A legend lightens up Jul 2, 2008
" Haskell argues that Streep remains singular among great film actresses. Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, or Katharine Hepburn each had a recognisable voice, a way of reading a line, certain expressions that remained constant from film to film. Similarly, with modern film actresses such as Susan Sarandon, Julianne Moore or Glenn Close we know what we're going to get. With Streep, there is no predictable set of characteristics.Streep balks at this suggestion that she is so protean an actor that there... (guardian.co.uk)
TCM's Popular SUMMER UNDER THE STARS Festival Returns for Sixth Year Jul 2, 2008
The network also offers critically acclaimed original documentaries and specials, including the Martin Scorsese Presents: Val Lewton-The Man in the Shadows, the Emmy-winning Stardust: The Bette Davis Story and the Emmy-nominated Brando. More information is available at tcm. (Yahoo! Wire -- Entertainment News)
Movie characters we hate loving and love hating Jul 1, 2008
As much as we hiss at her for all the terrible tricks she plays on her trusting mentor, Broadway legend Margo Channing (Bette Davis), its all but impossible not to feel a little sorry for Eve; the naked need on her face whenever she talks about fame and glory makes her ultimately pathetic, no matter how impressive her temporary triumphs might be. All About Eve gives us a second glorious rotter, acidic theater critic Addison DeWitt (George Sanders), but audiences dont adore him as much... (MSNBC -- News)
Movie: Valley of the Dolls (1967) Jun 29, 2008
Others considered for the part were Bette Davis and Tammy Grimes. Budget, Filming. (Suite101.com)
A Web Dozen, for your viewing leisure Jun 27, 2008
Bette Davis' episode (above) isn't out yet, but you can watch "Lay of the Land," which gives you Hermione Gingold. John Doe. (USA Today -- Life)
Films that show mankind's nature prove greed is good Jun 26, 2008
THE LITTLE FOXES (1941): A never-better Bette Davis stars as a Southern matriarch whose greed affects not only her but also her estranged husband and daughter. The strong, stark screenplay was adapted by Lillian Hellman from her play. (The Augusta Chronicle)
The Edge of Love - the Sunday Times review Jun 23, 2008
It s hardly Bette Davis and Joan Crawford in action. Why is it that in modern films and television dramas, female friendship can be expressed only by women acting like stupid teenagers. (Times Online)
'Sex' parody — with Bea Arthur Jun 18, 2008
Arthur, who in heavy makeup looks a bit like Bette Davis Baby Jane, is joined by Charlotte Rae, Katherine Helmond and Sally Struthers. They re gal pals in search of a Matlock two-parter. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
How to Be Glamorous and Chic Jun 13, 2008
Watch how Bette Davis and Anne Baxter move and act, and you ll learn everything there is to know about being stylish. All About Eve is a classic women's film, and in its time was nominated for 14 Academy Awards the largest number of Academy Award nominations to be given to any movie. (Suite101.com)
In Depth: Simon Cowell Jun 12, 2008
In his autobiography, I Don't Mean to be Rude, But , Cowell recalls meeting Bette Davis, Roger Moore and Trevor Howard. All that glamour made Cowell want to go into showbiz. (Forbes)
Shanghai's golden age of theater Jun 10, 2008
There were screenings of the new Errol Flynn film "The Perfect Specimen" on December 31, 1937; "It's Love I'm After" starring Leslie Howard and Bette Davis on January 28, 1938; "Second Honeymoon" with Tyrone Power and Loretta Young on February 27, 1938; and "Love Under Fire" with Loretta Young and Don Ameche on March 18, 1938. Designed by Hungarian architect C.H. Gonda, the theater first opened to the public in 1932. (Xinhuanet, China)
SPOLETO 2008 A HIT: From amazing to ordinary, hip-hop, opera, bluegrass and comedy round out two-week festival Jun 8, 2008
I can say with all truthfulness that Morgana Shaw has Bette Davis eyes. She is the talented actor in the one woman show "All About Bette: An Evening with Bette Davis." This play premiered to rave reviews in Texas in 2006. (Orangeburg Times and Democrat, SC)
Dunkin' Donuts yanks Rachael Ray ad May 28, 2008
British actress at home in Hub Emily Mortimer looks a little like Bette Davis on the cover of the new issue of Boston Common. The British actress tells the mag she's become rather fond of Boston, having shot two films in succession here. (Boston Globe)
From The Back Porch - Humor May 28, 2008
