Bette Davis Sitcom
- Thread starter ironrite
- Start date
Help Support :
danemodsandy
Well-known member
I Think I Can Tell You...
...Why a Bette Davis sitcom wouldn't have gotten picked up for a network's fall schedule.
Bette only did one successful comedy in her entire career, the immortal All About Eve, and in that one, the comedy isn't really due to Bette - it's due to the other characters' reactions to Margo Channing's insane behaviour. When Bette actually tried to be funny, she came off like a bad Bette Davis impersonator (Watch The Bride Came C.O.D. sometime if you doubt me).
Speaking of Bette Davis impersonators, I have a tape of the This Is Your Life show where Bette is honoured. Davis impersonator Barbara Heller ("I'd like to do a scene from one of my greatest movies - but then, aren't they all?") does her impression of Bette. It's extremely funny, but if you look at the real Davis watching Heller, you see something very interesting. Bette is pissed.
...Why a Bette Davis sitcom wouldn't have gotten picked up for a network's fall schedule.
Bette only did one successful comedy in her entire career, the immortal All About Eve, and in that one, the comedy isn't really due to Bette - it's due to the other characters' reactions to Margo Channing's insane behaviour. When Bette actually tried to be funny, she came off like a bad Bette Davis impersonator (Watch The Bride Came C.O.D. sometime if you doubt me).
Speaking of Bette Davis impersonators, I have a tape of the This Is Your Life show where Bette is honoured. Davis impersonator Barbara Heller ("I'd like to do a scene from one of my greatest movies - but then, aren't they all?") does her impression of Bette. It's extremely funny, but if you look at the real Davis watching Heller, you see something very interesting. Bette is pissed.
I've never understood Davis' legend status. She was just a vicious social climber, and landed most of her major roles because of who she knew, slept with and/or married, not because of any notable acting ability.
E. Arnot Robertson wrote in Picture Post, "I think Bette Davis would probably have been burned as a witch if she had lived two or three hundred years ago."
en.wikipedia.org
E. Arnot Robertson wrote in Picture Post, "I think Bette Davis would probably have been burned as a witch if she had lived two or three hundred years ago."
Bette Davis - Wikipedia
Gosh, Jeff, did you read the wiki article you linked?
Davis received 10 Oscar nominations and two best actress awards over her career. And she was the subject of an unprecedented write-in vote for her landmark film, Of Human Bondage, when it didn't receive an official nomination in 1934. She was also perhaps the first American film actress to achieve stardom on the basis of her acting skills, and not from natural physical beauty.
Besides, we have her to thank for the timeless, "What a dump!" line from perhaps her worst ever film, Beyond the Forest. Although by no means a Bette Davis fan, I used to mutter that thought to myself every time I arrived at the workplace I quit a year ago (the one with the leaky roof, cardboard over the windows, and rats and possums running free in the office and shop because the cracks in the walls were big enough to let them through)...
Davis received 10 Oscar nominations and two best actress awards over her career. And she was the subject of an unprecedented write-in vote for her landmark film, Of Human Bondage, when it didn't receive an official nomination in 1934. She was also perhaps the first American film actress to achieve stardom on the basis of her acting skills, and not from natural physical beauty.
Besides, we have her to thank for the timeless, "What a dump!" line from perhaps her worst ever film, Beyond the Forest. Although by no means a Bette Davis fan, I used to mutter that thought to myself every time I arrived at the workplace I quit a year ago (the one with the leaky roof, cardboard over the windows, and rats and possums running free in the office and shop because the cracks in the walls were big enough to let them through)...
In "Of Human Bondage" Davis played Mildred Rogers, a cruel, manipulative shrew. She didn't need to act at all for that particular part. 
I've lived with enough Davis fanatics in 40+ years to have seen almost all of her films, and it's just my opinion that her acting ranged from barely adequate to downright awful.
I've lived with enough Davis fanatics in 40+ years to have seen almost all of her films, and it's just my opinion that her acting ranged from barely adequate to downright awful.
perc-o-prince
Well-known member
IMHO
She was psychopathically BRILLIANT in Whatever Happened To Baby Jane!! I can't think of any other actress who could have pulled that off!
Chuck
She was psychopathically BRILLIANT in Whatever Happened To Baby Jane!! I can't think of any other actress who could have pulled that off!
