Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hello, I'm Moya.
[00:00:02] Speaker B: And I'm Georgia.
[00:00:03] Speaker A: And welcome to another rip snorter of how Betty Davis Saved My Life. Life Lessons from Classic Hollywood. And yes, the piano for Mrs. Cimino in 1982. That is our overall, that is our movie for the day. But we wanted to get some tea with, you know, the Bette Davis and, and discussing Joan Crawford. But it's really Betty discussing her career and of course you can't, she can't discuss her career as much as you probably would have liked to without mentioning Joan Crawford. So without further ado. So we gonna kind of just break down this interview and I'm going to share my screen in a moment about Betty really talking about her later career as it relates to Joan Crawford. But like I said, just overall. And she's had some really good tea on here, right Georgia?
[00:01:03] Speaker B: I think so. Yeah. It's very revealing.
[00:01:06] Speaker A: Right, right. So this is from the concluding chapter of Joan Crawford.
And so just let's see. Can we see the name of it?
It's their YouTube channel. So go and check it out. And it kind of starts off. Let me just. Yeah, this is a great channel for all of you Joan Crawford fans. We are Joan Crawford fans here. But Joan Crawford couldn't talk about her career without Bette Davis and she probably would like to have left that out, you know, but these two titans met and the, the Hollywood world was the better for it in my humble opinion. But yeah, go and check out this channel, the concluding chapter of Crawford. I'll put the links in the discussion in a discussion box, description box rather for our YouTube channel. And thank you all who have listened, all our subscribers and don't forget to share and like and comment on our content. But I'm not going to play the video but I'm just going to kind of go, just go through it quickly. But Betty starts off talking. Well, Georgia, you jump in.
[00:02:16] Speaker B: Yeah, well, Betty is talking about when they were making Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte together. And initially Joan Crawford was in the movie but she developed some upper respiratory complications which made her very, very ill. And you know, the insurance company that insures the movie can only financed so many delays. And so they were running into a prospect of do we keep Joan Crawford or. And lose more money or do we recast it? And Betty I thought was very gracious because she says, you know, she, Joan Crawford was ill. She was truly, truly ill here, you know, and, and so I, I really liked the way Betty talked about Joan in this and you know, through no fault of Joan Crawford's she just could not get well enough in time because she was so seriously ill. So what they did do was they recast the role and they brought in Olivia de Havilland and she came out on very short notice.
[00:03:25] Speaker A: Yeah, like five or six days or something, I think.
[00:03:28] Speaker B: Yeah. And Moy remind our viewers where was Olivia de Havilland living at the time?
[00:03:34] Speaker A: Wasn't she in Paris?
[00:03:36] Speaker B: Yes, yeah, she sure was.
[00:03:38] Speaker A: Yeah, she came off Paris, France. Not Paris, Texas or anything. She was in a whole nother country.
[00:03:44] Speaker B: That's right.
And so Olivia de Havilland took over the role and she did an amazing job in it.
[00:03:56] Speaker A: I think it was better casting because Olivia de Havilland plays such. We all know her from Melanie and Gone with the Wind and other great roles where she.
And for those of you have not seen Hush Hush. We Charlotte, go and check out our. Our breakdown of it. I'll put that link in the description box as well. But we don't want to give away too well, I hate. I don't care. This movie is like a million years old. I hate giving away plots. So go and check it out. But Olivia to have on the play it gains type. I'll just put it like that. And I think Georgia, didn't she have to look that, you know, they had a shoestring budget as Betty tells everyone, the company, the movie studio. Which movie studio was it? Was it Paramount? Who was it?
[00:04:42] Speaker B: She said I believe it was Param. I think. I'm not 100% sure but I want to say I think you might be right. Moya.
[00:04:48] Speaker A: Okay, let us know in the comments if who it was but please by all means go and look at this interview. But whatever the movie movie studio did not believe in this movie because of ageism. And we'll talk about that in a second how that later affected Betty's career. They thought Betty and Joan was too old. Nobody wants to see she said these two old bras, these old two old ladies, you know, hag horror was still big because. Because this is post Whatever happened to Baby Jane? And I was in the same director and so they were trying to ride the wave of that huge success and with Betty and Joan. But even though they had that success they had to still prove themselves again. And I think Betty produced this movie herself. If I'm not mistaken. She produced this movie and the studio did not want to back it.
So my point is they had such a shoestring budget. I don't know if you knew this George and I don't know if our listeners knew that Olivia de Havilland had to Use her own wardrobe. And I think Joan Crawford made, you know, Joan Crawford was a stickler, like I must have originals for my whatever. But you know, they was like, look, we ain't got money for all that. We might give you a few dresses. But poor Olivia, she had to use all her wardrobe. So most of what you see is Olivia de Havilland's own wardrobe.
