Bette and Joan The Divine Feud by Shaun Considine Page B
Authors: Shaun Considine
Tags: Fiction
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sense Joan standing to attention beside me. She knew that Davis could never compete with her sexually, but talent-wise? That was another horse race indeed. And Bette was
the
champion in that field. Joan knew that, and so did Franchot. You could see the sparks flying off him as he worked with Bette. She was the first real actress he had worked with since he came to Hollywood. There was also some talk that he was writing a script for both of them to do. But Joan put a stop to that, real fast. Three days after
Dangerous
was finished, despite her objections to marriage, she took off with Franchot to New York, and the next thing we heard they were married in New Jersey."
"It was Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne who made me change my mind about marriage," said Joan in 1935. "They managed to blend their professional achievements so magnificently well with their private life. They inspired Franchot and I to humbly enter the same happy union."
Whatever anger Bette Davis felt when she learned that Crawford had married Franchot Tone, her unhappiness was lifted when Jack Warner told her he had bought the rights to the hit New York play
The Petrified Forest,
and she would play Gaby, the leading female role. In November 1935 filming was already under way, while
Dangerous
was being given a fast edit for a December release, to qualify Bette for Academy Award consideration. Another reason for the haste was Jack Warner's desire to capitalize on the success of Franchot Tone in
Mutiny on the Bounty,
released on November 7. The M-G-M film was a giant hit, with Tone receiving the best reviews of his Hollywood career. The Warner Bros. merchandising department was told to feature the actor prominently in the ads and photos for the Bette Davis movie.
" LOOK OUT FRANCHOT TONE! —you're in for the toughest MUTINY —you've ever faced, when BETTE
DAVIS rebels in DANGEROUS ,"
was one of the popular logos.
Davis, when told of the campaign, said she didn't mind the emphasis being placed on Crawford's new husband. "Franchot was a swell guy, a really top-drawer person," she said. 'And at the time I felt the picture needed all the help it could get. It wasn't something I was crazy about."
The critics felt otherwise. "Penetratingly alive ... electric," said the Los Angeles
Times.
'A strikingly sensitive performance, in a well-made bit of post-Pinero drama," said the New York
Times.
Oscar voters were similarly impressed. In January 1936 she was listed as one of the nominees for Best Actress.
Davis wasn't going to attend the ceremonies, she insisted. The nomination was a gesture of sympathy, for being ignored the year before. On March 5, the morning of the banquet, she came down with the flu (a psychosomatic condition used by Crawford on
her
Oscar day), but, bullied by her mother, Bette agreed to attend with her husband, Ham. She would not get "gussied up," however. Her hair, back to its original "mousy brown," had already been permed, and instead of a formal gown she pulled a navy print dinner dress from her closet.
Arriving at the banquet at the Biltmore Hotel with Ham and her mother, Bette found there was no room for them at the studio's front table, where Jack Warner sat with producer Hal Wallis and directors Michael Curtiz and Max Reinhardt (with two films,
Captain Blood
and
A Midsummer Night's Dream,
in the running for Best Picture). Placed at a table at the side of the room, Bette applauded enthusiastically as one by one the major awards bypassed Warner Bros. and went to RKO for Best Script, Score, Best Actor (Victor McLaglen), and Best Director (John Ford) for
The Informer.
Bette was also sure that RKO would pick up Best Actress, for Katharine Hepburn
(Alice Adams).
When D. W. Griffith went to the podium to announce the winner, she managed to smile.
"The winner is Bette Davis, for
Dangerous,"
said Griffith, whereupon Bette felt she was "going to be very sick."
Making a short speech, the actress was polite, displaying
the
champion in that field. Joan knew that, and so did Franchot. You could see the sparks flying off him as he worked with Bette. She was the first real actress he had worked with since he came to Hollywood. There was also some talk that he was writing a script for both of them to do. But Joan put a stop to that, real fast. Three days after
Dangerous
was finished, despite her objections to marriage, she took off with Franchot to New York, and the next thing we heard they were married in New Jersey."
"It was Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne who made me change my mind about marriage," said Joan in 1935. "They managed to blend their professional achievements so magnificently well with their private life. They inspired Franchot and I to humbly enter the same happy union."
Whatever anger Bette Davis felt when she learned that Crawford had married Franchot Tone, her unhappiness was lifted when Jack Warner told her he had bought the rights to the hit New York play
The Petrified Forest,
and she would play Gaby, the leading female role. In November 1935 filming was already under way, while
Dangerous
was being given a fast edit for a December release, to qualify Bette for Academy Award consideration. Another reason for the haste was Jack Warner's desire to capitalize on the success of Franchot Tone in
Mutiny on the Bounty,
released on November 7. The M-G-M film was a giant hit, with Tone receiving the best reviews of his Hollywood career. The Warner Bros. merchandising department was told to feature the actor prominently in the ads and photos for the Bette Davis movie.
" LOOK OUT FRANCHOT TONE! —you're in for the toughest MUTINY —you've ever faced, when BETTE
DAVIS rebels in DANGEROUS ,"
was one of the popular logos.
Davis, when told of the campaign, said she didn't mind the emphasis being placed on Crawford's new husband. "Franchot was a swell guy, a really top-drawer person," she said. 'And at the time I felt the picture needed all the help it could get. It wasn't something I was crazy about."
The critics felt otherwise. "Penetratingly alive ... electric," said the Los Angeles
Times.
'A strikingly sensitive performance, in a well-made bit of post-Pinero drama," said the New York
Times.
Oscar voters were similarly impressed. In January 1936 she was listed as one of the nominees for Best Actress.
Davis wasn't going to attend the ceremonies, she insisted. The nomination was a gesture of sympathy, for being ignored the year before. On March 5, the morning of the banquet, she came down with the flu (a psychosomatic condition used by Crawford on
her
Oscar day), but, bullied by her mother, Bette agreed to attend with her husband, Ham. She would not get "gussied up," however. Her hair, back to its original "mousy brown," had already been permed, and instead of a formal gown she pulled a navy print dinner dress from her closet.
Arriving at the banquet at the Biltmore Hotel with Ham and her mother, Bette found there was no room for them at the studio's front table, where Jack Warner sat with producer Hal Wallis and directors Michael Curtiz and Max Reinhardt (with two films,
Captain Blood
and
A Midsummer Night's Dream,
in the running for Best Picture). Placed at a table at the side of the room, Bette applauded enthusiastically as one by one the major awards bypassed Warner Bros. and went to RKO for Best Script, Score, Best Actor (Victor McLaglen), and Best Director (John Ford) for
The Informer.
Bette was also sure that RKO would pick up Best Actress, for Katharine Hepburn
(Alice Adams).
When D. W. Griffith went to the podium to announce the winner, she managed to smile.
"The winner is Bette Davis, for
Dangerous,"
said Griffith, whereupon Bette felt she was "going to be very sick."
Making a short speech, the actress was polite, displaying
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