Chuck
Jeff,
Well, I've been apart from the Bette Davis fanatic fan contingent. I've seen only a few of her films... Dark Victory, Now Voyager, All About Eve, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte. I wouldn't mind seeing any of them again (although Baby Jane always gives me the creeps). Davis was somewhat unique in that she actively sought out roles as bad characters - unlike many screen divas who were afraid the characterization would reflect badly upon their auras. In that sense she was quite non-egotistical. Davis no more played herself in these roles than Katherine Hepburn did in her roles - both had distinctive voices and mannerisms, both superb actresses. And both were kindly mocked for their mannerisms mid-way through their careers.
Well, I've been apart from the Bette Davis fanatic fan contingent. I've seen only a few of her films... Dark Victory, Now Voyager, All About Eve, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte. I wouldn't mind seeing any of them again (although Baby Jane always gives me the creeps). Davis was somewhat unique in that she actively sought out roles as bad characters - unlike many screen divas who were afraid the characterization would reflect badly upon their auras. In that sense she was quite non-egotistical. Davis no more played herself in these roles than Katherine Hepburn did in her roles - both had distinctive voices and mannerisms, both superb actresses. And both were kindly mocked for their mannerisms mid-way through their careers.
Rich, it's just a matter of opinion here, and I learned to hazards of criticizing Davis in our community a long time ago.
Davis played bitches better than anyone, but again I think it's because that's who she really was: she didn't need to stretch to play these roles. And whenever she did need to stretch, e.g. in comedies or playing likable characters, IMO her acting is terribly forced and unbelievable.
I admit my opinion of her acting is heavily influenced by my opinion of her as a human being. She was once quoted as saying that until someone is seen as a monster in Hollywood, they're not really a star. I grew up among the "stars" and this belief, while popular in her day, was and still is complete bullshit. The monsters were the people who had to supplant their insecurity and lack of acting ability with fear and intimidation, while truly talented actors never had to rely on such tactics.
Davis played bitches better than anyone, but again I think it's because that's who she really was: she didn't need to stretch to play these roles. And whenever she did need to stretch, e.g. in comedies or playing likable characters, IMO her acting is terribly forced and unbelievable.
I admit my opinion of her acting is heavily influenced by my opinion of her as a human being. She was once quoted as saying that until someone is seen as a monster in Hollywood, they're not really a star. I grew up among the "stars" and this belief, while popular in her day, was and still is complete bullshit. The monsters were the people who had to supplant their insecurity and lack of acting ability with fear and intimidation, while truly talented actors never had to rely on such tactics.
all i can say is.......................
fasten your seatbelts boys, it's going to be a bumpy night on this thread!!!
you won't get anything but praise for bette davis out of me! sure, she was a bitch at times, so am i! and she could outswear any sailor, so can I!!! i read her daughter's book, several times. i also have read bette's books several times.
i love reading celebrity biographies in general. she was in a tough business and she was tough, at times. she herself said "there are two paths to take in life, the sugar route or the vinager route. i chose the vinager route, the sugar route took longer and i didn't have the time".
we all have good and bad sides, and since i did not personally know her i cannot say to what degree of a rotten or good person she was. but she had a lot of people who respected her, both as a person and an actress, and she had a lot of friends! that says volumes to me! i let the people who knew her speak to me and i listen to what they had to say.
i think she was a great actress! and a feisty broad that i prob would not want to be on the other end of an argument with!!! at least not after she had been drinking!
bette davis! yea!!!!!!!!!!!!
my biggest passion however is not for bette davis, although i find her a great actress, my biggest passion will always be for marilyn!
fasten your seatbelts boys, it's going to be a bumpy night on this thread!!!
you won't get anything but praise for bette davis out of me! sure, she was a bitch at times, so am i! and she could outswear any sailor, so can I!!! i read her daughter's book, several times. i also have read bette's books several times.
i love reading celebrity biographies in general. she was in a tough business and she was tough, at times. she herself said "there are two paths to take in life, the sugar route or the vinager route. i chose the vinager route, the sugar route took longer and i didn't have the time".
we all have good and bad sides, and since i did not personally know her i cannot say to what degree of a rotten or good person she was. but she had a lot of people who respected her, both as a person and an actress, and she had a lot of friends! that says volumes to me! i let the people who knew her speak to me and i listen to what they had to say.
