STARDUST: THE BETTE DAVIS STORY (TV)

Summary

A documentary film about the life and career of film star Bette Davis. Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, Davis and her family moved around often, but most frequently returned to her father’s home state of Maine. Born Ruth Elizabeth Davis in 1908, she tried to connect with her father Harlow Morrell Davis, a burgeoning lawyer, but he was emotionally distant, enraging the young Bette. Eventually he and her mother, Ruth Davis, divorced, much to the young Bette’s confusion and anger, especially when she discovered he had left her mother for a woman he was having an affair with. By the age of sixteen, Davis was dead-set on becoming an actress after having seen a production of “The Wild Duck” by Henrik Ibsen, particularly becoming enamored of the role of Hedvig. Ruth became a professional photographer, hoping to support her daughter’s ambitions. Bette enrolled at the Milton Anderson School of the Theater in Manhattan, and soon got to fulfill her dream of playing the part of Hedvig, and her first performance was attended by her friends and family, even her estranged father. Soon Bette made the leap to motion pictures, moving to Hollywood accompanied by her mother. Her first screen appearance was in “The Bad Sister,” in which her nervousness and unfamiliarity with the medium contributed to a lackluster performance. Her next few films fared no better, and Universal Studios fired her. She was contemplating returning home when George Arliss asked her to be in his latest film, “The Man Who Played God” in 1932. This led to her long association with Warner Bros., and with Jack Warner in particular. However, Warner Bros. was unsure of how to cast Davis, hoping to make her more conventionally attractive to moviegoers. However, she started to distinguish herself in films such as “The Cabin in the Cotton” and “Ex-Lady.” In 1932, Davis married her high school sweetheart Harmon Nelson, but the marriage proved to be disastrous; according to Davis she aborted her first two children. She convinced Jack Warner to allow her to star in a film at the rival RKO Studios, entitled “Of Human Bondage,” where she portrayed a “bitch” leading lady. Despite the critical acclaim for her role, she was denied an Academy Award nomination. She then went on to play a similar role for Warner Bros. in 1935’s “Dangerous,” for which she received the Academy Award, in the process indirectly popularizing the “Oscar” nickname for the Academy Awards. Her success led Davis to become more assertive about her career, and she refused a role from Warner Bros. and attempted to flee to England, suing Warner Bros. Warner won the suit, portraying Davis as “spoiled.” However, Warner gave her the better parts that she craved, often portraying strong and forceful characters, such as in “Jezebel.” During the filming of that movie, she had an affair with the director, William Wyler. In 1938, she received news that her father had died from a heart attack, and Davis chose not to attend the funeral, but to finish filming “Jezebel.” She would go on to appear on the cover of Time Magazine and receive a second Academy Award for “Jezebel.” Nelson divorced Davis in 1938, although he did not reveal her various affairs at the time. 1939 was a busy year for Davis, who starred in the hit films “The Old Maid,” “Juarez,” “The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex,” and “Dark Victory.” The last of these films featured what Davis considered her best performance, and she earned another Oscar nomination for it, although she lost to Vivien Leigh for her role in “Gone with the Wind,” a part which Davis nearly had herself. Another conflict with Jack Warner resulted in her suspension, during which time she went to New Hampshire to visit her mother. There she fell in love with an inn manager named Arthur Farnsworth, and they soon married. They built a home together which they called “Butternut,” and Davis found herself intensely happy with the marriage. Warner eventually acceded to some of Davis’s demands, although she was still denied approval of directors or scripts for her films. However, she went on to star in a film that met with her approval, “The Letter,” directed by Wyler. During this time Davis became involved with Hollywood’s response to the war effort, stirring up controversy with her ideas, such as a fully integrated military force. She also was a pre-feminism advocate for women’s rights, and her films resonated with female audiences across the country. “Now, Voyager” was influential in its portrayal of a woman receiving psychiatric help; the role helped her become an icon for gay men as well, who identified with her character, Charlotte Vale. During this time Davis became frustrated with her mother’s constant attempts to use her daughter’s success as a means of garnering media attention. Her second marriage was also experiencing trouble, compounded by her growing alcoholism. Her working relationship with Jack Warner, while fraught with arguments and disagreements, seemed to be working out for both of them. Warner loaned Davis out to MGM in order to settle a gambling debt, leading to her starring role in 1941’s “The Little Foxes.” Wyler directed her again, but this time they argued constantly over her performance, which earned her another Academy Award nomination. However, their argument became so heated that Wyler vowed never to direct her in a film again. In 1943 Davis starred in “Old Acquaintance” alongside her real-life enemy Miriam Hopkins, who despised Davis for sleeping with her husband. The film attracted a great deal of attention, juxtaposing their real-life enmity with their on-screen hatred. She also made an enemy out of Joan Crawford for sleeping with her husband-to-be in 1935; Davis was always envious of Crawford’s success. In 1943, Arthur Farnsworth died of a head injury, leaving Davis devastated. It was revealed years later that prior head injuries he suffered may have been caused by Davis, which may have indirectly contributed to his death. During the filming of 1944’s “Mr. Skeffington,” Davis grew increasingly unstable due to her husband’s death, and slept with the director, Victor Sherman. She became increasingly violent and emotional, disturbing the cast and crew. The following year, Crawford earned an Academy Award for a picture at Warner Bros., and Davis felt she was impinging on her territory. Davis served as both star and producer of her next film, “A Stolen Life.” Davis went on to marry handyman William Grant Sherry shortly after meeting him. Although she and Sherry fought constantly, she doted over her daughter with him, Barbary Sherry. She returned to work as Warner Bros. was growing concerned over competition from the rising influence of television. She and Jack Warner mutually dissolved her contract after eighteen years; her last film was “Beyond the Forest.” Davis likened herself to a daughter moving out from home on her own. In 1949 Davis received what she called “the best script [she] ever read,” and agreed to sign on for the film “All About Eve.” Despite worries about her behavior, Davis reeled herself in, impressed with the skillful writing and directing of the film. She fell in love with co-star Gary Merrill, and married him when her third marriage to William Grant Sherry dissolved. Davis became incensed when she learned that Grant was to marry Marion Richards, her young daughter’s nanny. Merrill and Davis raised their adopted daughter Margot together, but soon it became clear that she suffered from mental retardation. They later adopted a baby boy, Michael, and Davis threw herself into the task of motherhood. Despite the acclaim she won for “All About Eve,” Davis was still considered difficult to work with; she portrayed an aging movie star in the film “The Star,” a reflection of her real-life struggles. Money became an issue; she supported her mother’s lifestyle and financed the care of her sister, battling against depression. She often found herself taking whatever work she could find, often on television. Although portrayed as idyllic, Davis’s family life was anything but, and both she and Merrill were constantly at each other’s throats, sometimes physically. In 1960 she began work on a memoir, hoping to use it to aid in her financial woes. Her memoir was characteristically candid, voicing her resentment towards her mother and her feelings of loneliness. In 1961, Davis took a role in a stage production of “The Night of the Iguana,” where she got into a vicious conflict with co-star Patrick O’Neal when he rejected her advances. Eventually Davis and Merrill divorced, leading to a lengthy court battle for custody of the children, greatly affecting her emotional state. In 1961, she and her sister stood by as her mother passed away at the age of 75, and Davis removed all negative references about her mother from her memoir, now entitled “The Lonely Life.” During this time, Davis finally starred alongside her longtime rival Crawford in the famous “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?,” earning her more critical acclaim and yet another Oscar nomination. At the age of sixteen, Davis’s daughter B.D. married film executive Jerry Hyman, and Davis attempted to pursue another marriage herself. Davis’s film career continued with a series of low-budget films which she did to support herself, although she was dissatisfied with the material. Eventually she earned an Emmy nomination for her role in “Strangers” alongside Gena Rowlands. In 1977, she became the first actress to win the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award. Davis underwent a double-mastectomy in 1983 to remove cancerous tumors. Soon thereafter she suffered from strokes leaving her partially paralyzed. She eventually recovered and wrote a second memoir, going on tour to promote it. However, B.D. published her won memoir, “My Mother’s Keeper,” where she described Davis as alcoholic and abusive. She hoped to use it as a way of connecting with her mother, but Davis found herself devastated by B.D.’s scathing remarks. In 1986 Davis returned to Maine, where she acted in her last film, “The Whales of August.” Her health continued to fail at this time, but she decided to spend her last few months attending film societies to collect honors. On October 6th, 1989, Davis died in Paris at the age of 81.