If anyone tried that today there would be more tears shed in the theater than at a Bette Davis movie. Over a century ago when it was reported that a President had fathered what is wrongfully called an illegitimate child (there are no illegitimate children, only illegitimate parents) the papers were printing a little ditty, Ma Ma, where s my pa. (DeRidder Beauregard Daily News, LA)
Little Foxes still packs quite a bite May 28, 2008
Featuring Laurie Paton in the pivotal role of Regina Giddens --a role immortalized by the likes of Tallulah Bankhead, Bette Davis, Elizabeth Taylor and our own Martha Henry -- The Little Foxes still serves as a powerful reminder that those who would "eat the earth" are still very much with us. And they are hungry. (Toronto Sun)
It was meant to shock, so why tone it down? May 27, 2008
The play's success or failure rides on Regina, who has been played by the likes of Anne Bancroft, Bette Davis and Liz Taylor; the action takes place in her ornate drawing room, beautifully but somewhat awkwardly designed by Cameron Porteous. Though Laurie Paton has abundant Southern charm in the part, she never gets nasty enough; her brother keeps admonishing her to smile, but she already seems pleasant enough. (Globe and Mail -- Entertainment)
Clint Eastwood, a director who aims to get to the heart of 'whole story' May 23, 2008
But she's terribly smart, like a lot of the actresses of the past - Bette Davis, Katherine Hepburn, Susan Hayward - and she's one of the prettiest women in the world. " In the midst of the Christine Collins story, another film begins in a rundown ranch in the desert: a serial killer has been abducting boys the same age as Christine's son. "Yes, there's a whole other story - she's put in the psychiatric ward, and then all of a sudden you start seeing a whole new film. (International Herald Tribune)
Hollywood boys who just don't want to grow up May 16, 2008
In the early 1960s, Bette Davis and Joan Crawford teamed up for what was seen at the time as a somewhat tacky, if entertaining film, Whatever Happened To Baby Jane. It was such a hit that it led to something of a fad of casting aging actresses in grotesque or horror-type movies, said Maltin. (Globe and Mail -- Entertainment)
Colin Farrell???!!! May 15, 2008
And when Bette Davis rebuffed Joan Crawford's advances, she sparked Hollywood's longest running - and most deadly feud. The holidaying singer showed no inhibitions as she frolicked with a couple of men friends at a plush Cap d'Antibes hotel. (The Drudge Report)
Theater Marathon runs gamut of drama May 14, 2008
The very clever "All About Christmas Eve" starred a spot-on Julie Perkins as a junior Margo (the Bette Davis role) with Kuntz himself as Eve, her underhanded admirer. Rick Park (who also had a play in the Marathon and is currently appearing as a misgendered Lion in Landry's "Whizzin' ") made a marvelously urbane Addison DeWitt, even when slurping from a juice box. (Boston Globe)
Mike Wallace turns 90 years old May 10, 2008
A partial list: Richard Nixon, Johnny Carson, Henry Kissinger, Nancy Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Bette Davis, Yasser Arafat, Carol Burnett, Bill Parcells, Salman Rushdie, Vladimir Putin, Al Sharpton, Vladimir Horowitz, Jack Kevorkian, Malcolm X, Tennessee Williams, Tallulah Bankhead, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Oscar Hammerstein, Woody Allen, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jesse Jackson, the Shah of Iran and Golda Meir. "When the history of television is written, a few names are going to stand out and there isn't a name... (Variety)
The Painted Veil May 2, 2008
The Sydney Morning Herald: national, world, business, entertainment, sport and technology news from Australia's leading newspaper. Sandra Hall, reviewerApril 25, 2008. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Harvey Fierstein is a theater creature May 2, 2008
The play is an adaptation of a 1956 film that starred Bette Davis as Aggie, Ernest Borgnine as her husband, Tom, and Barry Fitzgerald as the comical bachelor, Uncle Jack. Fierstein insists that he did not improve on Fitzgerald's performance and has re-christened his character to make the distinction. (International Herald Tribune -- Arts)
Does Madonna still matter? May 2, 2008
The pathetic Bette Davis in "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane". Charo. (Salon)
Legal appeal May 2, 2008
