I seriously cannot watch anything with Susan Sarandon anymore. She peaked after Dead Man Walking anyway.
Script is ok, but Joan Crawford was beautiful, eyebrows and shoulder pads notwithstanding, and Jessica Lange isn't (which is the polite version), which is incredibly disconcerting. Susan Sarandon has Bette Davis eyes and maybe her bosom, but even I can imitate her accent - sharpen your consonants and clip your speech (PeeTah, PeeTah, PeeTah).
So, Feud works, but would work better if I didn't know who the 2 main characters are supposed to be, because I am having to work at suppressing my disbelief and making the connection. I'm happy to see Judy Davis, Alfred Molina, Stanley Tucci and Kathy Bates. This could be fun if I could get over the rest of it.
So, Feud works, but would work better if I didn't know who the 2 main characters are supposed to be, because I am having to work at suppressing my disbelief and making the connection. I'm happy to see Judy Davis, Alfred Molina, Stanley Tucci and Kathy Bates. This could be fun if I could get over the rest of it.
3
Obviously here are viewers, and reviewers out there who have never seen a film starring either Bette Davis or Joan Crawford. Because Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange make no effort to sound, or behave like either of these two women. Davis and Crawford were two towering performers, but Sarandon and Lange aren't in the same league, sorry. And that goes for all the supporting performances. I thought this cheap looking, campy daytime TV garbage was about as bad as it gets.
3
Are we watching the same programs? There are moments of sheer acting brilliance. At times goosebumps rise from Ms Sarandon's and Ms. Lange's (not always, but quite frequently) spot-on performances.
I can't see past Lange and Susan. There to big to blend into the fabric of this endeavor. Pass!
1
Thank you to Ryan Murphy, who made me forget about current events for a little while, and always hires the some of the best older female actors living. I loved it.
3
Not sure whether I'll pick up this series, my dance card for serial TV shows is sort of full at the moment, but it sounds interesting and I may start watching it regularly at some point.
It was funny to me that I have never seen any of the movies listed here; I'm not sure if I've ever seen Joan Crawford or Bette Davis in a movie. Haven't avoided it I'm just not an old film buff, so indeed I wouldn't recognize Ms. Crawford by the shoulder pads, or at all.
But the sexism against women that was overwhelming in their day, and is still prevalent throughout society today, is certainly something to write shows about. Notice that there are two sexist terms right in this article, one with less negative overtones.
"Actresses" is the minor one, there is no reason for this term. Actors are men, women, and the wide variety of alternatives today. No reason to distinguish women as 'actresses', because it implies they are lesser, just from the historical connotations.
And "catfight" is the obnoxious one. This only refers to fighting between two women, and its overtones are of being not really harmful, entertaining, and probably a result of women's traditional, stereotypical hysteria.
So please, in the future, call Ms. Crawford and Ms. Davis "actors", and describe their feud as "a fight". Or a bloodbath, donnybrook, altercation, anything but "catfight".
It was funny to me that I have never seen any of the movies listed here; I'm not sure if I've ever seen Joan Crawford or Bette Davis in a movie. Haven't avoided it I'm just not an old film buff, so indeed I wouldn't recognize Ms. Crawford by the shoulder pads, or at all.
But the sexism against women that was overwhelming in their day, and is still prevalent throughout society today, is certainly something to write shows about. Notice that there are two sexist terms right in this article, one with less negative overtones.
"Actresses" is the minor one, there is no reason for this term. Actors are men, women, and the wide variety of alternatives today. No reason to distinguish women as 'actresses', because it implies they are lesser, just from the historical connotations.
And "catfight" is the obnoxious one. This only refers to fighting between two women, and its overtones are of being not really harmful, entertaining, and probably a result of women's traditional, stereotypical hysteria.
So please, in the future, call Ms. Crawford and Ms. Davis "actors", and describe their feud as "a fight". Or a bloodbath, donnybrook, altercation, anything but "catfight".
6
I found Jack Warner's complaining about Davis's lawsuit and insisting it destroyed the studio contract system odd, especially given that the show included the interview with Olivia de Havilland.
Davis lost her case, yet Warner almost immediately started giving her the great parts she had been fighting for. It was for those parts and the money they brought to the studio in the late 1930s and early and mid 1940s that earned Davis "the Fifth Warner" moniker. I could accept Warner's simmering anger that Davis had sued him, just not the assertion that her suit had begun the destruction of the studio contract system.
Olivia de Havilland's lawsuit against Warner's several years later was actually the lawsuit that played some part in starting the destruction of the studio contract system, in that it outlawed the practice of only counting days actually worked as part of a seven-year contract, which thereby extended actors contracts well beyond seven years.