i think she was a great actress! and a feisty broad that i prob would not want to be on the other end of an argument with!!! at least not after she had been drinking!
bette davis! yea!!!!!!!!!!!!
my biggest passion however is not for bette davis, although i find her a great actress, my biggest passion will always be for marilyn!
whirlcool
Well-known member
I have heard people refer to Bette Davis as a great beauty. I didn't think so. She had bulgy eyes! She certainly wasn't ugly, but not what I would call a great beauty.
animasinsulinpu
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2009
- Messages
- 275
Eyeshadow
OMG, that eyeshadow is soooo thick, how can she blink?? I wonder how many pounds she loses when she washes that shit off. She's like the less pretty sister of Agnes Moorhead. What a nasty last name....Gives me LOTS of nasty visuals....Bill in Az....
OMG, that eyeshadow is soooo thick, how can she blink?? I wonder how many pounds she loses when she washes that shit off. She's like the less pretty sister of Agnes Moorhead. What a nasty last name....Gives me LOTS of nasty visuals....Bill in Az....
Davis was a great actress in the tradition of Hollywood screen stars. It seems to me this type of acting was as much about creating a fan base and a "star" quality as it was about portraying a character. Thus the emphasis wasn't as much on mimicking what the character might have been in real life, as it was in the actor getting inside the character's head and then acting on the basis of the internal emotions the actor would have in response to the lines and situations.
Thus we can see an actor like Joaquin Phoenix playing Johnny Cash, and the impersonation is so good we forget it's Phoenix and believe it's really Cash, vs. never being able quite to forget that it's Bette Davis playing Queen Elizabeth or Katherine Hepburn playing Eleanor of Aquitane - and in fact we derive pleasure from seeing their interpretation of the historical character. We also never can quite forget it's Bogart play Rick in Casablanca, or Richard Burton playing anything. They are telling a story, and a story teller doesn't have to resemble the characters in the story to keep one's attention.
Thus we can see an actor like Joaquin Phoenix playing Johnny Cash, and the impersonation is so good we forget it's Phoenix and believe it's really Cash, vs. never being able quite to forget that it's Bette Davis playing Queen Elizabeth or Katherine Hepburn playing Eleanor of Aquitane - and in fact we derive pleasure from seeing their interpretation of the historical character. We also never can quite forget it's Bogart play Rick in Casablanca, or Richard Burton playing anything. They are telling a story, and a story teller doesn't have to resemble the characters in the story to keep one's attention.
whirlcool
Well-known member
I actually met Anges Moorhead at one time. While we were checking into the Palmer House hotel in Chicago on a lay over (those were the days!) She was in the line right in front of me. I actually started up a conversation with her. She was very nice. I mentioned to her in high school we learned about her participation with Orson Wells and the Mercury Theater group. She was please to hear that. She said that most everyone just talks to her about Bewitched, but she was in a LOT of famous movies that people have now forgotten about (1973). She looked kind of thin, and her voice wasn't as strong as I would have imagined it to be. She also said she had come to Chicago on her way to Wisconsin. She hates to fly and took Amtrak from LA!
Three months after this I read she died from cancer.
Three months after this I read she died from cancer.
I believe Moorehead did a lot of radio in her day. I *think* I have a recording of her doing "Wrong Number" which is a classic in radio thrillers.
We Can't All Like the Same Things
Although I think Bette Davis was one of our great actresses for a number of reasons, I can certainly see why she wasn't everybody's cup of tea. For a different set of reasons, one could feel the same towards John Wayne. It either works for you or it doesn't.
As to Bette's ability, or lack thereof, to carry off comedy - I would hardly base that judgment on the poorly conceived and abominably written "The Decorator". Her character, more than "loosely-based" on Margo Channing in All About Eve and several lines of dialogue practically lifted from that screenplay hardly adds up to great television. (And was there a single funny line of dialogue to be found anywhere in that show, from ANY actor? Dub Taylor, notwithstanding). It's particularly embarrassing since co-writing credit goes to Mart Crowley, who was later responsible for the brilliant and bitingly funny, The Boys in the Band.