The episodes chosen for the boast early appearances by star-hatchlings like Robert Redford, Burt Reynolds and Ryan O'Neal, as well as a bizarre guest-lawyer performance by Bette Davis at her herky-jerkiest. But the shows themselves are still the attraction. (Salon)
Getting to know new coach Craig Robinson Apr 23, 2008
I m a big Bette Davis fan, Now, Voyager is my favorite. It s a coming-of-age love story. (Corvallis Gazette Times, OR)
The grande dame Apr 21, 2008
As a kid I used to think, "Bette Davis, that's who I want to be like," because I'm not beautiful and she wasn't particularly beautiful, but by Christ she could really do it. Mission accomplished, wouldn't you say. (Guardian Unlimited -- Arts)
Insulting Horror Apr 15, 2008
Prom Night': dumb, insulting and to die for (if you're Bette Davis) ... Prom Night': dumb, insulting and to die for (if you're Bette Davis) ... But it's hardly a way to become the next Bette Davis. (San Francisco Chronicle -- Entertainment)
A night you won't want to remember Apr 12, 2008
But it's hardly a way to become the next Bette Davis ... If Bette Davis were around now, she'd kill for a part in "Prom Night 2.". (Boston Globe)
Five star hotels have pampering down to a tee Apr 12, 2008
Visited by U.S. presidents (including Roosevelt and Kennedy), movie stars (Bette Davis, Gene Autry) and the occasional gangster (Al Capone), the Hermitage has been an icon for almost a century of history. For many years the hotel languished under numerous owners. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Travel)
Meryl Streep: Lincoln Center Film Honoree Apr 12, 2008
What's it like to act with Meryl Streep, movie icon, when you're say, 23 years old, and you grew up never knowing a world without La Streep, who in addition to her twin Academy Awards has gone to the Oscar bat no fewer than 14 times, leaving such other femme legends as Katharine Hepburn (12 noms) and Bette Davis (10 noms) in the dust. It comes as no surprise that today's twentysomething actors grew up knowing not the classy Sturm und Drang stuff like "Silkwood" and "Cry in the Dark" but rather... (Variety)
Gala to be Keys' last Apr 12, 2008
Bette Davis, on the other hand, shot back, "What took you so long?". Keys has actually been with the org from its first tribute, in 1972, when the society honored Charlie Chaplin. (Variety)
New on DVD: There is a well of talent in 'Blood' Apr 11, 2008
The Virgin Queen (* * 1/2; 1955, Fox, unrated, $20): In her second screen outing as Elizabeth I, Bette Davis steals this eye-soothing plodder from Richard Todd's Sir Walter Raleigh, who originally was intended to be the movie's focus. At 22, Joan Collins is a lady-in-waiting, and the DVD's making-of featurette makes you think you've just watched a better film than you have, which is a compliment. (USA Today -- Life)
DVD reviews: 'Will Be Blood,' 'Walk Hard' Apr 11, 2008
The Bette Davis CollectionFive films from the actress with the piercing eyes are gathered in a six-disc set, led by 1950s best-picture Oscar winner All About Eve, which gets a DVD makeover in a two-disc version that includes commentary featuring director Joseph L. Mankiewicz and co-star Celeste Holm. The film stars Davis as an aging stage star whose young fan (Anne Baxter) schemes to take over her idols life. (MSNBC -- Movies)
Bet on Bette Apr 9, 2008
Bette Davis, a salty legend who spanned distinct eras in Hollywood history, once said of aging: "Getting old is not for sissies." ... A new 20th Century Fox DVD box set, The Bette Davis Collection, shows just how sublimely talented Davis turned out to be in middle age ... Bette Davis was hardly lovable, but her performances were always mesmerizing. (Edmonton Sun)
Jules Dassin: Master of the Heist Apr 7, 2008
On seeing Phaedra an updated Greek tragedy that threw Anthony Perkins into the arms of stepmother Mercouri Pauline Kael compared it invidiously to a Bette Davis weepie. Both were making the same point: that art isn't only what comes from Europe, and that kitsch wasn't a Hollywood monopoly. (Time.com)
Chilled in Winnipeg Apr 5, 2008
Was it Bette Davis or Katherine Hepburn who said, Print anything you want, as long as it's not the truth. So now I read that I'm dating him oh, and him, too, and him and I just think, Wow, lucky me. (Globe and Mail)
Click for Full Story Apr 5, 2008
In 1908, actress Bette Davis was born in Lowell, Massachusetts; conductor Herbert von Karajan was born in Salzburg, Austria. In 1975, nationalist Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek died at age 87. (KWTX.com, TX)
