Among the subjects Davis covers in these interviews are:
Her costars:
Of Miriam Hopkins (with whom Davis had a well publicized feud after an affair with Hopkins' husband, director Anatole Litvak) Davis said, "she was a real bitch...a terribly good actress, but terribly jealous." On Errol Flynn she commented, "he was just beautiful. He openly said I don't know anything about acting and I admired his honesty because he was absolutely right."
Her favorite role:
Davis recalls the years it took her to convince the studio to make Dark Victory (1939). They said it was depressing. She promised it wasn't because the character "died so beautifully." The box office would prove her right in the end.
Studio head Jack Warner:
"We had a pretty smashing relationship...he did respect me because at least I came out and said what was what." And on the studio loaning her out for Of Human Bondage (1934) which would be Davis' big break, playing the "first really bitch heroine," she joked, "when I came back, Warner supposedly said well, they finally found her type."
And on marriage: "I got a beautiful daughter from one of these awful marriages."
Another interesting Bette Davis television moment is provided in footage from the 1971 show This Is Your Life. This program called together friends, family and co-workers to tell the story of Davis' life. Among those on hand for the taping were director (and former lover) William Wyler, friend and four-time co-star Olivia de Havilland and actor Paul Henreid. In the clip, Wyler remembers Davis as neither difficult nor easy, saying she was demanding of everyone including herself. She wanted everything to be perfect. Olivia de Havilland laughs that it took three pictures for Davis to warm up to her. Says de Havilland, "the first time I saw her, she nearly scared me to death." And Paul Henreid discusses the famous cigarette lighting scene in Now, Voyager (1942). How he came up with the idea, how the director didn't like it, but that with Davis' nod it was kept in the film.
Also included in All About Bette are a few outtakes of Davis, seemingly out of character, cracking jokes on the set. There's footage from her 1977 acceptance of the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award. She was the first woman to be so honored. And a 1969 commercial with Davis hawking Awake powdered orange juice. The documentary ends with a not-to-be-missed Davis clip montage to the popular'80s song Bette Davis Eyes by Kim Carnes. But perhaps a 1981 appearance on Good Morning America sums Davis up best. "The big romance of my life," she admits, "was this work I do."
Producer: Louise M. Gallup, Ellen Krass, Susan F. Walker
Director: Susan F. Walker
Screenplay: David Ansen
Cinematography: Bill Megalos
Film Editing: Susan F. Walker
Music: Steven Orich
Cast: Jodie Foster (host), Bette Davis.
BW&C-48m. Closed captioning.
by Stephanie Thames