I won't add any further comments to Bette's attitude, career choices and how she got where she did other than to say since "The Decorator" was produced by Four Star Productions, she more than likely had a big hand in the finished product... but let me add this personal experience.
In early 1980, the LA County Museum of Art's Film Dept was running a Bette Davis film series. Midway through the series she was to make a surprise appearance one evening, between the double feature. She arrived at the museum a good 60 minutes before she was to magically appear in front of the audience. She spent that time chatting it up (and smoking like a chimney - this was before her stroke) with no more than three people, in the theatre's tiny ticket office. The subjects wafted between her career, Jack Warner - of course, her time spent living in Laguna Beach (one of the folks in the ofice lived in Laguna Beach simultaneously) etc. So the conversation was relaxed, personal, not fan-obsessed and a great deal of fun for all who were lucky enough to wander through the office to hear her stories.
When the time came to introduce her to the audience, I was charged with escorting her to the backstage area and place her directly upstage of the curtain. While she waited the few moments before the curtain raising, she was nervous and concerned the audience would feel let down. She needn't have worried though. I'm not sure who enjoyed themselves more.
Now whether her concern was the sign of a real trouper, an egomaniac, an aging performer concerned just how many fans she still has, or just good old fashioned nerves, I'll let others judge. All I can say is, it was great to have been there to share the moment.
Although I think Bette Davis was one of our great actresses for a number of reasons, I can certainly see why she wasn't everybody's cup of tea. For a different set of reasons, one could feel the same towards John Wayne. It either works for you or it doesn't.
As to Bette's ability, or lack thereof, to carry off comedy - I would hardly base that judgment on the poorly conceived and abominably written "The Decorator". Her character, more than "loosely-based" on Margo Channing in All About Eve and several lines of dialogue practically lifted from that screenplay hardly adds up to great television. (And was there a single funny line of dialogue to be found anywhere in that show, from ANY actor? Dub Taylor, notwithstanding). It's particularly embarrassing since co-writing credit goes to Mart Crowley, who was later responsible for the brilliant and bitingly funny, The Boys in the Band.
I won't add any further comments to Bette's attitude, career choices and how she got where she did other than to say since "The Decorator" was produced by Four Star Productions, she more than likely had a big hand in the finished product... but let me add this personal experience.
In early 1980, the LA County Museum of Art's Film Dept was running a Bette Davis film series. Midway through the series she was to make a surprise appearance one evening, between the double feature. She arrived at the museum a good 60 minutes before she was to magically appear in front of the audience. She spent that time chatting it up (and smoking like a chimney - this was before her stroke) with no more than three people, in the theatre's tiny ticket office. The subjects wafted between her career, Jack Warner - of course, her time spent living in Laguna Beach (one of the folks in the ofice lived in Laguna Beach simultaneously) etc. So the conversation was relaxed, personal, not fan-obsessed and a great deal of fun for all who were lucky enough to wander through the office to hear her stories.
When the time came to introduce her to the audience, I was charged with escorting her to the backstage area and place her directly upstage of the curtain. While she waited the few moments before the curtain raising, she was nervous and concerned the audience would feel let down. She needn't have worried though. I'm not sure who enjoyed themselves more.
Now whether her concern was the sign of a real trouper, an egomaniac, an aging performer concerned just how many fans she still has, or just good old fashioned nerves, I'll let others judge. All I can say is, it was great to have been there to share the moment.
danemodsandy
Well-known member
Davis and Comedy:
Nanook:
I'm not basing my assessment of Davis's comedic ability on The Decorator; I'm basing it on the relatively few comedies she did in films. There is The Bride Came C.O.D., about which not even Davis could find much nice to say in her autobiography, and there is June Bride, which I think suffers from two unfunny stars (Davis and Robert Montgomery); only the presence of the great Mary Wickes makes it watchable at all.
Her turn in Thank Your Lucky Stars (where she sings "They're Either Too Young or Too Old," and has a moment of jitterbugging with Conrad Wiedel), isn't really meant to be all that comic, in the sense that other stars in that film were (can anyone ever forget Olivia deHavilland, Ida Lupino and George Tobias as three gum-chewing hepcats?). And much later, there was Bunny O'Hare, so dreadful it can't even get a video release.