Details

• NETWORK: TCM
• DATE: May 3, 2006 8:00 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 1:29:00
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: B:87946
• GENRE: Arts documentaries
• SUBJECT HEADING: Arts documentaries
• SERIES RUN: TCM - TV, 2006
• COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

• Roger Mayer … Executive Producer
• George Feltenstein … Executive Producer
• Tom Brown … Executive Producer
• Brian Tessier … Supervising Producer
• Melissa Roller … Supervising Producer
• Peter Jones … Producer, Director, Writer
• Mark Catalena … Director
• Earl Rose … Music by
• Susan Sarandon … Narrator
• Michael Merrill … Interviewee
• James Woods … Interviewee
• Marion Richards … Interviewee
• James McCourt … Interviewee
• Vincent Sherman … Interviewee
• Ellen Burstyn … Interviewee
• Jane Fonda … Interviewee
• Anne Nelson … Interviewee
• Gena Rowlands … Interviewee
• Samuel Goldwyn Jr. … Interviewee
• Irene Lee Diamond … Interviewee
• Charles Busch … Interviewee
• Robert Osborne … Interviewee
• Frank Corsaro … Interviewee
• Lindsay Anderson
• Anne Baxter
• James Cagney
• Cecil Clovelly
• Joan Crawford
• Bette Davis
• Harlow Morrell Davis
• Ruth Davis
• Olivia de Havilland
• Arthur Farnsworth
• Celeste Holm
• Miriam Hopkins
• B.D. Hyman
• Jerry Hyman
• Henrik Ibsen
• Vivien Leigh
• Joseph L. Mankiewicz
• Gary Merrill
• Conrad Nagel
• Harmon Nelson
• Patrick O'Neal
• James A. Peterson
• Charles Pierce
• Casey Robinson
• Leo Rosten
• Barbara Sherry
• William Grant Sherry
• Frank Sinatra
• Jack Warner
• William Wyler