face in the motel there was no way she was going to let the movie end with Crawford looking better than she returning two hours later Betty told Aldrich she had been in a car crash she told this long involved story that she had to bring BD to the hospital said Bob Gary but we were in a car crash BD said in 1988 mother was a very nervous driver she was always crashing into people on the highway Jean Hibbs may have been at the motel but I never saw him and I was there for most of the filming the beautification of Betty in the final scene was a photographic phenomenon said Crawford's makeup artist Monty Westmore when Betty came back late the Sun had shifted to the west over the ocean in order to balance out the light on Betty who had her back to the beach the cameraman brought in an arc facing her the key light was so intense it burned out every wrinkle on her face and made her look like a little girl again baloney said Betty refusing to share any artistic credit her transformation had nothing to do with the cosmetic or technical expertise of others it was her genius her acting talent script girl Adelle Aldrich agreed I was at the beach playing cards with Betty and 20 minutes before the scene was shot she asked for some time by herself she walked down the beach alone and when she came back there was this glow on her face it was the most amazing thing I've ever seen it came from within her and reflected on her face Betty's genius also reflected on Joan Crawford's ego after watching the rushes the following day the star called Bob Aldrich to her dressing room she told him the final shots in the picture didn't match it was apparent that Betty's lighting was better than hers and she insisted that her big dying scene be redone my dad had to agree with Crawford said bill Aldrich the lighting for her last scene wasn't good enough but we couldn't bring 60 people back to the beach so a set had to be built at the studio and tons of sand brought in said Betty Davis the retakes added $60,000 more to the budget said bill Aldrich and for that the studio took away some of my dad's profit points but he felt it had to be done if that scene didn't work the entire picture didn't work on Wednesday September 12 1962 after 36 days of shooting whatever happened to Baby Jane was finished the total cost was 980 thousand dollars on Friday evening the traditional wrap party was held on the soundstage at Melrose Avenue I don't remember seeing miss Crawford there said Joe EULA as far as I know Joan had already returned to New York to do something for Pepsi said Peggy Shannon Joan was smart said a cast member she knew that when the picture was finished Betty would be lying in ambush for her at the party with a few drinks Betty might attack so Jones skipped the proceedings actress and Barton who played the mother of Jane and Blanche Hudson recalled Betty coming over to her table during the evening in her definite intonation she said you know Blanche resembles your side of the there was no great love between Betty and Joan we all knew that and Betty's last words to us were that woman that woman should be here tonight that woman should not have gone to New York that woman owes it to Bob Aldrich to be here tonight she took a deep drag on her cigarette and regally moved on murmuring that woman that woman she was mouthing at Crawford all the way through the party said Joe EULA look at that she'd say the [ __ ] didn't even show up that's professional we all thought she'd be happy that the movie was over and she wouldn't have to look at Joan again but no it seemed that miss Davis wasn't quite through with miss Crawford there was still some unfinished business to attend to the selling of baby Jane maybe they should put us in cages when they promote the picture Joan Crawford if Betty Davis and Joan Crawford come to blows during the promotion of their film whatever happened to Baby Jane it is now possible to make book on the probable winner Betty Davis each of these movie queens has a good right cross and left hook and both are formidable in fighters but Betty Davis is the more aggressive she can take out an opponent with one punch Brooks Atkinson the New York Times September 18 1962 when filming was completed Bob Aldrich was asked by Warner's to do a very fast edit of the picture the studio had signed a deal with the theater owners of America a new exhibition concept was about to go into effect whatever happened to Baby Jane was chosen as the first movie to inaugurate the new showcase premiere policy instead of booking the film in first-run city theaters Warner's would open it in 400 neighborhood theaters throughout the country to meet the November date the film had to be edited and scored in 30 days it was a tough schedule said editor Michael Luciano but we met it because the stuff Bob shot was all good he was a rare talent and a gentleman the man could direct anything on October 2 the first preview was