To this day, there are many known cases of actors who did not have a good relationship during the filming of a movie. Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy, Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams, Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Gray, among many others. But the truth is that this kind of rivalries They date back decades, and we can find hundreds of cases in the classic hollywood cinema.
Today we focus on one that was characterized as one of the most scandalous and popular in history. We refer to the intense rivalry who starred Bette Davis Y joan crawford. To understand a bit of history, we must first place ourselves in the era. The tension between the two actresses dates back to the 1930s, and lasted for more than 40 years.
Bette Davis She was very clear that she wanted to be an actress and she was very determined to go far. However, her appearance was a factor that worked against her, so when she had the opportunity to star in the movie ex ladyIn 1933, he thought that this would be the moment to show his full potential. Warner Bros. had planned a big advertising campaign but all of that ended up being overshadowed by joan crawfordwho the same day that the film of Davisannounced her divorce from her first husband.
like back then crawford she was already a much more established actress, all the attention fell on her. This was the fact that triggered the hatred of Bette toward John and it would intensify even more when she married the actor Franchot Tone. The reason? Bette was working with the actor on the film Dangerous and was hopelessly in love with him.
At that time, the displeasure of Bette Davis toward joan crawford it was obvious, and every time they crossed paths it only got worse. However, when in 1943 John He went to work at Warner Bros., tried to reach a truce with his partner. She sent him gifts and all kinds of presents to put an end to that fight, but Bette rejected them all.
One of the reasons why Davis he didn’t like it crawford it was because there were too many rumors about the latter’s love life. Well has been written over the years about the many relationships, both with men and women, of crawford. Y Bette She was very sure that the actress’s intentions to approach her were for romantic reasons.
After a decade of tensions, in 1952, Bette Davis starred Tears bitter, where she played an actress in decline and desperate to recover her career. It was rumored that the film’s writers had based the main character on Joan Crawford, who they were friends with until the friendship ended abruptly. Therefore, it was said that the film was a kind of revenge towards crawfordand upon learning of this, Bette He did not hesitate to join the project.
However, this rivalry reached unimaginable heights when both actresses agreed to work together on the film What happened to Baby Jane?. Said film came to light in 1962 and it was the first and last project that included the performances of both actresses. It introduces us to the sisters Blanche and Jane Hudson, who are stagnant in their careers after having succeeded as child stars. The two live together, and while Blanche is in a wheelchair after a mysterious accident, her sister Jane takes care of her and torment her.
The truth is that the film went down in history for the behind-the-scenes stories more than for the story itself. Despite the fact that both actresses wanted to work together, when filming began, they did not hesitate to make life impossible. For example: the husband of joan crawford he was the president of Pepsi, so Bette Davis He asked that a Coca Cola machine be installed in his locker room.
At the same time, Bette He made a lot of use of the fact that the film had several scenes where the sisters were fighting and hitting each other. For this reason, he did not hesitate to hit really hard on the head to her partner, who ended up needing a couple of stitches. Even so, John took revenge for this, and during a scene where Bette Had to drag her, she placed stones in her pockets to be heavier and create more work for her co-star, who suffered from back problems.
The last straw came when filming ended. What happened to Baby Jane? became a hit and Bette Davis was nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars. Angry at not being nominated, joan crawford offered to collect the statuette from the winners who could not attend the ceremony. Bette Davis she was the favorite to win, and to everyone’s surprise, she ended up being beaten by Anne Bancroft, who was unable to attend the delivery. Over there, joan crawford He got up and collected the award in his honor, leaving Davis in shock and anger.
Taking all this into account, and knowing that it was public knowledge that the actresses did not tolerate each other, it came as a surprise when it was announced that they would be working together again in Calm down sweet Charlottea film that would work as a sequel to What happened to Baby Jane?, with the same actresses but with different characters. However, just a week and a half away from filming, crawford he resigned, since it was already impossible for the actresses to be together. That was how she ended up being replaced by Olivia de Havilland.
For a couple of years, the comments and controversies between the two continued, until in 1977, when joan crawford He died of pancreatic cancer. That did not come to sadden Bette Davisbut even so, she did not hesitate to sympathize with her eternal rival, because despite all the criticism and problems that existed between them, there was something they had in common: a hatred on the part of their daughters, who they published books that classify them as terrible mothers.
To this day, the rivalry Come in joan crawford Y Bette Davis keep on talking. So much so, that in 2017 a series titled feud. It had been created by Ryan Murphy and focuses on this iconic Hollywood confrontation. Susan Sarandon was in charge of interpreting Bette Davis while Jessica Lange to joan crawford. The series consists of 8 episodes and can be seen on Star Plus.
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Bette Davis and Joan Crawford: the protagonists of the first great rivalry in Hollywood