Other than that, I found the episode entertaining.
Davis lost her case, yet Warner almost immediately started giving her the great parts she had been fighting for. It was for those parts and the money they brought to the studio in the late 1930s and early and mid 1940s that earned Davis "the Fifth Warner" moniker. I could accept Warner's simmering anger that Davis had sued him, just not the assertion that her suit had begun the destruction of the studio contract system.
Olivia de Havilland's lawsuit against Warner's several years later was actually the lawsuit that played some part in starting the destruction of the studio contract system, in that it outlawed the practice of only counting days actually worked as part of a seven-year contract, which thereby extended actors contracts well beyond seven years.
Other than that, I found the episode entertaining.
3
This is really bad stuff! Everyone but Sarandon is miscast, and what's with the deep tans on these ladies? Vain beauties, especially aging ones, stay out of the sun, and as "the maid" (how demeaning) Jackie Hoffman is practically in blackface. Both the critic Ms. O'Malley and the auteur Mr. Murphy seem to believe Davis played "the maid" in "Night of the Iguana" when she was in fact the top-billed star of the production (and "Feud" casts a gaudy neon movie house as a Broadway theater!) Gary Merrill was a drunk, not a hunk, and Jack Warner was a diminished 70 year old at this time. Then there's the music, from the oh-no-you-didn't "Catch a Falling Star" to the bizarre choice of Brenda Lee's plaintive "I Want to Be Wanted" on Hedda Hopper's hi-fi.
Is it too late to revoke Ryan Murphy's "gay card"? I'm going to talk to some of the higher-ups in our secret organization about it.
Is it too late to revoke Ryan Murphy's "gay card"? I'm going to talk to some of the higher-ups in our secret organization about it.
7
I liked it a lot more than you did, but I agree that it's ludicrous to describe Davis's role in "Iguana" as "small." It's one of the three main roles, and she was billed above the title.
3
I enjoyed the first episode and am looking forward to the rest. These two actresses, Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, left quite the legacy. I can be entertained by any Davis or Crawford movie, even the supposed bad ones such as Berserk! or Burnt Offerings.
RIP Robert Osborne
RIP Robert Osborne
7
Great review. Jessica Lange is one the finest film actresses of our time. She never played the Hollywood boy's club game and always spoke her truth. I admire her integrity for never selling out. She is a true and brilliant artist.
10
Her greatest performance in Frances, the tragic life of Frances Farmer, is the least recognized. Sarandon doesn’t have the laser beam focus of Lange, nor the tenderness.
1
That movie chilled me to the bone when it came out (I was still in my teens)
Perhaps "Feud" employed the same production designer as "Carol," Judy Becker, and indeed the costumes and sets are impressive. But what is missing is the extraordinary cinematography of "Carol," with its dreamy presentation of 1950s atmosphere. The camera work and lighting in "Feud" is too matter-of-fact.
3
"Dreamy presentation" would not work in this series. Matter-of-fact is-better. We're dealing with a couple of hard-edged women fighting the world even more than each other. In "Carol" the swooning was appropriate to the content (even if it did almost lull one to sleep at times).
1
I agree with you, but the caveat is that Carol was made as a film; and this is for TV, so cinematography is different to start with.
2
I understand both comments here; indeed, thematically maybe a hard-edged look is appropriate for the characters, and certainly TV is different from film (although many TV shows do have a softer look). But like the great majority of period productions, TV or film, "Feud" screams "This a fake recreation of the past." Everything is too glossy and obviously manufactured last week, just to call attention to itself. I lived through these eras, and the feel is wrong. On the other hand "Mad Men" feels right (the glossiness and self-conscious fashion is thematically appropriate, and also more skillfully done).
Davis had a distinctive edge in one sense because of the more graphic use of her voice, using guttural sounds and long, extended vowels at times—though not to the degree that Charles Pierce employed. ("You remember Joan, don't you? She's dead ya' know!") That's her signature style.
Crawford, on the other hand, whose great beauty allowed her to use a more lyrical approach, could project toughness or docility, pain and joy, mostly with mime. Her voice always remained more or less classic Hollywood English, with less temperament and more traditional femininity—but she worked magic with those simple tools.
Crawford, on the other hand, whose great beauty allowed her to use a more lyrical approach, could project toughness or docility, pain and joy, mostly with mime. Her voice always remained more or less classic Hollywood English, with less temperament and more traditional femininity—but she worked magic with those simple tools.
8
Great review. Spot on. Thanks.