held in Long Beach California the audience enticed by a movie ad that read a new thriller starring Betty Davis and Joan Crawford relished the film applauding five scenes some young patrons wanted to sit through a second showing they're going to have a hard time hiding the profits from this one said Bob Aldrich the following Monday the producer director flew to New York to show the picture to the Warner's East Coast executive and publicity staff again the reaction was positive that Thursday evening Aldridge attended a press party at the 21 club with his stars Betty Davis and Joan Crawford Betty accompanied by her secretary and daughter BD was dressed in pearls in a dark blue satin evening coat Joan with four male escorts or a full-length mink rubies and aqua turban and an aqua cocktail dress by careful design the Warner's press officer placed the stars at opposite ends of a long table at one point Crawford was getting all the attention said a reporter so Davis climbed atop a table and bawled everybody down here Crawford according to Davis's daughter then gave a haughty wave of her hand towards mother and called hello darling Betty bless you mother leaped out of her seat thrust forth her arms as though to embrace the multitude and emoted Jesus look at that broad the turban matches the blouse which matches the jacket which matches the skirt which matches the shoes and gloves she threw back her head and gave vent to a wild cackle slapped her thighs and finished can you believe her she looks like she just came from a fire sale in Macy's basement on Friday evening October 23rd 1962 a special Invitational preview of baby Jane was held at the RKO 86th street theatre on Manhattan's Upper East Side Jack Warner attended with producers Elliott Hyman and Ray Stark Joan Crawford showed up with a contingent of Pepsi executives and their children Betty Davis was missing this was the official preview for the Press said Crawford so naturally I was apprehensive for the word in the industry was that Betty and Joan had thrown what was left of their careers down the toilet by doing this be movie set in New York critic no one expected it to be any good the preview was a smash said Crawford it took me 30 minutes to get through the lobby to reach my car on November 3rd election day the film opened nationally the major reviews were glowing and spicy a brilliant tour de force of acting and filmmaking sent time a superb showcase for the time ripened talents of two of Hollywood's most accomplished actresses said the Saturday Review scenes that in lesser hands would verge on the ludicrous simply crackle with tension fine horrific fun take it straight and you'll recoil from a murderous duel of snarls shrieks moans and rattlesnake repartee by Betty Davis and Joan Crawford said the New York Times some of the critics took sides praising Betty while panning Joan and vice versa as an ugly old hag Betty Davis with her ghastly layers of makeup and her shuffling clump walk he's rather appealing and Joan Crawford is oh just Joan Crawford said Newsweek miss Davis with the mind of an infant has something of the force of a hurricane miss Crawford could be described as the eye of that hurricane abnormally quiet perhaps but ominous and desperate said the New York Telegraph and Sun Crawford wisely under plays with Davis said variety in one superb [ __ ] she reacts to herself on television making her face glow with the remembrance of Fame past a genuine heartbreaker Joan is such a sweetly smiling fraud such an artless helpless ninny that one feels virtually nothing for her no wonder her crazy sister finds her a deadly bore said the nation my absolutely favorite notice came from The New Yorker said Betty they had this cartoon of two women standing under a marquee of the theater I like Betty Davis said one woman and I like Joan Crawford but I don't think I'd like Betty Davis and Joan Crawford together sure she stole some of my big scenes but the funny thing is when I see the movie again she stole them because she looked like a parody of herself and I still looked like something of a star Joan Crawford it had been announced that Crawford and Davis would make a cross-country tour of theaters showing the film but a week before the tour Crawford canceled without apology or explanation she was afraid to share the stage with me said Betty who also attempted to drop out midway through the tour somewhere along the way Davis got upset said Bill Aldridge she said she was walking out and coming home my dad had to get on a plane and go to her mother was having one of her usual star tantrums said BD Hyman who joined Betty on stage at theaters in New York we had terrific fun said Betty I sang my song and gave out dolls to people in the audience sometimes a fan would shout out where's your sister where is Joan Crawford and I would answer she's dead on the beach at Malibu and everybody laughed and laughed appearing on Jack Paar's