FEUD: BETTE AND JOAN

Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange

FEUD: BETTE AND JOAN (8- part 2017 mini-series).

"I can't go into rehab -- I've got the Dean Martin roast!" -- Bette Davis. 

Movie legend Joan Crawford (Jessica Lange of American Horror Story: Asylum) goes to see another movie legend, Bette Davis (Susan Sarandon of The Other Side of Midnight), and offers her the title role in a film version of the novel "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" During filming with director Robert Aldrich (Alfred Molina of Prick Up Your Ears), long-simmering resentments and rivalries resurface, and while the two women resolve to have a united front against the twin demons of ageism and sexism, jealousies and insecurities only drive them farther apart. It all culminates when Davis gets an Oscar nod and Crawford doesn't ...

The real Bette Davis and Joan Crawford

Well, this incredibly entertaining and absorbing mini-series could have been a campy and horrible mess, but with intelligent writing and some excellent acting it emerges as a very memorable mini-series. (Feud was not available for viewing while Olivia de Havilland sued the production -- she lost -- but it is now back on Amazon Prime: $11.99 to own all eight Standard Definition episodes.) Let's get one thing out of the way. Feud is highly exaggerated and fictionalized, the actual "feud" between the two ladies being very over-stated to say the least. For much of their lives, Davis and Crawford were busy with careers, children and several bad marriages, and probably didn't think about each other all that much. It was the whole Oscar business -- Davis lost while Crawford accepted the coveted statuette on winner Anne Bancroft's behalf -- that undoubtedly started the "feud," and led to unpleasantness on the set of Baby Jane follow-up Hush ... Hush, Sweet Charlotte.

Now, as to the mini-series itself, once you get past the fabrications and dramatic licenses taken, it manages to go beyond its initial premise and explore the struggles of aging women played out against an industry where an old woman is simply considered a 'hag." The feminist angle is explored but never overwhelms the production, nor does it necessarily excuse the ladies' bad behavior, which could often be chalked up to extreme sensitivity on any number of issues. Of the two lead actresses, Lange comes off the best -- the real Crawford was much better-looking than Lange in her nearly grotesque make up, and had much more authority -- but otherwise Lange proves herself a fine actress and gives a commendable performance. Of the two icons, Davis was imitated much more than Crawford, so Sarandon had a dilemma: how to play a real person without coming off like a drag impersonator. Sarandon succeeds in making Davis seem real, but her performance is also a little dull -- for lack of a better word -- in comparison to Lange's. However, both women are good, although neither of them have the kind of intense power, personality or sheer charisma of the real Crawford and Davis. And when they recreate scenes from Baby Jane? neither are as good as the original stars.

Feud benefits from some superb supporting performances: Alfred Molina as Robert Aldrich; Stanley Tucci as Jack Warner; Alison Wright as Aldrich's assistant Pauline Jameson; Molly Price as Aldrich's wife, Harriet; John Rubinstein as George Cukor; and especially Jackie Hoffman as Crawford's maid and companion, "Mamacita," and a scene-stealing Judy Davis [Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows] as Hedda Hopper. On the other hand, Catherine Zeta-Jones doesn't remind me of Olivia de Havilland at all (although you would think de Havilland would have been flattered that she was played by a much younger and beautiful actress.) And Kathy Bates makes a rather mediocre Joan Blondell. The sections showing them being interviewed about the feud could easily have been jettisoned.

Dominic Burgess seems to think that because his character, actor Victor Buono, was gay that he should play him more as a stereotype than he was in real life. While Buono is a colorful character, it's strange that Feud completely omits Maidie Norman, the black actress who played the murdered maid Elvira in Baby Jane? and who had a very interesting life -- was it because she was a lifelong Republican? Feud is perhaps more sympathetic to Joan than it is to Bette, and suggests that her daughter Christina's hateful memoirs were not entirely accurate, if at all.

It's interesting that the writers for this series must have done research by poring over bios of the two screen idols -- books such as Fasten Your Seat Belts: The Passionate Life of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford: The Essential Biography -- but none are given credit, and that even includes an exaggerated tome entitled Bette and Joan: The Divine Feud!

Verdict: Fascinating, amusing, dramatic, even poignant look at old Hollywood and how stars desperately cling to every inch they've gained while at times losing their humanity in the struggle. ***1/2. 

HUSBANDS AND WIVES

Mia Farrow

HUSBANDS AND WIVES (1992). Written and directed by Woody Allen.

"You use sex to express every emotion except love."

Jack (Sydney Pollack) and his wife. Sally (Judy Davis of My Brilliant Career), are long-time friends of Gabe Roth (Woody Allen) and his wife, Judy (Mia Farrow). The Roths are startled and dismayed when Jack and Sally announce that they're splitting up, but they assure them that "it's perfectly okay." However, it turns out to be not so okay when Sally discovers that Jack has been having an affair with the much-younger Samantha (Lysette Anthony of the reboot of Dark Shadows). Sally starts seeing Judy's co-worker Michael (Liam Neeson of The Other Man) while Gabe finds himself drawn to his young, admiring student, Rain (Juliette Lewis), and Judy has her own attraction to Michael. Can any of these people ever find happiness? Husbands and Wives begins quite well but suffers from a more contrived second half, which may have been influenced by the true-life events of the highly publicized Woody-Mia break up at the time. Otherwise, as usual, the picture is entertaining, very well-acted by all (with high marks to Davis, Anthony, and Lewis, in particular), and has some interesting observations and intelligent dialogue. Once again we have Allen showing off almost in fetishistic fashion his alleged appeal to younger and much more attractive females (Soon-Yi Previn notwithstanding); yes, sometimes the "yuck" factor gets in the way. However, one of the best scenes has Rain telling Gabe what she thinks of his new unpublished novel, and what it says about his attitude toward women, in a taxi. The shaky hand-held camera shots can be distracting.

