She nailed it. "You are only as good as your last film in Hollywood and if your last film was a moneymaker - you are a potential moneymaker" She sure didn't fool herself.
Here we are, 60 years later, and this movie is getting the recognition it deserves... absolutely fantastic, groundbreaking in its use of female leads of a certain age... Saw it again the other day on TCM. My 87 year old mother saw it for the first time and loved it.
She's always been my favorite actress. As a woman in the 30s and 40s it was very much a man's world but she stood her ground and was determined to be taken seriously. But hard work was everything to her. Even as she aged she wanted to work. It's all she knew. And these kids that write books on their celebrity parents. You can't always believe them either. Both Bette and Joan raised their kids to work as hard as they did because nothing was going to be handed to them. They wanted them to be prepared for the real world and for this I think both their daughters rebelled.
Lets admire a bit Bette Davis only and don't write bad comments about Joan Crawford! I love both women and they were beautiful on screen in their own way. Joan and Bette are legends! Some like bette more others Joan...but please such comments about Joan are not wanted on a bette davis video. I am more a Joan fan but I adore bette davis, too. JOAN was a star who became an actress and BETTE was an actress who became a star! Love both women😅
Director Robert Aldrich mentioned that Bette was a trial to work with BUT admitted that when you see what she puts on the screen, it was well worth it.
What a pro! She did this guest spot even with laryngitis. That's a professional. And offered to return and give him another show when her voice was better.
I'd never heard Bette Davis with a hoarse voice like this before. She still went on the show anyway, like the real trouper that she was. She wanted to promote Whatever Happened to Baby Jane and she knew what a good movie it is. It's the role that made me realize what a great actress she was when I was 13 and I've been a fan ever since!
I love Bette Davis so much. She is and always will be my favourite Actress. Even if some of her films weren't so good she was always fantastic. A great Actress and an amazing woman. An icon.
Anne Bancroft made The Miracle Worker the same year that Bette Davis played Baby Jane Hudson. In her movie, Anne Bancroft was dynamic, gutsy, strong and interesting; she absolutely deserved her Oscar. The thing is, Bette Davis was completely outstanding, fearless, remarkable and devastating in her movie and should have absolutely won an Oscar for her performance too. It's tricky because all these years later, we're all still talking about Bette in Baby Jane, nearly 60 years later, the film is still incredible and jaw droppingly fabulous. Not to take anything away from Anne Bancroft but I still think that Bette Davis should have gotten the award that year. AND she should have got one for Of Human Bondage too. Meaning that she should have had 4 Oscars.
yeah you hear so much that is not true: bette was envied by joan due to bette's stage experience. joan was envied by bette because joan was beautiful. bette is so very beautiful, esp her eyes. I love susan Sarandon too..
Para mi la mejor actriz de todos los tiempos. Nos regalo su arte increíble. Los que disfrutanos del buen cine somos aficionados a bette Davis. Una extraordinaria mujer esposa y madre ejemplar. Nunca te olvidamos bette.
Bette was an actress, FIRST....then a star. Joan was a star, FIRST....then an actress. Bette won 2 Oscars, but she should have won 5....her studio kept her from winning her first for 1934's "Of Human Bondage"; when Anne Baxter refused to turn down her nomination for best actress for 1950's, "All About Eve", it caused the Academy to split the vote that cost Bette Davis the win (she was heavily favored to win as she was for "What Happened to Baby Jane"). She won best actress for 1935's "Dangerous" and 1939's "Jezebel". She was the greatest actress in Hollywood of all time. She loved her craft.
This interview proves how funny and loose Bette was. She seemed real where Joan always seemed so fake and phony and had airs about her. Every interview Joan was acting. Bette was down to earth.
Knowing what I know about Hollywood makeup and hair, she probably has hairpieces, but her hair looks beautiful, as does Ms Davis. Bette Davis came from the time that when you had an obligation or appearance, you showed up, unless you were in the hospital. I know she felt vindicated by the movie’s success. “WEHTBJ” spawned a new movie genre. I’ve always been team Bette.
What the REAL shame is both Bette and Joan made hundreds of millions for the studios and still had to wonder if they themselves would have enough money to live into old age...those so called MEN (studio founders and heads of studios) were nothing but predatory hawks with good eyes...Bette and Joan made multi multi MILLIONS for them, and should NEVER had to struggle as they did later in life...