[00:06:04] Speaker B: That's right. Moya, I'm so glad you reminded us of that. We mentioned that I believe in our original podcast that we did on Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte. And yeah, amazing how she was able to just seamlessly, like a real pro, get herself right into the role.
[00:06:21] Speaker A: Right, right. And of course we know this is a scene from Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. So again, they were trying to ride the success of that. And of course, Hush Hush, Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte was a success. But Betty goes on. And so a little trivia going back to this, this image that Joan is in. If you blink, you miss it. She is in the first few opening scenes of the cab pulling up. Now, you don't see this in the movie because they had to recast. But so like I said, you got to really look at it. It's her because you can see you're going to see the, the updo she has and the sunglasses. So yeah, so you gotta really. So they left that piece in the movie, but that's all they have in the movie. And like in an interview, like Betty said, like 75 of the movie had already been shot, like her scenes. So she and Olivia have very little interaction about. About the time Olivia came on a scene.
Scenes together, a little, few scenes together. So the. This just was amazing how they pulled this off. The little movie that could.
[00:07:30] Speaker B: Yes. It went on to such a claim. Oh, here we are. We've got a still from the movie that she did with Susan Hayward.
[00:07:39] Speaker A: Where Love has Gone. Yeah, where Love has Gone. Based on the book she said the author. I'm sorry, I can't remember but girl, what this? Cuz I knew her and Susan Hayward, she couldn't stand Susan Hayward in, in this movie. But what tea was spilled quite a.
[00:07:55] Speaker B: Bit actually because Betty comes right out and says, you know, when they cast her to be my daughter, she's way too old for the part and it doesn't work and it's not believable. And I read something where at one point Betty is just so fed up with Susan Hayward's acting that she's like. Feels like she's even acting Betty's part.
According to what I read, Betty tears Off her wig, throws it at Susan Hayward and says, so do you want to play both of our parts? And then Susan walks away and says the B word repeatedly. Biatch, biatch, biatch. And so she says, what did you say, Ms. Hayward? And she says, you're a. And she just tells her right to her face, girl.
Yeah, there's some tea right there for you.
[00:08:51] Speaker A: You had the extra tea with extra lemon and. And honey. Yes, ma'am. I love that. I can so see Betty doing that. But in the course of this interview, Betty talks about how she was. She. She. You know, Betty, these people were consummate professionals, and so they envision the character. So Betty says she had envisioned the hair and what have you. And she said, this woman's hair would not have been gray. She would have been blind, and she'd have dyed it till she died. She'd have died. D Y E D. Till she died. And so the fact that they gave her this old lady wig, she wasn't feeling it, and she said, just messed up everything until your point was Susan Hayward. But she said, because it was Susan Hayward was too old to be playing this part, and they did not stick to the original story and what have you. I. So I saw this movie where Love has Gone. Have you seen it?
[00:09:45] Speaker B: No, I haven't.
[00:09:46] Speaker A: Okay, well, put that on the list because I'm not going to talk about anymore. So we're going to look at this movie and maybe we can do a reaction video to it, and then we can kind of hearken back to what Betty said about this. So I'm not going to talk anymore about it, but if you guys who are listening and shout out to our audio listeners everywhere, you know, let us know in the comments and on YouTube, let us know. Have you seen this movie? What do you think about what Betty said about the miscasting and of.
[00:10:13] Speaker B: Of.
[00:10:14] Speaker A: Of Susan Hayward and then Betty being not cast correctly or dressed correctly to fit the part? Let us know what you think. But that kind of plays into the ageism that Betty discussed. Georgia, can you talk. Talk a little bit about that? How she talked about a ageism and her later career. Well, her. Her career at this point and going into her later career, how it affect her getting roles?
[00:10:40] Speaker B: You know, it. It did. And Betty did some very creative things because when she wasn't getting the right roles from Warner Brothers, she actually traveled to England for a while and was doing movies in England. And, you know, the thing is, is one of the things about this character in this particular movie is getting back to it about the age part of it. She said that after they had finished and wrapped the movie, they wanted to reshoot it and say that, oh, this matriarch that she plays had gone mad and would and is going to and commit suicide. And Betty says, no, that is totally out of line with that character. That character would absolutely not have done that. So they filed a lawsuit against Betty and Betty prevailed. She won. Betty did not have to go back and refilm the entire ending of the movie, changing the whole character's character arc where she goes mad and commits suicide. So Betty won, and the movie ending stayed that way. But as far as the ageism goes, all these roles Betty talks about in this interview, that they are just not doing roles for women of a certain age. And after you get older, you're not getting the great roles. And so this was a challenge for Betty, and it was amazing that she was able to go on and do, you know, things like what she done.
