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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Joan Crawford is romanced by younger beau, Cliff Robertson (whom Joan apparently raped during a "rehearsal" at her home) in AUTUMN LEAVES (1956) directed by BABY JANE/CHARLOTTE's Robert Aldrich.
 
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Barbara Fan

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was thinking the same thing! happy Birthday Bette, my mums fav actress

Just finished watching Death on the Nile









love BF x
 

Sarah

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Bette is my idol’s idol! Linda Gray loves her. She rang Linda at home once many years ago lol :D
 

Alexis

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Bette would also have made a great Patricia Shepard in Dallas.
 

Sarah

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Hahaha! @Alexis Yes!!! She would have been fantastic. Linda would have loved that so much!
 

Alexis

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Hahaha! @Alexis Yes!!! She would have been fantastic. Linda would have loved that so much!
Actually, thinking about it, Crawford would have been a better fit visually had she lived long enough.
 

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Mmm see what you mean but I do think Bette’s waspy ways fit with Patricia :)
 

Toni

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Actually, thinking about it, Crawford would have been a better fit visually had she lived long enough.

Crawford would have pulled off any role on "Dallas" just to show that she was able to star in a primetime soap, which Bette Davis could never do (for health reasons or...not, if we consider "Hotel" a soap). I can imagine her as a slightly older Rebecca Wentworth, who raised a baby from hell she named Katherine...She probably slapped her and called her names, thus making her the evil creature we got to know and love so much...

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"Mama will die a cruel death...I swear it!"​

And Rebecca would instead die in a plane explosion, just because she deserved it...a la Victoria Grayson from "Revenge" (with Katherine being the one responsible for that, of course). What a different character Rebeccabeech would have been if they had gone this route...


"Mrs. Ewing...so you say you are my daughter...
Any scars from wire hangers to prove it...?"​

I can also envision her as pretending to be Donna Dread´s Miss Ellie´s best friend in school who returns to steal Clayton away from her. And she eventually kills FakeEllie, and the Ewing boys find out that the woman in question was not their Mama, as everybody seemed to hint at the Oil Barons´ Ball...Then Clarabelle Cretonne (Crawford´s character name) is sent to the same clinic where Jessica Montford is, and the murder spree on Season 12 will be hand to hand between both nutjobs...with axes in hand. Oh what a lovely, creepy show it could have become...

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- "Oh Jessie darling, I love your outfit..."
- "Ready for some killing, dear Clarabelle?"​
 

Justine

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I'm late to the party (obviously) but I can't say I find either of them very likeable. It seems like Bette disliked fakeJoan Faye Dunaway more than Joan anyway:p

 

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I'm late to the party (obviously) but I can't say I find either of them very likeable. It seems like Bette disliked fakeJoan Faye Dunaway more than Joan anyway:p

Joan was clever enough to (usually) be nice to crews; Dunaway (by many reports) was not.

But Bette's disgust for Joan was likely far more personal --- there's a mutual recognition involved, despite Bette's endless assertions that she and Joan were "very different women."
 

ClassyCo

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I'm late to the party (obviously) but I can't say I find either of them very likeable. It seems like Bette disliked fakeJoan Faye Dunaway more than Joan anyway:p

It's never too late to join a thread here. I've been known to toss my two cents worth in on a forum that's heyday was clearly behind. This thread has been going steady for close to two years (if my memory serves me correctly), so there's no worries.

In discussing Davis and her relationship with Crawford and Dunaway, it appears she had differently opinions on them as ladies, artists, and professionals overall. Her distaste for Crawford reaches back to the 1930s when studio moguls felt Davis paled in comparison with Crawford, both in talent, popularity, and especially in beauty. Their "scrap" over Franchot Tone was minor when leveled beside Davis' contempt for the material Crawford was receiving in the latter half of the 1940s, at a time when they were each contracted to Warner Brothers.

Despite all of this, when asked directly about Crawford, Davis' remarks weren't always entirely negative. Professionally, she commended Crawford for being on time, knowing her lines, and the ability to work sufficiently despite the restrictions of a lackluster budget (as in the case with What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?). Her personal opinions, of course, probably weren't as a rewarding, but being the pro she was, Davis, at least at first, didn't always down Crawford.

It seems to be the complete opposite with Davis concerning Dunaway. Davis' initial impression wasn't a positive one, and after Dunaway's consistent delays and unprofesisonal behavior while filming The Disappearance of Aimee, she concluded that she was a pampered star who lacked in genuine manner or discipline the stars had prided themselves with in Davis' heyday. Every time I've heard an interviewer ask Davis about Dunaway, her reaction and statements were certainly not positive.
 

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Both actresses did unsold pilots for prospective TV series...

THE DECORATOR (1965) with Bette, produced by Aaron Spelling:

DELLA (AKA: ROYAL BAY, 1963) with Joan:
 

ClassyCo

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Both actresses did unsold pilots for prospective TV series...

THE DECORATOR (1965) with Bette, produced by Aaron Spelling:

DELLA (AKA: ROYAL BAY, 1963) with Joan:
Davis, as I recall, did something like seven or eight pilots for TV shows that didn't make the cut. Crawford, on the other hand, only optioned to do that soap opera-style pilot in the early sixties.

I don't know all the titles for Davis' failed opportunities, though.
 

Snarky Oracle!

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Davis, as I recall, did something like seven or eight pilots for TV shows that didn't make the cut. Crawford, on the other hand, only optioned to do that soap opera-style pilot in the early sixties.

I don't know all the titles for Davis' failed opportunities, though.
Reportedly, Crawford was offered the Joan Bennett role in DARK SHADOWS but turned it down. If it had been a prime time series, perhaps she would have taken it. Though DARK SHADOWS fans have asserted Crawford would have demanded that all the men who passed through Collinwood fall in love with her.

 

ClassyCo

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Reportedly, Crawford was offered the Joan Bennett role in DARK SHADOWS but turned it down. If it had been a prime time series, perhaps she would have taken it. Though DARK SHADOWS fans have asserted Crawford would have demanded that all the men who passed through Collinwood fall in love with her.

Interesting, I've never came across that tidbit of trivia. I've seen only clips of Dark Shadows, although I do have a "best of" complimentary DVD set that I grabbed at Walmart a few years back. I've yet to watch an episode in its entirety.
 

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a few pics of Joan and Bette





I see what Bette meant re her chest!



love BF xx
 
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