TV show Betty told the story of how Jack Warner had initially turned down the movie refusing to put up one nickel for us two old broads the following morning at her hotel Betty received a telegram it read dear miss Davis please do not continue to refer to me as an old broad sincerely Joan Crawford Oh for Christ's sake said Betty I was only referring to what the moneymen said the Oscars in January 1963 during the preliminary canvassing four Oscar nominations Warner Brothers pushed Betty and Joan as Best Actress for baby Jane in February when the nominations were released only Betty made the list along with Anne Bancroft for The Miracle Worker Geraldine page for sweet bird of youth and Lee Remick four days of wine and roses when asked to comment on her loss Crawford said but I always knew Betty would be chosen and I hope and pray that she wins that's so much bull said Betty when miss Crawford wasn't nominated she immediately got self booked on the Oscar show to present the best director award then she flew to New York and deliberately campaigned against me she told people not to vote for me she also called up the other nominees and told them she would accept their statue if they couldn't show up at the ceremonies Dorothy Kilgallen reported that Ann Bancroft acting in Mother Courage on Broadway had requested Patty Duke except for her but Patty is also up for an award and will not be allowed to accept for Bancroft so Joan Crawford will do the honors if she wins said Kilgallon I received a lovely note of congratulations from Miss Crawford said nominee Geraldine page and then she called me I was tongue-tied very intimidated in talking with her to me she was the epitome of a movie star I always loved her movies in fact the character I played in sweet bird of youth was said to be based partly on Joan Crawford that's what I heard in the movie I also used certain things I admired about her and about Betty Davis when I walked down the stairs in the filming of the movie scene I had seen Betty do that in one of her movies and later when I'm in the theater watching that scene I lowered my glasses and looked over the rims at the image of myself on the screen I had seen Joan Crawford do that in a photograph from one of those old movie magazines growing up I was a big fan of Betty Davis and Joan Crawford as a teenager I had seen almost all of their movies but when miss Crawford called I told her nothing of that I was tongue-tied all I could manage was yes miss Crawford no miss Crawford when she mentioned about accepting the Oscar for me if I won I said yes actually I was relieved that meant I wouldn't have to fly all the way to California or spend a lot of time looking for a new dress to wear I was happy and honored that Joan Crawford would be doing all of that for me on the evening of April 8th the 35th annual Oscar ceremonies were held at the Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica that entire day Crawford prepared for her dazzling appearance her silver beaded gown had been designed by Edith Head her diamonds for her wrists ears and neck were loan from Van Cleef & Arpels her hair which had been washed and said and curled by Peggy Shannon was dusted with a fine silver powder to match the rest of her combative glitter in her new colonial style house on Stone Canyon in bel-air Betty Davis was also giving special attention to her appearance for the Oscar show her dress was likewise by Edith Head her face had been rejuvenated by many lifts expert Jean Hibbs and the evidence the adhesive tapes and clips was covered over by a fetching albarn wig with bangs before leaving the house Betty had a long talk with my two tarnished Oscars on the mantelpiece and I promised to bring them home a baby brother that she would win was a foregone conclusion to Betty I was positive I would get it and so was everybody in town escorted by Cesar Romero Joan Crawford was the first arrival at the Civic Auditorium and made a beeline for the fans getting down on her knees to sign autographs for some of the blocked off people when asked by a TV reporter whom she had voted for in the Best Actress category Joan deftly answered the winner Betty arrived with daughter Biddy son Michael and Olivia de Havilland who told reporter army Archerd that she had flown in from Paris for this important occasion Betty deserves to win she's the greatest and this industry owes her this said Olivia yes I want that Oscar Davis told Archard I have to be the first to win three backstage Crawford once again held court in the main dressing room she had a wet bar set up with Pepsi coolers filled with bourbon scotch vodka gin champagne plus four kinds of cheese and all the fixings she also had a large TV monitor installed so her guests could watch the show as it unfolded on stage look at that Eddie Fischer giving newcomer and Margaret all the camera angles said Joan he sure has a way with the ladies down the hall in