Bette Davis: A Basically Benevolent Volcano

This production is all over the map, mixing time-frames and interviews in an annoyingly haphazard manner.

Yes, the segments with then-healthy Davis are great, but they are joined with lame narration, and a confusing structure.

Having watched this immediately after an excellent Joan Crawford TCM docu, I was especially disappointed.

Being that this site requires ten lines, I'll include a side question. Has anyone read that hilarious book (whose title I have forgotten), detailing Miss Davis's bizarre stay at a family's home the year before she died?? Her home was in repair at the time. The true scenario is hilarious. OK, I just Googled, and it is "When Bette Davis Came for Dinner-And Stayed-And-Stayed-And Stayed" by Elizabeth Fuller. It's a hoot.

UPDATE: Catch the recent "Dick Cavett Show" DVD releases in 2006. The interview with Davis is fantastic.

Bette Davis: A Basically Benevolent Volcano (1983)

*** (out of 4)

Nice documentary/interview has Ian Holm narrating the story of Bette Davis who is also on hand to throw in some comments of her own. The documentary covers about sixty-minutes worth of material but many, many classic films are overlooked. We do get some discussion on how MGM pretty much threw her out of the studio when she came looking for a job and how Universal just used her as a kissing model. We hear about her eighteen years at Warner and how she eventually got out of her contract. Geraldine Fitzgerald, Anne Baxter, Olivia de Havilland and Joseph L. Mankiewicz are all interviewed and share a few good stories. As a documentary this thing is pretty weak because it really doesn't dig deep into Davis and her career and one could say it sugar coats a lot of stuff including her infamous temper and attitude. The one main reason to watch this is because of Davis herself who comes off very charming here and it's obvious she still had a great memory on her. It's too bad there wasn't more interview footage that had her talking at more length about her career. I doubt anyone will learn anything new here but it's still worth watching if you're a fan of Davis and want to see one of her last interviews.

Fans of Bette Davis will surely appreciate watching her talk about the subject dearest to Bette--herself. As with most actresses, like Katharine Hepburn, for instance, it's a subject that truly fascinates her. But somehow, I get the impression she was less than benevolent toward her co-workers.

She's entertaining to listen to as she recounts the stories behind the films she made--well, some of them--but there's lots of material that she never dares touches. The bitter feuds with Miriam Hopkins and Joan Crawford, in particular, are never detailed, nor are all the nervous breakdowns she gave her directors.

The most interesting of her co-stars is Olivia de Havilland, who admits to being frightened of Bette during their first two films, with Bette "only warming up to her" by the time they did IN THIS OUR LIFE. Bette retorts with, "Oh, you were always so damned pretty." De Havilland also reveals how Bette's flare-ups could be frightening, as when she lit into a technician fussing with the lighting.

William Wyler adds an amusing anecdote and Anne Baxter seems to have relished playing opposite her in ALL ABOUT EVE.

But it's what isn't revealed here that could have made the whole thing a little less sugar-coated than it is.

I read recently that when Ruth Roman was asked whether she would ever do another film with Davis (after BEYOND THE FOREST), she simply said, "I'll pass on that." There are many actresses who swear they would never do another film with her--and even sweethearts like Helen Hayes and Lillian Gish couldn't find a kind word to say about her behavior on the set of films she made late in her career. Presumably, she was less than benevolent during the last decade of her life. She also found fault with de Havilland for "upstaging" her at an award ceremony in Paris.

Still, fans will get a sense of her independent spirit and strong will from watching this recap of her career.

I saw this on TCM (Turner Classic Movies) when they ran a marathon of these classic interviews, and I happened to catch this one profiling Bette Davis.

The title "A basically benevolent volcano" refers to a comment used by Olivia De Havilland (one of the interviewees) to describe Bette (the two worked together in "IN THIS OUR LIFE" and "HUSH, HUSH SWEET CHARLOTTE").

A BBC-financed production, this interview with Bette (it was filmed after she had a mild stroke as she can be seen talking out of one side of her mouth, but before she had that massive stroke where it rendered her unrecognizable) takes you back to her childhood where her mother worked her back off to put her through school, and how Bette vowed that she would get a job that paid so well, her mother would never have to work again.

And that she did. From Broadway baby to Hollywood, Bette made an impact at MGM Studios where she filmed a few supporting roles in some duds and then was subsequently fired (ie her contract was not "renewed") where she caught the next train back to the East, about to throw in the towel, when Mr George Arliss himself gave her a telephone call and coaxed her back to Hollywood to star in his latest film as his love interest (LOL!).