Verdict: Not bad, not great, but never uninteresting. **12.  

LIFE WITH JUDY GARLAND: ME AND MY SHADOWS

Judy Garland (Judy Davis) during difficult days

LIFE WITH JUDY GARLAND: ME AND MY SHADOWS (2001 telefilm). Director: Robert Allen Ackerman.

"They tell me I'm washed up, so if you're using me you're in worse trouble than I am." -- Judy Garland to Sid Luft

"He adores me and I need to be adored -- I do." Garland regarding Vincente Minelli.

Judy Garland, one of the singing Gumm sisters, becomes a movie star in her early teens, develops a big, expressive voice that knocks out her listeners, and develops health, emotional, and addiction issues due to her over-reliance on diet pills, energy pills, all manner of pills to keep her alert, working, and thin -- plus booze. With the aid of second husband Sid Luft (Victor Garber), Garland engineered a triumphant comeback in A Star is Born (this film unaccountably makes it seem that this was her last picture, when she actually went on to make A Child is Waiting, Judgment at Nuremberg, and I Could Go On Singing etc.) Her personality affected by pills, Garland nevertheless managed to go on successful singing tours, and did both the Palace and Carnegie Hall in concerts that were considered outstanding by her fans and the critics. This is an excellent telefilm that doesn't shy away from the negative aspects of her life and character, but also shows her considerable artistry. Wisely (except for a couple of minor instances), Garland's real voice is used whenever she opens her mouth to sing, while the actresses who play her at different ages -- Tammy Blanchard and Judy Davis (of My Brilliant Career) -- are particularly outstanding (Davis, who'd made a few movies by this time, got all the press, but arguably Blanchard might have had the slight edge on her -- she is that good). Australian actress Davis successfully subdues her accent, beautifully recreates Garland's Carnegie Hall concert (it's not just Garland's voice but Davis' acting), and has a great scene when Garland dresses down the condescending TV executives in the boardroom. (When Davis does "The Man That Got Away" for a sequence in A Star is Born, however, it borders on parody because Davis' movements are a little too large, even for Garland.) Busby Berkeley (Michael Rhoades) is depicted as a nasty bitch; there are catty comments about Grace Kelly after Garland loses the Oscar to her; and many of Garland's husbands/boyfriends turn out to be gay/bi, which the movie doesn't avoid. After the two Garland actresses, the most notable performances come from Alison Pill as young Lorna Luft; Victor Garber as her father; and Al Waxman as L. B. Mayer. There are several lookalike Liza Minelli's but they aren't given much to do (wonder why?). I'm not certain what to make of "Mickey Rooney" (Dwayne Adams) who is little like the real man.  Life with Judy Garland gets across Garland's essentially winning personality and her sense of humor, which she had to rely upon for most of her short life.

I confess I've never been a major fan of Garland's, although I think she's a great singer, because I've often found her to be a little overwrought and over-bearing (although the film makes clear why this is so). I would have hated being the "caretaker" for this demanding, difficult woman as her daughter, Lorna, was. On the other hand, when you hear Garland sing her slow, heart-breaking version of "Over the Rainbow" at the Palace in 1951 it can move you to tears. That's an artist. And basically that's all you have to say about Garland.

Verdict: Moving and absorbing study of a talented and tormented chantreuse. Much, much better than the Broadway show "End of the Rainbow." ***1/2.

MY BRILLIANT CAREER

MY BRILLIANT CAREER (1979). Director: Gillian Armstrong.

Judy Davis is Sybylla, a young woman from the Outback who is sent by her poor parents to live with her wealthier relatives where she meets a handsome neighbor, Harry Beecham (Sam Neill), but is determined to preserve her feisty independence. This is a well-made, well-acted, and entertaining picture, but while it was trumpeted as some kind of feminist manifesto and is based on a true story, it comes off more like a typical "Bette Davis" movie. [Remember, Davis and other actresses of the golden age often played feisty and independent women.] Having the guy who is tall, dark and handsome improbably fall for the "homely" Sybylla taps into the same wish-fulfillment fantasy of many another movie starring Davis and others and is pure "Hollywood" (even if this was made in Australia). The scene when Sybylla snubs Harry at a ritzy party and then dashes out to the barn to dance with the poor ranch employees, snatching one guy away from his girlfriend, is pure [Bette] Davis. Yet fans of the film seemed to see it as something new and original. Still, Judy Davis gives a solid performance and Neill is quite good as well and the film does present an interesting lead character.

Verdict: Not so original but otherwise not bad at all. ***