Bette Davis and Joan Crawford: two great actresses, a lot of talent and a long-standing enmity. Why did they hate each other so much if deep down they weren’t that different?They both had a bad relationship with their daughters. their emotional relationships failed and both often turned to alcohol. Without a doubt, it was the most talked about Hollywood enmity in history. An enmity from which, in the midst of all this confusion, we have taken a jewel out of the cinema: what happened to Baby. Jane?
As the lives of these actresses were almost a film in themselves, it was no wonder that What happened to Baby Jane was a success and that, even today, it is still considered a classic. when it was rediscovered by some young people thanks to the FEUD series: Bette and Joan, which recreates the enmity of the two actresses and the problems they experienced during the recordings.
- It is true that today’s young people are somewhat reluctant to make black-and-white films.
- It seems that such an old film does not give us joy and that the effort required to see it in black and white is too much for us.
- Part of the magic of these films lies precisely in the absence of colors.
When you think of horror movies today, images of demonic possessions, special effects, haunted houses and bloody scenes come to mind, all of which began in the 1970s, coinciding with the release of films such as The Exorcist, which would forever transform horror films.
Until then, the great master of terror was Alfred Hitchcock, most of the films had been recorded in black and white and we were accustomed to another type of terror, more subtle, more psychological, where almost all the weight lay in the actors’ performance, on the soundtrack and suggesting without showing.
“Bette Davis stole my best scenes. But the funny thing is, when I see it, what happened to Baby Jane?Again, I realize she stole my scenes because it looks like a parody of herself, and I’m a star?. – Joan Crawford-
Today all that has changed, and for many it would be difficult to see in What Happened to Baby Jane a horror film, however, at the time, it was considered as such. And the truth is that it doesn’t take as many special effects for Bette Davis to torment us with her eyes, to feel anguish when Blanche (Joan Crawford), stuck in a wheelchair, desperately tries to get the neighbor’s attention or take the phone. Ask. Help me.
Is there anything more terrible than hate? If someone hates us, that person will be able to do anything, more if you lose your mind, as happens in the film, the fear and anguish of the film fall into that hatred, bitterness. and eternal rivalry. When we hate, we can fall into the irrational, we don’t care about the damage we can do and we rarely think about the consequences.
tells the story of two sisters who had their glory days and who fell by the wayside. Blanche lives in a wheelchair and depends on her little sister. Jane’s youngest (Bette Davis) has long lost her sanity due to the guilt she feels for leaving her sister paralyzed and lives in her own head reliving her glory years, feeling that she can go back to being a girl and sing and dance with your dad. while the audience admires you.
Hate between the two, resentment and ego are the main protagonists of the film. Baby Jane begins with a little artist Jane, self-centered and pampered by her father who treats everyone badly, including her family. On the other side is the eldest, sister, Blanche, who cares for her mother and barely speaks and feels discriminated against, we see that this special treatment Jane receives will transform Blanche into a strong woman, capable of being more successful than her sister, so successful that she will become a great movie star.
“You shouldn’t say bad things about the dead, just good things. Joan Crawford is dead. -Bette Davis-
Jane, on the other hand, is left behind for almost all mortals, the truth is that she lacks talent and will begin to hate her sister for stealing her role. Blanche and Jane are two eternal rivals. Although Blanche apparently shows compassion for her sister, it is gradually discovered that this has not always been the case. The film shows us very disturbing scenes, such as the meals Jane prepares for her sister or song I?Go write a letter to Dad.
Rivalry and hatred transcend screens, and perhaps it’s because Blanche and Jane’s story isn’t that different from Bette and Joan’s. Hate, transformed into art, becomes something worth admiring when you watch the film. the way, it was pretty real. There’s a lot of talk about what happened on the set of Baby Jane, the Davis-installed Coca Cola machine to compete with Crawford’s Pepsi, Davis’ real slap to Crawford in a scene, or the moment Crawford put weights on his clothes in a scene. scene where Davis should drag her.
The rivalry was so great that Crawford took the stage to receive the Oscar on behalf of Anne Bancroft for best actress award, in which Davis was nominated by Baby Jane. Crawford stole the lead role from Davis’ night.
This rivalry recently appeared on television in the FEUD series Bette and Joan, in which both are played respectively by veterans Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange. The series, directed by Ryan Murphy, takes us to the film’s recording set and shows us the other one. The face of the coin, that of the media and the Hollywood industry of the time, an industry in which women are second and hardly have opportunities, especially when youth and beauty have disappeared from their lives.
In the series we see that, perhaps, this enmity was strongly fed by the press, who seemed more interested in the insults exchanged by actresses than in her profession. Maybe if it had been different, they wouldn’t have been such rivals. The truth is, Hollywood was interested in this dispute. It was the perfect ad to sell a movie that didn’t have such a high budget or an acclaimed director (Bob Aldrich).
The FEUD series has managed to save some of the most interesting moments of these two stars, making Baby Jane the center of attention again. On the other hand, in addition to saving stars Davis and Crawford, the series features an exceptional cast. highlighting Sarandon and Lange, who, like the actresses they embody, are in middle age, which does not mean an obstacle to further proving that you have not lost your talent.
What happened to Baby Jane wanted to save two women who no longer aroused interest in young audiences: they were already a certain age and their careers stalled, so Baby Jane was a risky proposition and, to ensure success, it had to be sold with something else in this case, nourishes and emphasizes the enmity of the two big stars.
Hate, like love, can turn us into irrational beings, both can change our perceptions, so that they end up adjusting more to what we want to see than to what exists in reality, in this sense in Hollywood happiness and morality did not. The important thing was, as in almost all large companies, to sell the product.
“When we hate someone, we hate something in the image of that person in us. – Hermann Hesse-