Bette Davis and/or Joan Crawford (1 Viewer)

[Emcee]

Forums having fun comparing and contrasting people with similar characteristics. Within the world of Tinseltown, Bette Davis and Joan Crawford are consistently compared and contrasted. Their "feud" reportedly lasted decades, supposedly because "they just didn't get along". They made just one movie together, WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE?, which started the Grande Dame Guignol genre that swept across the silver screen in the 1960s. Their rivalry was recently showcased in the acclaimed FX drama series FEUD: BETTE AND JOAN.

Whom do you prefer and why?

 

[Emcee]

 

[Robert Crawford]

Bette was the better actress, but I liked them both. What's funny is that both of them had more in common than differences and should have been friends or at least allies.

 

[Emcee]

Bette was the better actress, but I liked them both. What's funny is that both of them had more in common than differences and should have been friends or at least allies.

Davis generally gets the acclaim for having the better acting chops, while Crawford was often considered the greater star. (I guess it depends on who you ask and whether or not they're biased.)

They certainly had many similarities, both on and off the screen. Maybe their similarities made them too much alike and therefore rendering it next to impossible for them to get along. Apparently, they were both strong-willed and determined women, and they were each known for being testy and moody on the set. That aside, they had personal lives that mirrored one another's in more than one area. It's a shame that they didn't get along better, if for nothing more than to give us more films with them as the stars. But had they gotten along better, we wouldn't be thriving in discussions about their rivalry, now would we?

 

[PMF]

Bette was the better actress, but I liked them both. What's funny is that both of them had more in common than differences and should have been friends or at least allies.

Which also applies to so many people I've observed within my own life.
How true, my good Mr. Crawford, how true.

 

[Emcee]

Which also applies to so many people I've observed within my own life.
How true, my good Mr. Crawford, how true.

It seems the vast majority agree that Davis and Crawford had quite a lot in common, but they could never come to terms with being anything close to friends. (From what I gather, anyhow.) They were, at least, professional when discussing one another in interviews, at first anyways. Davis, over a period of time, became more frank about her opinions of Crawford, while I don't know if Crawford ever really became more open-mouthed about what she really thought of Davis or not. Maybe she just wasn't as verbal with it publicly.

And as you have said, PMF, I can analyzed this rather well among my personal life, too. The people I seem to have a lot in common with are usually---but not always---the ones I seem to get along with the least. Opposites attract, and I guess that goes for any kind of relationship. Romantic or not.

 

[Emcee]

Some time ago, I watched the documentary on Crawford that aired as a part of THE HOLLYWOOD GREATS edition back in 1978.

Here's the closing monologue that I thought described Crawford perfectly:

The career of Joan Crawford was of triumph over adversity, of personality over often appalling material. She made more
than her fair share of bad pictures, but sometimes the worse the film, the better she was. Now that’s not because she
was a particularly fine actress because she wasn’t. Being an actress was not what she was good at. What she was going at was being
what she was—Joan Crawford, movie star. She lasted longer than any other female star in Hollywood because
that’s what she wanted. Survival as a star was her aim, and her greatest achievement. She was a strong, dominate
woman who reconstructed herself with a determination that plunged headlong into narcissism. An easy woman to admire, but not,
I imagine, an easy one to like. She gave of her money, and sometimes of herself, with generosity. But in return she
demanded constant attention, the very center of the stage, and all the deference owed not to a person, but to a Star.

​

 

[Vic Pardo]

I like both of them a great deal. Davis was, as stated, the better actress, but Crawford's movies were generally more fun to watch, e.g. MILDRED PIERCE, FLAMINGO ROAD, THE DAMNED DON'T CRY, TORCH SONG, etc...

 

[Emcee]

I like both of them a great deal. Davis was, as stated, the better actress, but Crawford's movies were generally more fun to watch, e.g. MILDRED PIERCE, FLAMINGO ROAD, THE DAMNED DON'T CRY, TORCH SONG, etc...

Arguably, Davis was better as an actress, but Crawford's movies contain more of my favorites.

 

[Edwin-S]

Who are they?

 

[Emcee]

Who are they?

Seriously?

 

[Edwin-S]

Seriously?

Not really. I was just being a goof.

However, in reality, I couldn't pick who would be the better actor between the two. I haven't watched very many films that either of them starred in. I'm not a big fan of "slice-of-life" dramas. I can watch "slice-of-life" if they are animated, but I find live-action films dealing with that type of material mundane and dull to watch. There are exceptions, of course, but live action films about family dysfunction are not one of them in my book, regardless of who stars in them.

 

[Emcee]

Not really. I was just being a goof.

However, in reality, I couldn't pick who would be the better actor between the two. I haven't watched very many films that either of them starred in. I'm not a big fan of "slice-of-life" dramas. I can watch "slice-of-life" if they are animated, but I find live-action films dealing with that type of material mundane and dull to watch. There are exceptions, of course, but live action films about family dysfunction are not one of them in my book, regardless of who stars in them.

I figured you were being comical. Davis is probably the better actress, but I prefer Crawford overall. (That's only my opinion.)

 

[Malcolm R]

I don't know that I've ever seen a Joan Crawford flim (except Baby Jane), but I've enjoyed Bette Davis in the films of hers that I've seen (All About Eve, Now Voyager, The Bride Came C.O.D.).