Mother Goddam Apr 5, 2008
They tried to change her looks and even her name, but Hollywood never succeeded in taming Bette Davis's spirit ... Bette Davis: relaxing in 1939 ... There were two roles Bette Davis - who was born 100 years ago today - wanted and never got. (Guardian Unlimited)
New on DVD: 'Demon' Depp, Bette Davis and the 39th president Apr 4, 2008
By Mike Clark, USA TODAY This week's platinum picks are an eclectic bunch: Sweeney Todd, the third Bette Davis Collection and Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains ... The Bette Davis Collection, Vol. 3* * *, 1939-46, Warner, unrated, $60 When you get into Vol. 3 of almost anything, bones have been picked. (USA Today -- Life)
New DVDs: 'Sweeney Todd,' 'Chipmunks' Apr 4, 2008
Also new: Volume three Bette Davis collection, John From Cincinnati ... Bette Davis Collection: Volume ThreeThe Hollywood legend gets another boxed-set treatment with this six-disc collection packing half a dozen movies from the 1930s and 40: The Old Maid features Davis as an unmarried woman who gives up her daughter to be raised by a cousin and poses as the childs spinster aunt; All This, and Heaven Too casts Davis as a governess romanced by her employer (Charles Boyer)... (MSNBC -- Movies)
Witch who cast a spell over the movies Apr 3, 2008
If Bette Davis were alive today, she'd be 100 - and as wicked and funny as ever. Bette Davis died at 81, not a bad age for one of Hollywood's heroic smokers. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
As Lowell prepares to host a major film shoot, locals line up to audition for parts as extras Apr 3, 2008
Birthplace of Bette Davis and Jack Kerouac, Lowell, of course, is no stranger to fame. The city has been shown in numerous short movies, documentary films, and TV dramas, and tomorrow, it is set to launch its first film festival. (Boston Globe)
A Look At The Legend Apr 3, 2008
Assessing Bette Davis at 100. Article:Assessing Bette Davis at 100:/c/a/2008/04/01/DDETVTF08 ... DTL Article:Assessing Bette Davis at 100:/c/a/2008/04/01/DDETVTF08. (San Francisco Chronicle -- Entertainment)
Remembering Bette Davis on centennial of her birth Apr 3, 2008
The Associated Press Bette Davis as an aging actress in "All About Eve" (1950) ... Bette Davis, born 100 years ago this week, made her first appearance on film in 1931 and her last in 1989, and like every star of her generation she was always ready for her close-up. (International Herald Tribune)
Shakespearean tragedy: actor dies after play ends Apr 3, 2008
Welcome to The Sydney Morning Herald. A CAST member of an acclaimed Indian production of A Midsummer Night's Dream was found dead in a Sydney hotel three days after its Sydney season ended. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Australia)
Assessing Bette Davis at 100 Apr 3, 2008
The thinking on Bette Davis hasn't changed in decades ... And if the price of staying in the public eye was a reinforcement of the Bette Davis cliche, then Davis was willing to play "Bette Davis." When she made a personal appearance at the Masonic Auditorium in 1978, Davis entered with a cigarette, struck a pose and brayed "What a dump!" - her signature line from "Beyond the Forest." Toward the end of her life, when a stroke left her emaciated, delusional and crankier than ever, Davis went on... (San Francisco Chronicle)
All about Bette Apr 2, 2008
The city of Lowell just had a big celebration of favorite son Jack Kerouac, and now it's focused on another local star, Bette Davis ... Do you have Bette Davis eyes. (Boston Globe)
For the record Apr 1, 2008
Correction: Because of a reporting error, a Bette Davis quote from the film "Cabin in the Cotton" was inaccurate in a story in Sunday's Movies section. The line was, "I'd like to kiss you, but I just washed my hair.". (Boston Globe)
Back from D.C. ... is it opening day? Apr 1, 2008
The entry titled "Back from D.C. ... is it opening day?," and any of the comments about it. Commenting is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. M-F. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Sports)
Lowell Film Festival honors Bette Davis Mar 30, 2008
A focus on Bette Davis, ethnic groups, and globalization ... To celebrate the centennial of Bette Davis, one of its most famous native daughters, the city of Lowell is hosting a special evening celebration on Wednesday ... For details on the Bette Davis event, visit or call 978-275-1831. (Boston Globe)
