Bette Davis vs. Joan Crawford

Who do you prefer?

  • Bette Davis

    Votes: 18 51.4%
  • Joan Crawford

    Votes: 4 11.4%
  • Both

    Votes: 11 31.4%
  • Neither

    Votes: 2 5.7%

  • Total voters
    35

Snarky Oracle!

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ClassyCo

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Daughter Christina once said: "... if it wasn't, it shoulda been."


Oh yes, I remember her saying this in the biography Turner Classic Movies did on her, but I cannot remember its title.
 

Barbara Fan

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This reenactment was better than the movie itself!
:fp:

LOL, Im sorry that Feud isnt available to buy on DVD but see a lot of clips online now.

Susan Sarandan was brilliant as Bette



 

Barbara Fan

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where are the greats now in the cinema? Definitely was a golden age ...........................
 

ClassyCo

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LOL, Im sorry that Feud isnt available to buy on DVD but see a lot of clips online now.

Susan Sarandan was brilliant as Bette



I really wish it was available. eBay briefly had a copy available, but it was a little out of my price range so I had to pass on it.
 

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Its never been released here in UK which is annoying as I could easily binge watch it again and again. I found it funny, moving and rather sad for both of them at the end of their careers.
 

Snarky Oracle!

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I just watched the first hour of BERSERK (1967) in which the best things are Joan being Joan, and the spectacular elephant walk with John (DALLAS circa 1980) Scott's towering pachyderm score.

The movie is pretty bad, and essentially a remake of the much superior CIRCUS OF HORROS (1960) with Anton Diffring and Donald Pleasance (and Kenneth Griffith, whom I seem to love in that).

Crawford's version has the same seemingly senseless and gory homicides more common in 1967 cinema than 1960 (making CIRCUS OF HORRORS far more shocking at the time for its luridness). Diana Dors looks horrible. Ty Hardin romances Joan (she made a play for him in real life, but she was "just too old") and Crawford has a discretely cast shadow across her neck in every scene.

I'm sure I've posted about BERSERK before somewhere. I like to do a mental mash-up of both movies. They even end the same way. Billy Smart's circus is also used in both pictures.

I think this trailer gives you every murder before you buy your ticket:
 

Snarky Oracle!

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In the mood for something comforting, I was looking for some early-'40s B&W movie (where they ignore the war) and wasn't I lucky to run across a Bette Davis double feature?: NOW, VOYAGER and MR SKEFFINGTON -- I had forgotten how funny the latter was.

I, surprisingly, don't own enough Bette Davis movies from her peak period.

 

Crimson

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I went against the common consensus here and voted for Crawford; I think her acting looks better in retrospect. Acting styles change, and they don't always age well. Before the pandemic, I got to see KING KONG (1933) on the big screen. I surprised to conclude that the film's acting has aged worse than its special effects; Fay Wray's Silent-era style fidgeting was more distracting than a 90 year old model gorilla.

Davis was a theatrically florid actress. I imagine that's why many love her work but, to my eyes, she too often seems hammy. If she was great in EVE, JANE and CHARLOTTE, it's because those roles warranted flamboyant performances. Her single best performance was THE LITTLE FOXES, which was uncharacteristically restrained. Otherwise, I just find her to be ... a bit too much.

Crawford, in contrast, was a generally non-fussy, non-mannered actress. It's why she was largely dismissed by critics of the day, but why I think her acting generally looks more natural now. Which isn't to saw she was always that good. She could be hammy too (mostly in the 50s) and sometimes weirdly tense. But put Davis at her best up against Crawford at her best, and I'll take Crawford.

Not that anyone asked, but I think Stanwyck was consistently better than both of them. But the single best performance any of them gave was Crawford in NIGHT GALLERY. I don't think Davis or Stanwyck on their best day could have topped that, and it makes me think Crawford had untapped reserves of talent that we never got to see.
 
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Snarky Oracle!

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But the single best performance any of them gave was Crawford in NIGHT GALLERY. I don't think Davis or Stanwyck on their best day could have topped that, and it makes me think Crawford had untapped reserves of talent that we never got to see
Magisterial grandeur -- it's what Joan wanted.

Interestingly, the NIGHT GALLERY script was written for Bette, who, for whatever reason, turned it down.
 

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Magisterial grandeur -- it's what Joan wanted.

And to think, two years earlier, she hadn't been able to convincingly play herself on THE LUCY SHOW.

Interestingly, the NIGHT GALLERY script was written for Bette, who, for whatever reason, turned it down.

That made me wonder what she did instead; according to IMDB, though, she didn't work in 1969 ...
 
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