Whatever happened to Baby Jane and Hash Sweet Charlotte.
[00:12:12] Speaker A: Right.
[00:12:12] Speaker B: And so she. So that's what accounted for that. Those hag horror movies that she did. But she went on and so she branched out into television.
[00:12:24] Speaker A: Right.
[00:12:25] Speaker B: Because she felt that. So Betty is a pioneer in that way. She's branching out and going into television. Actually, she talks about later on in this interview where she does.
You can see it on the Internet, the pilot she did for a TV show called the Decorator. Unfortunately, the Decorator TV series that she wanted to launch was not bought, and so it never aired. But she does a beautiful comedic performance where she plays this wonderfully chic decorator. And is there she. And Betty does comedy and she does it really well.
[00:13:03] Speaker A: Yeah. Let's take a look.
Let's take a quick look at it.
And I don't know, we'll get share this instead.
Here we go.
And I didn't personally care for it because I don't like Betty. Was she. I don't. I've seen her do comedy. I'm not a fan of her doing comedy, and I didn't really care for it. Not that Betty, you know, Betty can do no wrong, but I didn't care for it. But let us know what you think.
So there's the great. I cannot remember this latest name and everything. Y'all gonna get me Mary Wicks. Thank you so much.
Look at this house girl.
So let's. Let's move it along to Betty's part.
Okay.
[00:14:16] Speaker C: Do you think my type is coming back?
Oh, Liz, will you please get dressed? Very well. Viola.
[00:14:29] Speaker A: Sa.
In the interest of time. I'll stop it right there, girl. Her eyes are so big. Why her eyes are so big? We know Betty Davis got big eyes. Gee whiz. Wait, let me see.
Girl, they like jumping off the screen.
[00:15:18] Speaker C: You are real. I'm not seeing. I'm sorry if I scared you.
[00:15:25] Speaker B: I was just peeking.
[00:15:26] Speaker C: Ah, you are real. You're not mad at me, are you? Heavens no. All little girls peek.
[00:15:34] Speaker A: Okay. I don't know, it just wasn't my thing. I'll go and I'll put the link in the description box who this came from.
So, Georgia, you saw the whole thing?
[00:15:47] Speaker B: I did see the whole thing, yes.
[00:15:49] Speaker A: And, and, and you. And so tell us what you thought. I mean, like I said, I did not. I. Girl, when she came out with her arms looking like a white elbow albino bat with her arms stretched out, I just like, no, I can't do it. I just can't. So what did you think about it?
[00:16:05] Speaker B: Well, you know, the character she played I thought was in many ways I think similar to her personality, but she's kind of a wise, all knowing, but very fun personality. Kind of like an Auntie Mame. But she is very much a control freak in, in the movie. I mean, in the, in the TV pilot here.
And so I thought she did actually a pretty good job.
But I really especially love seeing Mary Wicks that we saw her with in, oh, that movie about.
[00:16:38] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, the. The man who Came to Dinner.
[00:16:41] Speaker B: The man who Came to Dinner. Right, exactly.
[00:16:43] Speaker A: Right, right.
[00:16:45] Speaker B: A very funny character actress. And I thought she played a good supporting role to Betty Davis here. But it was, it was fun. It's. It wasn't meant to be anything. It was just meant to be something light, nothing heavy or serious. But so I, I enjoyed it. If you're a Betty Davis fan, you'll enjoy it. But I am.
[00:17:06] Speaker A: And I. I'm gonna go look at the whole thing because I didn't, like I said I couldn't make it past that part.
I'm gonna take the challenge and go and look at the whole thing.
I shouldn't judge in the first few minutes. That house was a killer little girl. Oh my gosh, I would kill to live in a house like that that whoever shout out to whoever that said direct set decorator was. But that's a good segue because you were saying, you know, it wasn't serious. And let's go to something that was serious. This movie. A piano for Mrs. Cimino. And Georgia, what can you tell us about this movie, because obviously this is later on, this is like 27 years later. This is 82. And Betty, like I said, the original interview on the concluding chapter on Crawford, go and look at that full interview. Betty talks about, like you said, she was a risk taker, Georgia. And so tell us how that from that interview till she got to, like I said, television. Tell us about that and these and where she really had a lot of success in television.