Frank Sinatra's dressing room Betty sat holding hands with Olivia de Havilland as the final top five Awards came up Crawford Betty and Olivia moved from backstage to the wings Joan looked radiant and to show her admiration Betty Davis went up behind her to kiss her on the back of the neck thank you dear Joan whispered it was the nicest thing a human being could do Crawford told reporter Len Baxter so dear of her so gentle and I was deeply touched I really thought we were friends that never happened said Davis when she was told of the report to the strains of some enchanted evening Jones swept on stage to present the Best Director award to David Lean for Lawrence of Arabia as lean and Joan exited arm-in-arm Betty Davis came on stage to present the award for Best Original Screenplay in an aside to the audience she said that the writers she had known during her long career were among the surliest in Hollywood after stumbling over the pronunciation of the foreign names she ripped the envelope open and said the winners were those three difficult Italian names for divorce italian style then the big moment arrived the category of Best Actress contender Betty and surrogate reciever Jones stood in the wings three feet apart chain-smoking as maximilian schell stood on stage reading the names of the five nominees betty handed her purse to Olivia de Havilland opening the envelope shell paused then announced the winner and Bancroft for the miracle worker I almost dropped dead when I heard miss Bancroft name said Betty I was paralyzed with shock Jones stood instantly erect said TV director Richard Dunlap shoulders back neck straight head up she stomped out her cigarette butt grabbed the hand of the stage manager who blurted afterwards she nearly broke all my fingers with her strength then with barely and excuse me to Betty Davis she marched past her and soared calmly on stage with the incomparable Crawford Manor Betty bit into her cigarette and seemed to stop breathing said Dunlap she had lost the award Joan was out there suddenly it was her night I should have won said there wasn't a doubt in the world that I wouldn't and Joan to deliberately upstage me like that her behavior was despicable disloyalty never entered my mind said Crawford if Geraldine page had won I'd have been glad for her I'm working for an industry not an individual the triumph of the evening said time describing Joan Crawford as she posed backstage with the winners she kissed Gregory Peck she kissed Patty Duke she kissed Ed Begley she would have kissed the doorman and the limo drivers too if it meant she could get another photograph taken said Sidney Scholl ski in her column the next day had a hopper summed up the event I was rooting for Betty but when it comes to giving or stealing a show nobody can top Joan Crawford 19 Betty bounces Joan from Kahn in February 1963 to launch the film in Europe Elliott Hyman president of seven arts instructed Bob Aldrich to invite Betty Davis and Joan Crawford to attend the showing of whatever happened to Baby Jane at the Kahn Film Festival then fly to London for the British premiere in the aftermath of the Oscars one invitation was rescinded basically mother didn't want to go to Kahn said BD Hyman she preferred to stay home I was the one who bulldozed her into going I was 16 I wanted to see Kahn mother gave in and issued an ultimatum to Bob Aldridge she said I'll go but not with Joan Crawford I won't share it with her Betty Davis was a bigger draw in Europe and it was up to Aldridge to tell Joan that she was disinvited Crawford in 1973 said it had been her decision not to go those festivals are a zoo a real zoo she said and I didn't care to subject myself to any more unpleasantness from miss Davis the producers files at the American Film Institute told another story when her invitation was rescinded Crawford threatened to bring legal action against Bob Aldridge and Betty Davis who she felt were maligning her refuge mother was telling these silly stories about how Joan took the Oscar to bed with her on the night of the awards said BD she wouldn't give the damn thing up said Betty she packed it in her luggage the next day and carried the award with her on a trip around the world for pepsi-cola it was six months before she even let Anne Bancroft see her Oscar on may 5th 1963 Crawford's lawyers in New York seelix inand Morris dispatched a telegram to Bob Aldrich associates it read in part on behalf of our client Joan Crawford we hereby advise you that you will be held liable and accountable for all loss damage and injuries sustained by her in connection with your actions relating to her attendance at the confi further that you and miss Davis will be held strictly accountable for any false or misleading statements or publicity concerning the circumstances under which you have canceled arrangements for miss Crawford to attend the aforesaid festival on May 6th Aldridge's law firm