Davis was an estimable talent in many ways, but comedy just wasn't in her; All About Eve is very skilfully directed and edited so that she comes off well in spite of that lack - and Bette was not even first choice for the role of Margo Channing (Claudette Colbert was; she had to drop out due to injury).
Please understand that I'm not saying any of this to bash Davis; many stars have something they just cannot do. Barbra Streisand can't dance very well (though she does work hard when called upon to do so) and as good as she is with comedy that is written for her, she cannot ad-lib her way out of a paper bag. The list of stars who have been dubbed in musical movies because of poor voices or non-existent singing skills is extremely long.
The only problem with Davis and comedy is that her studio pushed her into several, refusing to accept the evidence on the screen in front of them - that she could not do what they were asking of her.
Nanook:
I'm not basing my assessment of Davis's comedic ability on The Decorator; I'm basing it on the relatively few comedies she did in films. There is The Bride Came C.O.D., about which not even Davis could find much nice to say in her autobiography, and there is June Bride, which I think suffers from two unfunny stars (Davis and Robert Montgomery); only the presence of the great Mary Wickes makes it watchable at all.
Her turn in Thank Your Lucky Stars (where she sings "They're Either Too Young or Too Old," and has a moment of jitterbugging with Conrad Wiedel), isn't really meant to be all that comic, in the sense that other stars in that film were (can anyone ever forget Olivia deHavilland, Ida Lupino and George Tobias as three gum-chewing hepcats?). And much later, there was Bunny O'Hare, so dreadful it can't even get a video release.
Davis was an estimable talent in many ways, but comedy just wasn't in her; All About Eve is very skilfully directed and edited so that she comes off well in spite of that lack - and Bette was not even first choice for the role of Margo Channing (Claudette Colbert was; she had to drop out due to injury).
Please understand that I'm not saying any of this to bash Davis; many stars have something they just cannot do. Barbra Streisand can't dance very well (though she does work hard when called upon to do so) and as good as she is with comedy that is written for her, she cannot ad-lib her way out of a paper bag. The list of stars who have been dubbed in musical movies because of poor voices or non-existent singing skills is extremely long.
The only problem with Davis and comedy is that her studio pushed her into several, refusing to accept the evidence on the screen in front of them - that she could not do what they were asking of her.
I dunno. I always have sensed a certain vulnerability in Bette Davis on screen.
All About Eve
I never think of Bette Davis as a comedienne, either. (And for that matter, not much of a singer). We're in total agreement.
However, up until now, I've never heard anyone describe All About Eve as a comedy. It clearly has very humorous moments, but those are due to the results of the biting sarcasm, witty repartee and brilliant original screenplay (perhaps the best ever written) by Joseph Mankiewicz. Frankly, no cast member in All About Eve needed to be a 'comedy actor' in the true sense of the term, but simply able to understand sarcasm, how to deliver it convincingly and then let it rip. And boy did they ever. It's rarely been done as brilliantly before or since.
Suffice it to say if Ms. Davis were still alive today and performing, both of us would advise her to stick to dramas.
I never think of Bette Davis as a comedienne, either. (And for that matter, not much of a singer). We're in total agreement.
However, up until now, I've never heard anyone describe All About Eve as a comedy. It clearly has very humorous moments, but those are due to the results of the biting sarcasm, witty repartee and brilliant original screenplay (perhaps the best ever written) by Joseph Mankiewicz. Frankly, no cast member in All About Eve needed to be a 'comedy actor' in the true sense of the term, but simply able to understand sarcasm, how to deliver it convincingly and then let it rip. And boy did they ever. It's rarely been done as brilliantly before or since.
Suffice it to say if Ms. Davis were still alive today and performing, both of us would advise her to stick to dramas.
whirlaway
New member
Comedy
I saw a Bette Davis movie made in the late 30s or early 40s,she was a reporter and it took place out in a western type of town.They found this ancient car and loaded up with aircraft fuel and went flying across the desert.Was a long time ago,but it was really funny.She was excellant as Perry Masons replacement while he was out sick.I wish she had done more of them.Thanks
I saw a Bette Davis movie made in the late 30s or early 40s,she was a reporter and it took place out in a western type of town.They found this ancient car and loaded up with aircraft fuel and went flying across the desert.Was a long time ago,but it was really funny.She was excellant as Perry Masons replacement while he was out sick.I wish she had done more of them.Thanks