[00:18:07] Speaker B: Well, you know, one of the things that I liked about Bette Davis is that she says in this interview that women should play age appropriate parts because they're not convincing, you know, when you're playing. And so with the ageism going on, she felt like I'm gonna play these, these roles where, you know, it's believable and other actresses shouldn't try to do that because doesn't come across as convincing. But in this particular TV made for TV movie, I like that she does this movie and it's very well written, very well done. And she plays this 73 year old woman which is in line with her own age at the time that she films this.
[00:18:49] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:18:49] Speaker B: And the movie is about a woman who has been recently widowed. And the role she plays is Esther Cimino. Esther Cimino finds that her mind and her world is slipping away. I mean, she's starting to become a little bit more bewildered and confused about things and her family not really knowing what to do by this turn of events.
On a recommendation, they put put her into a nursing facility and then they also go to court and have her declared incompetent. And by doing that, they take away both her house and her and her husband's music store business that they used to run. And so I don't want to spoil anything for you, but you know, this being our Betty, you have to see whether she will end up languishing in this old folks home that they put her in and become even more senile or will she find the strength and the courage to regain her independence and her quality of life. And so this movie is very beautifully done because it shows how we should treat our elderly in a more caring way.
I think it's just, it's sensitive, it's poignant, it brings out a lot of things because in 1982, which was 42 years ago, we did not know as much about dementia as we do now. And this movie is Moya. Didn't you think it was way ahead of its time?
[00:20:34] Speaker A: Absolutely. Because. And again, if you're triggered by, you know, dementia issues and senior fraud, and you hit the nail on the head. Georgia. This movie was just so ahead of its time because it addresses those things. It addresses the fraud which got my blood boiling.
They're so predatory on our seniors and literally the same foolishness that they do with the bank fraud happened in this movie. Like I said, we don't want to give too much away, but it was just so ahead of itself and we know so much more now. But you know, but still our singers, we still don't do right by our seniors. And it's really up to our seniors to band together and they have a lot of them do and protect each other and have a voice because you know, our society is very ages. I think society is more ages. And you, y'all are fine to try to filet me on this one. I don't care. You will find ageism of across almost every part of, of especially here in America. Is it, you know, it's a youth driven culture and society. Let's just be real about it. And I, I think you have more of ageism and people encounter more ageism than I think any kind of other ism, if you will that discriminatory against our, our, our seniors. And so this talks about that. And so I mean I like I said I don't want to give too much away but I just really, really love how that movie addressed that this movie addressed it.
[00:22:10] Speaker B: Oh yeah. I, I really, I, I thought was a beautiful statement and about growing older and Betty makes it feel so authentic.
[00:22:21] Speaker A: Yes, she, she does such a beautiful.
[00:22:24] Speaker B: Beautiful job in this. I, I was just very struck by how she made it seem like yes, this could happen to anybody. It happens in a lot of families. A lot of people can relate to this. Yeah, I thought that she did had such sweet chemistry here with Keenan Wynn and he did a great acting job.
[00:22:47] Speaker A: Too and even talks about love and later on in life because these people knew each other and they were able to reconnect.
And I found it was very realistic. It wasn't. And this was way before because you know they always. Things are in waves and cycles. So this is way before the, the old folks revival in Hollywood because you remember like in the 80s because I believe Cocoon and those other movies were just around the corner.
That's the big time. And guys, we cannot find Cocoon anywhere online. It's not streaming because we want to do Cocoon. So we might have to get us a DVD or something like that. Go to the library and get a DVD because we won't. We would love to do Cocoon. But those and Golden Girls, so, you know, golden. So look how little Betty, whether she realized it or not, this movie and other movies, because, like, because these people, this was another resurgence of the golden age of Hollywood. And in the 80s, they were finally honoring these people that were getting older and giving them good, good roles. So this kept going on. You know, it comes, it goes, it ebbs and flows. But the Golden Girls, because they were the first really, in the 20th century, in recent history that talked about old, older people, senior citizens, you know, they're not dead, they're alive. They have sex, they have relationships, you know, do you. You know what I mean?
[00:24:14] Speaker B: Exactly. They're a full people living, like, their full lives, the entire spectrum of it, you know, I mean, they shouldn't be warehoused, you know.
[00:24:24] Speaker A: Right. Yes.
[00:24:25] Speaker B: Or become invisible because of that. I mean, and, and Betty herself is such a perfect illustration because you can see what an impressive performance she gives. She hasn't lost any of her acting ability. If anything, she's even more nuanced and more subtle when she needs to be. And then, and she can really. She tugs at your heartstrings at different times. So, I mean, people that, like, I, I, to me, I think that this ageism is so terrible. And I see a lot of, like, things on the Internet where young people say, oh, this is like a boomer thing or whatever.