prints medal of Beverly Hills responded they advised Crawford's lawyers that their client could not be responsible for any false or misleading statements or publicity which may be issued by miss Davis have no reason to believe that such statements were or will be made by Miss Davis or by mr. Aldridge a copy of the wire was sent to Davis's lawyer Tom Hammond who was told in short to advise Betty to put a lid on it when it came to the topic of Joan Crawford arriving in con with Aldrich Davis told the packed press conference at the Carlton Hotel that she had no idea why her co-star wasn't along for the trip certainly she was invited said Betty but Joan is a busy busy woman and I know we will all miss her terribly the feud rolls on when the profits from baby Jane were tallied that July another dispute arose the grouse on the income statement from Warner's seven arts was 3.5 million dollars and not that ten or twelve million dollars that was widely mentioned after the negative and distribution costs were deducted Crawford received approximately $150,000 and Betty 75,000 - 30,000 for repayment of a loan Aldrich Associates had advanced to her as a down payment for the purchase of honeysuckle Hill her new colonial style home in Bel Air dissatisfied with her share from Baby Jane Betty requested that her lawyer be allowed to examine the books at Warner's but the figures were confirmed by Bob Aldrich and close to broke again that he had to solicit work the previous September when Baby Jane rapped and no other scripts were forthcoming she had placed a situation wanted advertisement in the employment section of variety all of Hollywood and Joan Crawford expressed amazement that the great Davis would openly ask for work I would pack my bags get on a bus and work as a waitress in Tucson before I would belittle my name by begging for a job said Joan every time the goddamn widow Steele holds up a bottle of Pepsi Cola they give her a thousand bucks said Betty lashing back I am NOT Joan Crawford I am Betty Davis a working mother the ad was a joke Davis later claimed as were some of the offers it produced she was offered the role of dick Van Dyke's mother in the Vegas production of Bye Bye Birdie she declined but agreed to guest star on TVs Perry Mason and to sing and dance on the Andy Williams variety show Bob Aldridge then hired Betty to play the supporting role of a madam in for for Texas a Western starring Frank Sinatra Dean Martin and the Three Stooges she was being fitted for her brothel costumes when Jack Warner called with a better deal he had a project dead ringer set to go with Lana Turner playing dual roles but Lana it was said didn't want to play twins figuring and rightly so that one edition of her gorgeous self was enough for the general public when she turned down the film Warner presented it to Davis who got a release from Aldrich she played twins before she said but the special effects were more complex and frustrating this time a visitor to the set agreed it was hardly the apex of comfort for an artist like Betty Davis to play a scene where as twins she must put a gun to her head and blow her own out Crawford had toiled earlier that year in the caretakers playing Lucretia Terry the tough head nurse in a psychiatric institution with steel dusted hair and individual key spotlighting joan taught judo to the younger nurses and got her own mad scene though it was cut from the final picture i was changed from a cameo part to just an angry woman said joan the directors excuse was that some of my scenes made me look cheap but every woman who's rejected by the man she loves looks cheap I should know I'm a woman after washing the silver out of her hair I found I was throwing away all my beige clothes because they were designed for a redhead and mentally gray hair dampened my spirits Crawford as a russet brunette descended further into the pit of the not so Grand Guignol with her next alliance with producer director William Castle an independent producer director specializing in horror and terror films William Castle had none of the style or talent of Robert Aldrich fond of showing up at his own premieres in a coffin and hearse and suspending 12-foot skeletons on wires over the heads of the audiences Castle scored his first box-office success in 1959 with the Tingler his trademark was a decapitated head that appeared in many of his films we used the same old dead head in every movie said the producer proudly we bought it for $12.50 that was the head that was used in psycho they rented it from us for a hundred a day after seeing whatever happened to Baby Jane 15 times Castle dreamed of hitting the big time of working with stars like Betty Davis and Joan Crawford one evening at a party in Beverly Hills he had the good fortune to be introduced to Crawford he almost fell at her feet said writer Hector R say he told her he had a script that was commissioned specifically for her it was