New DVD from Fox is all about Bette Mar 30, 2008
After leaving Warner Brothers, where she made some of her most enduring films, Bette Davis washed up at 20th Century Fox. Darryl F. Zanuck's studio was never quite sure what to do with an actress of her stature, or of Davis's peculiar talents, a situation made clear by Fox's new five-disc "Bette Davis Collection" (coming out April 8, just one week after Warner's latest Bette set). (Boston Globe)
The sting of poverty Mar 30, 2008
Once, these questions were worked out on the big screen, by stars like Joan Crawford and Bette Davis. Today those melodramas have moved from fiction to the hyperreal world of the tabloid omniverse. (Boston Globe)
What ever happened to Bette Davis? Mar 30, 2008
What ever happened to Bette Davis ... Whatever happened to Bette Davis ... Bette Davis turns 100 on Saturday. (Boston Globe)
False Memory: The Strange Case of H. Clinton Mar 30, 2008
When she told her tall tale on television in the beautifully crafted performance that TV Guide rightly honored, she did it with a virtuosa's mastery of every nuance, displaying a range of emotions that would have made Bette Davis look one-dimensional. It wasn't just what she said that impressed but the stage setting, the costuming (the ladylike pinkish suit, the perfect hair), the delicate pose, just the right sight lines with the Lincoln portrait in the background, the tonal modulation that no... (Townhall.com)
THERES SOMETHING ABOUT BETTE Mar 30, 2008
March 30, 2008 -- BETTE DAVIS PLACED second to Katharine Hepburn in a 1999 American Film Institute list of the greatest female stars of all time ... Consider John Huston's 1942 melodrama "In This Our Life," one of six DVD debuts included in Tuesday's "The Bette Davis Collection Volume 3," which draws on the peak of her career at Warner Bros. (New York Post -- Entertainment)
Hollywood Assassination: Secret Screenplay 'Exposes' Indie Film World Mar 28, 2008
Bette Davis, he said, was "tough." Marilyn Monroe "was a ding dong. I liked old Marilyn. No one could get her out on the set.". Widmark s last film was "True Colors" in 1991. (Fox News)
New on DVD: 'Bonnie and Clyde,' other dark treats Mar 28, 2008
Due Tuesday: Johnny Depp sings and slices in Sweeney Todd; vintage Bette Davis, Tom Snyder with The Beatles (though not all together, alas). Posted. (USA Today -- Life)
Viagra introduces its latest celebrity backer: the devil Mar 27, 2008
Bette Davis: one of the great events of her time. Day In a Page. (Yahoo News -- Men's Health)
Fasten your seat belts with Bette Mar 26, 2008
Now, 100 years since the actor Bette Davis's birth, and 19 years since her death from breast cancer in 1989, she is to hit the big screen once again. New, improved prints of some of her most famous films - including All About Eve, Jezebel, The Letter and The Little Foxes - are being screened in cinemas around the country between now and July, in a collaboration between the British Film Institute and Turner Classic Movies. (Guardian Unlimited -- Film)
God and Tyler Perry vs. Hollywood Mar 21, 2008
That format, which fed decades of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford weepies, still raises its head occasionally--in the HBO series Big Love or Broadway's August: Osage County. And it's at the soapy, singing center of most Bollywood films. (Time.com)
Sidney Lumet puts his luminary career down to luck Mar 20, 2008
First of all, I don't think it's ever been true, whether you go back to James Cagney and the movies of the '30s or Bette Davis and the movies of the '40s and the villains they played. . (Melbourne Herald Sun)
Dowd: Ways of the wayward Mar 15, 2008
When Bette Davis played Elizabeth I, she was always sending her lovers off to the Tower of London when they made eyes at her pretty ladies-in-waiting. Catherine the Great was hardly known for her restraint. (International Herald Tribune -- Ed/Op)
Pre-code Hollywood Mar 8, 2008
-- ''Three on a Match'' (1932): Filled with alcoholism, drug abuse and child neglect, director Mervyn LeRoy's film is about three childhood friends from different social strata who grow up to become Bette Davis, Joan Blondell and Ann Dvorak. As a wealthy woman who deserts her kind husband and young son for a life of debauchery, Dvorak has the showiest and raunchiest part. (Pocatello Idaho State Journal, ID)
Soprano family values Mar 8, 2008
From Angelina Jolie's lips to Bette Davis' eyes, Hollywood starlets get digitally manipulated. Gossip. (Yahoo News -- The Sopranos)