I remember reading an article in "People" magazine about her death just after she died. She was living in an APARTMENT in West Hollywood and her net assets in cash was just less than $500,000, which, I guess, translates into a few million today.
Bette Davis Estate Near $1 Million; 2 Daughters, Grandsons Left Out. NEW YORK - Actress Bette Davis left her daughters and grandsons out of her nearly $1- million estate, according to a will filed for probate Monday.Nov 7, 1989.The "apartment" in W. Hollywood was in a vintage, high-end building. Condos there now go for $1.5 million and up.
I just remembered another tv movie with bette where she actually did not have a home and was elderly. in the movie she had gone to the church she attended many years, and they were unable to help her. it never occurred to me the actress needed work. I assumed she was being gracious doing a tv movie.
2:50-3:00 after Crawford saw this interview she sent Davis a message that said something along the lines of "Please stop referring to me as an old broad." 😂
Bette was one of the best actresses of our time. She absolutely deserved that Oscar. It was the backstabbing of the Hetta H and Joan who convinced some of the voters to vote against Bette. Such a shame.
according to what I heard, Bette would act and exaggerate her little narratives occasionally. Joan was truly an insecure beast but some of the stuff Bette said about Joan and that Oscar was proven false, as Ann Bancroft gave a statement saying that she received her Oscar from Joan at the time and place stated by Joan.. While Bette claimed she took forever to give Ann her Oscar.. And decades later, Bette was still telling her version of the story, telling Johnny Carson, "Joan took the Oscar all around the world with her when she had it.... she said she would BATHE the Oscar in the waters of.... and in also in the waters of.... And would you believe that Ms Bancroft did not receive her Oscar from Joan until 2 years later". I'm not sure of the date Bette told Johnny, whatever date she gave him, Ann Bancroft issued a statement and corrected Bette after she had been telling that exaggerated story for decades.. But Crawford definitely wanted to upstage Bette at that ceremony. Alot of Bette's claims are true.
Yes it's a great song. The meaning of it is how Bette's eyes appear in the hag genre pictures she made beginning with Whatever Happened To Baby Jane and continuing with Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte and the British picture she starred in, The Nanny.
Baby Jane is more than a shabby shocker. It is about the effect that childhood has on the adult. It is about the damage done by jealousy and guilt. It is about the transformative power of forgiveness.
It’s amazing how Joan didn’t want to promote Baby Jane yet she promoted Straight Jacket. I do believe Joan campaigned against Bette to win that Oscar. People say that The Miracle Worker was good but Davis performance was memorable
I don't but in the timeline it should be after Baby Jane is released but before the Oscars. So if I had to guess either the episode with the Oscar ceremony or the one right before that. Hope that helps!
Bette was spontaneous and fun. If you watch Joan Crawford's interviews it's the opposite; stilted, careful, self-conscious speaking and very little wit. So different from each other.
I know..Bette David just always strikes you in interviews, what you hear about her as just "REAL"...a real person. Fun. Genuine. Tough. Sarcastic..and obviously very talented and self-confident. Joan was like a wax figure in interviews. I guess she was "pretty" to some but...that wax figure, mannequin look is not for me. I will take Bette's wit, personality and EYES :-) any day.
I'm a huge Crawford fan but I have to admit you are right on about that .I think because of Joan's lack of education she was always afraid she would say something that would give her away. Joan couldn't be spontaneous like Bette.She had to stay within the script on and off screen.
That's why Bette had a conflict with every women she worked with. Anne Baxter, Joan Crawford, Faye Dunaway and many many more. She was so bitchy and conceited. Joan was the humble one.
everyone smoked like mad back then and when I was born (60's). people smoked where and when they wanted. a hundred years ago heroin was sold over the counter.
(3:01 - 3:09) "And I, I, must say, ah, we are not feeling [charmingly? victorious? rather? than? gloat?, see?]" ... What is she saying here? Could somebody tell this non-native with his ageing ears? Thanks.
In was at a theater in Forest Hills Queens NY when Bette made an appearance. She brought 3 people onstage and jokingly taught them to do a Bette Davis impression. Then we all had to look under our seats. If you found a special sticker you won a Baby Jane Doll. All I found was lots of hard gum.