called straitjacket it was written by the man who wrote the Hitchcock classic psycho I'm listening mr. castle said Joan castle told her the story it was a psychological murder mystery about a deranged woman who finds her husband in bed with his mistress and chopped their heads off she spends 20 years in a mental institution is cured and is then released to the care of her loving daughter she is happy and readjusted to society when a fresh series of beheadings occur in the town um said Joan she is the suspected killer said castle she believes it herself and said Joan she is arrested but she's not the killer it's her twisted daughter the little [ __ ] said Joan when can I see the script after Crawford red straitjacket she called the director the woman was supposed to age from 30 to 50 Joan wanted to make the character younger to lop off five years at each end castle agreed he also said yes to her salary percentage and contract demands when she was announced for the picture she was immediately blasted by Betty Davis and Louella Parsons straightjacket was supposed to start own Blondell said Betty until Crawford stepped in and stole the role Joan Blondell was set for the lead and had been fitted for her costumes Parsons confirmed then out of the blue producer William Castle signs the other Joan and then he proceeds to turn his picture upside down to please her even the crew has been revamped with a new cameraman makeup man hairdresser costumer even a switch in the publicity man no one involved is talking it stinks I tell you said Betty there is an unwritten law in this town once an actor is signed for a part it's his until they die or drop out voluntarily miss Crawford knows this and should be ashamed of herself in 1977 Joan Blondell confirmed that she was signed for the film but she withdrew because of an accident I stepped through a glass partition in my home and had to have 60 stitches in my leg nothing was said in the newspapers because of the insurance but Joan Crawford did not steal the roll someone had to do it the following February photographs of Betty and Joan appeared side-by-side in time with reviews of dead ringer and great jacket both films were panned a trite little thriller exuberant Leung corseted her torso looks like a gunny sack full of galoshes said time of Betty and dead ringer while her rival received a flip New York Times notice Joan Crawford with an axe tennis anyone of the two competing films straightjacket took in more money helped somewhat by Joan's charismatic in-person tour of theaters using the Pepsi jet the star flew cross-country to give the press and her public one last look at the old tradition of Hollywood hoopla her entourage included her made mamacita public relations man Bob Kelly a girl photographer and two Pepsi pilots who flew the plane from city to city plus 28 pieces of luggage including food hampers 2 knitting bags and an axe with a 3-foot haft which Joan would carry on stage from theater to theater she criticized me for raffling off dolls on stage for baby Jane said Betty Davis and she's got a goddamn axe under her skirt Star Wars part 2 the second time around Betty wanted vengeance it was Elizabeth the first all over again a mere apology from Joan wasn't enough Betty wanted her head George Cukor I have always believed in the Christian ethic to forgive and forget I looked forward to working with Betty again I had no idea of the extent of her hate and that she planned to destroy me Joan Crawford in the winter of 1963 when Bob Aldrich's follow-up film for for Texas failed to attract a wide audience he turned his thoughts to the idea of reteaming Betty and Joan he asked Baby Jane novelist Henry Ferrell to write a new story featuring the two stars Ferrell came up with a tale of malice and murder set in the deep south Betty would play an aging eccentric southern belle whose wealth and sanity are threatened by a visiting cousin also figuring prominently would be a domineering father an unsolved murder a buried body and the raising of the family mansion the working title of the story was whatever happened to cousin Charlotte Betty read the first draft of the script and agreed to play Charlotte meeting with Aldridge she asked whom he had in mind to play cousin Miriam he said and Sheridan was a possibility good choice said Betty but most of the studios have requested Joan Crawford the director stated I wouldn't piss on Joan Crawford if she were on fire Betty replied Aldrich then talked money with Betty with Crawford as part of the package the budget would be larger and Betty would get $120,000 up front which was double for some she got four baby Jane and he would give her a percentage of the profits forget the percentage said Betty I got screwed on Jane Aldrich rais'd has offered a $160,000 pushing Joan and advocating the script it was Oscar material he felt a much more difficult narrow edged part with the gothic bravura of Jane as