The Hollywood motion movie industry started in 1900's and was first shown using a series of audacious conceptions. Such as editing, backdrops and visual flows by the hell-bent and optical illusionist aspiring film makers.
The Silent Film era (also know as Retroactive) witnessed high and low cast actors take to their silver screen. These were films in which dialogue was transmitted through muted gestures, mime and title card with written indication of the plot. Generally, actors used their facial expressions and body movements in order to convey the key dialogue and explain each scene. The question is, how many of us are willing to be in the “tardis” and be transported back to the mid 1890s to 1920s?
In those years, directors and producers never stopped from aiming for the best projects or next in line advanced motion adventure. That is why, around 1923 the Silent Film was replaced with an improved motion picture referred to as Talkies. It is the era in which sound technology in a form of synchronised dialogue (exclusively short) was coupled to images. Why exclusively short dialogue? Despite the ambitious and creative minds of film makers, the reliable synchronisation idea was difficult to achieve with the early sound-on-disc systems and also, amplification as well as recording quality were also inadequate.
Due to the Talkies many Silent actors were badly affected and as a result, there were a rising numbers of layoff and inundation of job projects lose. It's because not all of them possessed well- pronounced voices with clear diction when filmed using the synchronised dialogue. For this reason alone, many were left with no choice but to turn down projects they applied for. On the other hand, there were several actors who stayed in the industry and carried-out off screen positions behind each film.
Years passed and a few remained in the spotlight of the movie industry's showbiz game. These were actors who fought for their hard-earned “status star quos” who even accepted projects below their upkeep standard. How downgrading but the truth is, it paid off their periodic bills and more importantly, they still remained in the public domain and paparazzi flashes.
In Hollywood's world of movie and television, there were several famous actors who were flexible and had good voices, too. That is why, they were able to maintain the torch existence of their “status star quos”. Personally speaking, I could mentioned two great late actresses of their period whose prominence in Hollywood resonated because of their matchless beauty and talent. In addition to this, their matchless popularity was left behind in Hollywood's world of movies and television which inspired the making of an American anthology television series entitled FEUD. It is a television drama premiered on the 05th of March 2017, Season 1: Bette and Joan, for FX (Fox Extended) channel which was created by Ryan Murphy, Jaffe Cohen and Michael Zam.
The FX television drama series, FEUD, was produced in the now but directed to look as if it was filmed around after 1923. Who knows some of you have watched this dramatisation series which highlighted Jessica Lange as the most beautiful Joan Crawford and Susan Sarandon as the most talented Bette Davis?
I watched all 8 episodes of FEUD's season 1, Bette and Joan. and the portrayal of the lives of two great late actresses of their times was admirably superb. Effectively, after watching the first episode the chance to see another was irrepressible. Its because the excitement of appreciating the past was brimming with exquisite character. Such as, it wasn't satiated with computer-generated imagery (CGI) and other ostensible Photoshop elements. More importantly, we should not least forget the people behind the set who travailed to create each film & television location. Moroever, each lead character was portrayed with authenticity in order to show the “status star quos”. A taste of their brilliance was in episode, Abandoned, when Joan Crawford and Bette Davis uttered to one another during their confrontational scene and I quote, “...it was never enough ...”.
Joan responds, “It was wonderful! The most joyous thing you could ever imagined and it was never enough.
Joan to Bette: “What about you? How did it feel to be the most talented girl in the world?”
Bette replies, “Great! It was never enough.”
When Joan Crawford (birth name, Lucille Fay LeSueur) was at the age of 23, her 6 molars were removed (The Buckle) in order to work pass the showbiz age game of 25. When she became part of the Hollywood motion movie industry, her face with elegantly angled cheeks eventually became her best asset. For that reason and for years of being in the television industry, she was known as The Most Beautiful Girl in the World. When she was very fresh and young, she was very used to getting the “things” her own way. That is why, when her beauty began to age and new fresh faces were discovered and emerged in front of her eyes she still didn't concede nor give way to others. Actually, she tricked a few fresh faces in the industry who were nominees for winning the Best Actress at the Oscars. Boldly, she met them in person and played the Damsel in distress in order to get their sympathy and for them to offer her the opportunity to accept the Academy Award of Merit on their behalf. Her plotted deception with the helped of a gossip columnist, Hedda Hopper played by Judy Davis, triumphantly worked!
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| (Jessica Lange as the most beautiful Joan Crawford) |
Joan Crawford's preservation of her title in the Hollywood motion movie industry also manifested in her fabulous mansion in Brentwood Los Angeles, California. In particular, her sitting room sofas were covered in plastic slipcovers which was an evident way of preserving their beauty to last as days pass by. On the other hand, her life inside the mansion and in the circle of showbiz was fully assisted by Mamacita played by Jackie Hoffman who worked as her housekeeper. The only woman who absorbed her tantrums as a famous female star and understood her flaws as a woman. Shall I say, Mamacita was the only familiar face who enduringly stood beside her especially when she was diagnosed of and battling pancreatic cancer until her last breath in her apartment at Imperial House in New York City.
Bette Davis never gave-up working and even projects that were beyond her normal standards, she still accepted and pursued them professionally. Its because Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis had recurring bills to pay particularly those of her special daughter at the Lochland School in Geneva, New York who was diagnosed with brain damage at age 3. Even though Bette Davis was divorced 4 times, the responsibility of raising her children was left entirely on her shoulder. When her career as an actress was diverting more into theatrical roles, an opportunity was directly offered to her when Joan Crawford visited her in person. As a result, they were able to work together for a gothic story of two aging sisters entitled, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? In which Bette played the antagonist fictional character Baby Jane Hudson who paralleled the acting ability of Crawford as the paralysed (from the waist down) Blanche Hudson.
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| (Susan Sarandon as the most talented Bette Davis) |
Henry Farrell's 1960 novel, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, revived Bette Davis' Hollywood persona as the Most Talented Girl in the World which was an avenging slapped on the face of Joan Crawford. Its because in the early years of Bette's career she was reprehended by the producer to take part in a big project as she wasn't as beautiful as Crawford. However, in the latter years of Bette's life she admitted that Joan Crawford wasn't just beautiful as she was a very good actress, too. That is why when Joan Crawford's face was only shown for 2 seconds during the Memoriam Segment show at the Oscars, Bette made a dolorous statement and I quote, “ That's it, Christ! 30 years in showbizness and they gave her 2 seconds!”. Subsequently after the heated popularity of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? and the failed victory for Best Actress at the Oscars, she still stayed in the Hollywood's limelight with the esteem support from her friend Olivia de Havilland played by Catherine Zeta-Jones. Personally speaking, Bette's sardonic attitude towards fellow actors wasn't for the ill- purpose of making them uncomfortable, it was her way of survival. That is why, it yielded a few distinguishable positions like being the co-founder of the Hollywood Canteen and the first female president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
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| (Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis and Lucille Fay LeSueur "Joan Crawford") |
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| (Susan Abigail Sarandon and Jessica Phyllis Lange) |
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