They actually show a snippet from this film ("THE WORKING MAN") where Mr George Arliss, heavily dressed in lipstick and make-up, trying to bat away Bette's sexual advances toward him where he plays a man nearly 40 years her senior (if trash like this was filmed today, he would be replaced with Woody Allen).

Back in Hollywood, Bette manages to get a crack at stardom again, this time getting some choice roles as 'strong-willed' female characters, usually either as a victim of violence or a modern day woman. She further discusses her limited roles in generic (of the time) trash like "FASHIONS OF 1934" and "BUREAU OF MISSING PERSONS", but her big break came in 1935 when she finally won the Best Actress Oscar for "DANGEROUS".

She fondly remembers the one role out of her entire film career that she was satisfied with (acting-wise), in "DARK VICTORY" where she plays a heroic woman grappling with the fact that she is going blind. Co-star Geraldine Fitzgerald gives some insight on how intimidated she was from what people had said about Bette at the time. Apparently the word was going around that Bette did not like other actresses getting 'face time' on camera in the same scenes as her, and that if Geraldine wanted to share the camera, she would have to get between a piece of furniture so Bette couldn't push her out of the scene (LOL)! Apparently it turned out to be all lies, and Geraldine thought Bette was one of the sweetest actresses she had ever worked with.

Bette comments on her WWII effort with the opening of the "Hollywood Canteen", an outlet for army veterans to 'mingle' with the stars. They even show footage where she does a small number and goes on to do the jitterbug with a professional dancer where he throws her around causing her to get a few bruises on her knees, yet she wanted it to look as 'realistic' as possible and swore that she was only going to film this in one take, hence the part where she staggers back outside the canteen (all bruised up) to finish her swan song!

She then goes on to talk about her career-defining moment in "ALL ABOUT EVE", where interviewee Anne Baxter gives her two cents on what a brilliant actress she is.

Her film career stagnated for a while until she came back with "WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE?". Unfortunately, she (purposely?) avoids talking about this era, especially where it concerns her big comeback in the 60's horror genre (ie "THE NANNY", "HUSH HUSH", "DEAD RINGER", etc) and goes directly to the current day (ie. early 1980's) where she was still acting in her mid- 70's.

Not much is said on her many failed marriages, her disabled daughter "B.D.", the death of her mother or her countless publicized feuds with various actresses (including Ms Joan Crawford).

For a "film prospective", this is a pretty good documentary/interview. If you want to know more about the "personal life" of Bette Davis, you're probably better off with a Lifetime Television "Intimate Portrait". This was probably one of the last good interviews that she gave before she suffered the major stroke that really knocked her to the ground. She was never the same after that and it showed in both her films and personality (apparently she became so cantankerous, even sweethearts Lillian Gish and Helen Hayes couldn't say a nice thing about her).

"Bette Davis: A Basically Benevolent Volcano" was shown recently on TCM. This is basically an interview with Bette Davis more than a documentary. In it, we get to see the star of so many films talking to the camera about her views on her career and her films. Since it is a candid conversation with Ms. Davis, she seems to be directing her opinions to us, the viewers, on the other side of the room in an intimate way. The narration by Ian Holm makes a good deal of sense, enhancing what we one is watching.

What this interview could have used was a different format in which, in addition to telling us about herself, more emphasis in her career could have been illustrated with film clips that would have had a more comprehensive and cohesion in examining and illustrating her long association with the cinema. As it plays, one only gets to see some of her most obvious achievements, while other films in which she shone are not even mentioned, or are bypassed without an explanation.

We understand the limitations of this format, and the viewer is lucky to catch a fleeting glimpse of the woman who was a down to earth person in the land of make believe. Ms. Davis never lost touch with her Yankee values and no nonsense attitude toward everything she did. In fact, her puritanical background indicates her upbringing and the influence her mother had on her.

Bette Davis, the consummate actress and artist, confesses her quest for perfection and how most of her work didn't quite satisfy her. In fact, the only film that comes close to her best work seems to be "Dark Victory", which she considered to have met her criteria for the perfection she wanted in everything.

It's a shame that only Olivia DeHavilland, Anne Baxter, Geraldine Fitzgerald and Joseph L. Mankiewicz offer their opinions about Bette Davis. They knew her well, but one misses hearing from other voices too.

The interview is essential for Bette Davis' fans who can see one of the legends of the cinema recounting her life for our benefit.