Are you watching Feud – the mini-series
about the rivalry between Joan Crawford and Bette Davis? I thought the first episode was pretty creaky
and I just didn’t buy Jessica Lange as Joan Crawford. But Susan Sarandon seemed to really capture something of Bette Davis – at least as we imagine her to be.
I’m not sure if modern actresses are allowed to drink – all those
calories. But we know that both Joan and
Bette liked a tipple. I found this
wonderful, if ludicrous and scary, thing from Joan.
It’s hard not to have affection for a woman who adds a splash of vodka
to everything.
It seems that Bette preferred whisky to vodka. Robert Vaughan’s autobiography contains a
wild account of being summoned to Davis’s house for lunch, so she could check
him out and see if he was suitable for a project she was doing. He staggered out at 4 o’ clock drunk, unfed,
and barely able to stand or see. He
didn’t get the part, which I think is a great shame. I’d have liked to see them together. I
think they’d have had more chemistry than Bette and Robert Wagner.