1
Ah..., when Hollywood stars were quotable and not memes.
6
It's interesting to note that Bette's nomination for "Of Human Bondage" was a write-in nomination. Believe the only time in the Academy's history. Her win for "Dangerous" the following year was speculated to be a compensation win for her role in "Bondage."
9
I love the old B Davis and J Crawford movies, they are magic. Total escapism for a couple of hours. Choose a rainy afternoon, get on the sofa with lots of tea and cakes, and enjoy. Some seem funny now, which was not intentional..Queen Bee (1955) with Joan Crawford, or Beyond The Forest (1949 I think), with Bette Davis are camply funny. Great stuff.
3
Ah, yes! Rosa Moline. She never made it Chicago, poor thing. Too much liquid in her system. That final scene was just over the top, with the background music playing "Chicago, Chicago" in a very sarcastic minor key. For once you can say "Thank God, they don't make 'em like that any more!"
1
I admired the acting and attention to detail in the first episode, but by the end, it was already repetitive and seems to be a good 2 hour story badly stretched out.
7
“The best time I ever had with Joan Crawford was when I pushed her down the stairs in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” - Bette Davis
7
I will never forget the newspaper ad for Baby Jane that featured a doll's cracked head. Scary stuff for a child. The ad for "Village of the Damned" was pretty scary too.
5
I was 5 when I saw that poster when leaving a matinee (Three Stooges) with my Mom — gave me nightmares. To this day I still remember the effect that poster had on me!
2
Correct link. Not sure what happened...
http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9A0DE5DD1F30E03BBC4F53DFB7678389...
http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9A0DE5DD1F30E03BBC4F53DFB7678389...
2
As was usually the case, Bosley Crowther, the Times' chief movie critic at the time, got it all wrong. But what surprises me is not that he disliked "Baby Jane" but that he dismissed its two leading ladies with such casual, borderline-cruel contempt.
2
Davis's role in "Night of the Iguana" (she played Maxine Faulk) was hardly small. It was one of the leads.
10
No kidding! It was a large part. She feuded with the cast on that project, as well...especially Margaret Leighton, who won a Tony.
4
There is a pretentiousness of historic accuracy to this that I find troubling. Is there a record of Hopper, De Havilland and Blondell commenting on this feud? Also, it seems bizarre to hear De Havilland discuss feuds without bringing up her lifelong feud with her sister Joan Fontaine. If these actresses were shown on a Mike Douglas or Merv Griffin show gossiping it would be more believable.
6
It's. A. Television. Show.
1
I'd rather see the DeHavilland/Fontaine feud as Season 2 than the dull Diana/Charles feud.
6
Maybe they're saving that feud for "Feud: Joan and Olivia" In any case, it would be clutter to bring up that feud in the context of this episode. Actually, it may have been implied in the line about feuds not being about hate but about fear.
1
No doubt she was the exception that proves the rule, but Marie Dressler in her mid-sixties, was the number one film star of the early '30s.
Also, Davis was top-billed with Margaret Leighton in NIGHT OF THE IGUANA - hardly a small role. (It's the role Ava Gardner had in the movie. Gardner was billed second to Richard Burton.)
Also, Davis was top-billed with Margaret Leighton in NIGHT OF THE IGUANA - hardly a small role. (It's the role Ava Gardner had in the movie. Gardner was billed second to Richard Burton.)
14
As was Mae West who had a very brief film career starting at 39, I saw Davis live as she toured NY theaters promoting the "Baby Jane" film. She brought three audience members up and showed them how to the classic Bette Davis impression, Then we had to look under our seats and the one with a sticker got a Baby Jane doll. Tsk, I went home empty handed
6
What network is it on?
1
I thought the same thing! The tiny photo credit says FX, but I'd think it would be included somewhere in the recap itself. :-)
FX.
1
FX..sunday night @ 10pm....i'm not sure if it will every sunday 'til the end or it is going to run every night @10 til the end. i 'm looking into that...
"Now an older woman like Meryl Streep can still open films on her name alone." Meryl and who else? The fact that two of the very best- namely Ms. Sarandon and Ms. Lange- are headlining television dramas now as opposed to feature films pretty well demonstrates how the movie industry continues to regard mature actresses. Lately Ms. Sarandon has been cast mostly in mother and grandmother roles while Ms. Lange has had only one lead role in a film since 2006 (co-starring in that one with another older femme, Shirley MacLaine). Not that anyone should look down their noses at cable TV: obviously, there are lots of good roles for actresses there. In movies, not so much.
32
Helen Mirren
6