[00:25:00] Speaker A: You know, they're trying to make fun of it.
[00:25:02] Speaker B: And I'm going like, you know, the thing is, is, like, everybody's going to get older one day. You want to be treated respectfully and with dignity. And I think that these movies bear in mind that, you know, age is really just a number. It shouldn't get in the way of your abilities. And, you know, you've got. You're wiser and you're. And in many ways, you're. You're sharper.
[00:25:29] Speaker A: Right? You. Well, let's hope, because they ain't like, what's the people say. They ain't no fool. Like an old fool. So you would hope that. That people are, are wiser.
Ain't always the case, as we know. But yes, I totally agree. Agree with you on that. And I know I'm guilty of ageism. I know when my grandmother got older and you see them do one thing that's off, and you be like, oh, you know, you had. I wish I'd had more patience. And my grandmother was like my best friend.
But I think there's a fear, too, Georgia, because I've relied so much on my grandmother for Just everything, especially my emotional support. So when I saw her and she didn't have dementia or nothing like that, but no, losing her hearing or her memory wasn't the best. I just. I think I was acting out of fear and frustration. Cause I, oh my gosh, I'm losing her, you know. And so then you act irrationally. Instead of supporting that person, I say I acted irrationally and just like, oh, I'm gonna make her be perfect again, you know, and that's just crazy. It's just not gonna happen. And like you said, Georgia, all of us have to go down that road. I don't care who you are. Age, death and trouble, Taxes, death and trouble, like Marvin Gaye said. And trouble, man, nobody can escape it. And a put age to that list as well.
[00:26:52] Speaker B: That is very well said, Moya. Yeah. So people need to realize that if you know somebody like this, you know, because after a while, you know, everybody is, like you said, they're going to face all the things that come with aging, the good things and the bad things, all of that together. You're going to have to, you know, be prepared for it.
[00:27:10] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:27:11] Speaker B: But. But also enjoy it too.
[00:27:13] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. And. And we've come a long way, baby, as they said, with a lot of things. And.
But, you know, I. I'm not going to belabor the point. Go and check this out. It's free on YouTube and a book, it's based on a book by Robert Oliphant. So go and check this out with Betty and just see her later perform as an older actress, performers, and they're all different, you know, she's played several older ladies, all different, never the same. And that's why we love her.
So. And I'll put the links in the description box. Shout out to Chris Johnson's channel. He has a lot of great movies, retro movies on there that you can check out. And I will put that in the description box for our YouTube channel.
So what is our next movie, Georgia?
[00:28:04] Speaker B: We have an amazing pre code movie and It's Backstreet from 1932.
[00:28:12] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:28:12] Speaker B: Starring Irene Dunn and John Bowles.
[00:28:15] Speaker A: Yes. And that's also on YouTube, so please make sure you go and check that out. It is.
They were ahead of their time, you know, And I'm gonna pull it up just real quick so.
So y'all can see it. I'm not gonna play anything from it, but I just want y'all to take a look. So it's on. Like I said, it's on YouTube. And I. I said, I Sound like a broken record. But man, I wish pre code could have went on forever, you know because if we could have, I think we could have learned so much and dispels this dispel so so many myths about life because it was just so raw and real and they just took that away from us with when they stopped pre code. But yeah, back street it's on the. Is on YouTube. Just look it up. I think about. I'll put the description. The link in the description box. I gotta put all these links in these description boxes. I hope I remember to do all that. So yes, we will see you in February 1st Saturday, not a Sunday because like I said, this is take two for our. This is something unusual we have to do to record on a or go live on a Sunday. But yeah, so 1:00pm Central Standard Time live on Facebook Backstreet starring Irene Dunn and John Bowles. Like Georgia said. Well, George, is there anything else you want to tell everybody?
[00:29:44] Speaker B: No, that's a wrap for me today.
[00:29:46] Speaker A: Moya, Georgia, thank you for being available for us to try this again. And I think everything went well.
You weren't at the construction site. You left your second job and thank you for that. Thank you for not podcasting while she was breaking concrete. I really do appreciate it.
For those of you don't know, that's what it sounds like yesterday it sound like Georgia was using a jackhammer. So it was crazy on her side. But we got it done. Guys. See you again on February 1st. That's a Saturday. 1pm Central Standard Time for Backstreet starring Irene Dunn, John Bowles and Zou pits. Love her. You guys take care. So I'm Moya.
[00:30:25] Speaker B: And I'm Georgia.
[00:30:26] Speaker A: Don't forget to like subscribe and share and comment for how Betty Davis saved my life. Life lessons from classic Hollywood. We will see you soon. Bye.