cousin Charlotte Betty would rule the plantation dominate the story and at the finish have the pleasure of crushing cousin Miriam Joan to death with a massive concrete flowerpot I will accept Crawford if you will change the title of the picture to hush hush sweet Charlotte Betty replied referring to the name of the title song composed by Frank Duvall and Mack David with Davis amenable to working with her rival again Aldridge had to persuade Crawford to come aboard he had not met or spoken with her since the unpleasantness over the rescinded Kahn festival invitation taking no chances on writing or phoning the director sent the script to Joan in New York then showed up on her doorstep said reporter Len Baxter you got a problem Bob said Joan when an awkward low came up in their conversation yes said Aldrich I was wondering would you could you you wasted time and money coming to see me said Joan the answer is yes she liked the character of Miriam a [ __ ] but a stylish one unlike Blanche and Baby Jane in the new film she would be ambulatory and in one scene she would get to slap Betty repeatedly across the face then push her down a ravine locked in the arms of a dead Joseph Cotten she told the director she would also accept the $50,000 in salary with 25% of the net profits plus five thousand in living expenses for the duration of the nine weeks shoot there is just one request I have to make Joan concluded firmly named it said Aldrich in the billing for this picture my name comes first before miss Davis in a pig's eye Betty shouted when Aldrich called her from New York with Joan's request I will not have my name comes second to Joan Crawford not now not ever back in Los Angeles further sweetening was offered to Betty by Aldrich to get her to agree to take second billing to Joan the director had to raise her salary another $40,000 to 200,000 that is the same amount I am getting for producing and directing he told her so that makes us partners on this picture partners all the way down the line I will hold you to that said Betty on December 28th 1963 the announcement appeared in the New York Times that the stars of baby Jane would be reteamed for whatever happened to cousin Charlotte yes we are making another picture together Betty told reporter Wanda Hale I like to work with Joan she's a real pro serious about her acting always on time always prepared so different from some of these new young people some of whom are stars but still not pros budgeted at 1.3 million dollars 20th Century Fox agreed to finance and distribute the new film with Aldrich and the studio equally dividing all future profits after negative and distribution costs and the payment of profit participation to the players were paid scheduled to begin production in April Crawford requested a postponement of one month April is no good for me she informed Aldrich because I am due to attend the Pepsi sales convention in Hawaii that month miss Crawford was not thanked for this delay said Betty with the heat of summer on location made us suffer greatly for her silly business appointments in pre-production during the postponement according to the directors files it was Betty who then threatened to jeopardize the project by quitting completely early in May in an eight-page handwritten letter to Aldrich she said her promised partnership on the film was being ignored she expressed her bitter disappointment that the title had not yet been changed a cinematographer had not yet been chosen and the original writer Henry Farrell had been replaced without consulting her I feel I know and understand you as well as anyone Betty wrote to the director producer you are stubborn and have to be solely in charge you do not function well with someone of my type that was obvious throughout the filming of baby Jane and the suicidal desire this put me into many times was almost more than I was able to bear the machination z' of the new film from the very beginning have been tricky and therefore most discouraging I do not wear well with tricks designed to make me do what someone else decides I will do we have not been partners and you do not intend that we will be repeating her lament on the change in writers Betty said it was done surreptitiously without advising her it is incredible that you forget I have friends who care for my welfare and keep me informed and she found the new script appalling she knew what the director was up to he was trying to trick her into playing a repeat of their last film you will do your best to do a remake of baby Jane no matter what I look like on the set you can order the cameraman to fix me up

Channel: TheConcludingChapterofCrawford

Views: 97,399

Rating: 4.4957409 out of 5

Keywords: Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Divine Feud, Feud, Shaun Considine, 1989, book, Hollywood

Id: Ei_dt8UV9iE

Length: 222min 7sec (13327 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 08 2018