Feuds are never one sided or provoked by just one event. They are a culmination of aggression, insecurity, and pain. Hollywood has a long history of encouraging infighting to sell papers and attract attention. The feud between actresses Joan Crawford and Bette Davis remains one of the more famous Hollywood case studies. It spans multiple decades and films, including the 2017 Feud miniseries, which focuses on Crawford and Davis’ tumultuous relationship.
Rather than simply examining how the two hated one another, the miniseries details why the feud existed, and why the film industry pitted the two monumental actresses against one another. Ryan Murphy’s show thus progresses the conversation around feuds to highlight how fruitless and destructive they are, rather than just how dramatic they can be.
I am going to focus on two memorable scenes from the show, those which highlight transformative moments in Crawford and Davis’ life. These are sequences where Crawford and Davis make an important decision which radically changes their career and contributes to this feud. By making these decisions, Crawford and Davis are essentially making a statement against one another. In other words, it is never just a decision but a decisive move in a larger game, one which neither Crawford nor Davis benefits from or controls.
Creating Baby Jane
Crawford and Davis starred in one film together: What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? This 1962 film is about two sisters stuck in a toxic and violent relationship. Crawford’s character is a wheelchair bound ex-starlet, and Davis is an eccentric and sinister ex-child star. The film centers on Davis’ increasing madness and the struggle between the two sisters.
What happened during production is perhaps more famous than the film itself. The studio made sure that Crawford and Davis were working against one another, rather than co-working. If the two had teamed up, they would have been far too powerful and demanding. They were easier to manipulate and control when they were alone.
The scene where Davis creates Baby Jane demonstrates how different Davis and Bette were, and how intentional this difference was. Davis’ makeover is framed like a monster creation sequence, a ‘It’s alive’ moment we generally associate with horror films. It turns something as simple as a costume into something terrible and frightening. At the same time, we see how every small decision, from wig to powder, is a statement against Crawford.
While other 60’s horror films were still trying to recreate Psycho, Baby Jane is more direct about its horror. There is never any question of who the antagonist is. She is the crazy one in the frightening makeup. The horror in Davis’ look announces itself, and in doing so, draws everyone’s attention to Davis rather than Crawford. This of course lends to the film’s twist ending, which I wont spoil here because Baby Jane is required viewing.
Feud suggests that Crawford took the project because she assumed people would sympathize with her character. It never occurred to her that people would enjoy watching the villain more than her. Feud pinpoints Crawford’s insecurity by exaggerating the birth of Davis’ creation. As Davis walks to set in full costume, every spotlight turns and follows her. She has literally brought the production to life by creating this character. Before Davis’ entrance, it was just a film, now it is a horror film.
Each piece of Davis’ costume is a statement about Crawford and what she represents. For context, we see different versions of Crawford getting ready throughout the miniseries. We see her meticulous morning routine, and her attention to detail and makeup. It all goes into creating Crawford’s pristine and self-obsessed persona, one which she is forced to maintain because of Hollywood’s abusive and youth-centric model. There is even a scene later in the series where Crawford talks about removing multiple teeth for a more dramatic jaw line. This is the extent to which Crawford is willing to sacrifice herself. More importantly, that is what Hollywood asks of its starlets. Hollywood is more horrifying than anything in Baby Jane.
Davis is willing to sacrifice, but in a different way. She is willing to become the old maid which Hollywood is so afraid of. Baby Jane is the ghost of MGM’s past, as she parodies and ridicules their ideals. She is a washed up and abused child-star who never recovered from the trauma of Hollywood, and who never grew up. As a result, Baby Jane feels like a child but looks like a mature adult. Crawford similar struggles with aging and career suggests that Davis’ performance is an extreme version of Crawford’s identity, as is her costume.
For example, Baby Jane’s blonde hair is a wig which Crawford wore in a 1930’s film. The symbolism of Davis picking it suggests that she is incorporating Crawford into her performance and also poking fun at the beautiful character Crawford once played. Likewise, her white face comes from stage makeup, another parody of Hollywood ideals. Rather than a blonde hair, blue eyed, and pale figure, Baby Jane is a heavily constructed and artificial replica of early Hollywood. Even her drawn-on beauty mark relates to extravagance and Monroe-aesthetics. It is all a hyper aware parody of the popularity Crawford is still trying to achieve.
Baby Jane’s representation in Feud versus in Baby Jane emphasizes the lengthy creation and purpose involved in Davis’ characterization. It also emphasizes Davis as the sole creator of Baby Jane, every aspect and what it symbolizes.
The moment when Davis marches onto set in her new look is astonishing. The music swells, we cut to her, and a spotlight slashes across her body, revealing her frightening creation. Walking towards the camera, Davis takes up the entire frame. This signals just how much attention Davis will receive for the role, and how domineering she is as an actress, two factors which Crawford must contend with.
And the Award Goes To?
Joan undergoes a radically different transformation, one which is a more direct criticism of Davis. Much to the surprise of everyone, Baby Jane is a huge hit, and it garners a lot of critical acclaim. However, only Davis is nominated for an Academy Award, which leaves an already insecure Crawford on the offense.
Rather than supporting her co-star, Crawford approaches the other actresses nominated in Davis’ category and asks if she could accept on their behalf. As a result, Crawford wins Davis’ award without the nomination. It is a crazy scene which actually happened, and is perhaps the most dramatic moment in the feud between Davis and Crawford. Both women had previously won Academy Awards, but Davis had two while Crawford had one. This move sort of gave Crawford her second award, but at a huge cost.
When Crawford accepted the award, there was little doubt of what she was doing. While Davis’ makeup transformation was a subtle attack at Crawford, Crawford ‘win’ was a huge and public insult to Davis.
The audience might have applauded Crawford while she was on stage, but no one wanted to work with her after this moment. This move made her seem petty, undignified, and rude.
I classify this scene as a transformation because it is the moment where Crawford transformed her career. Everything changed after this point, and she became more volatile in the industry.
When they announce Anne Bancroft instead of Davis, we hear a mic drop and static feedback as Davis reels in shock. This sound symbolizes a few things. It represents Joan dropping a mic on Davis or dealing her ultimate blow. It similarly relates to the cultural shock of Crawford accepting an award that was not hers, and essentially outmaneuvering the academy. We also hear a ringing noise in the following moments, as though an explosion has gone off. It certainly has for Bette, who holds her breath until Crawford walks away with the award.
Just before this, as Crawford is about to walk on stage, she drops and squishes her cigarette underneath her silver shoe. Crawford wore silver to contrast the gold award, and to signal that she could make her own award without anyone’s approval. However, this extinguishing motion also refers to Crawford’s transformation, as she inadvertently extinguishes her career with this move. That much is evident by the ensuing photograph scene, where Crawford poses with the other recipients. None of the recipients seem particularly happy to see Crawford, especially as she is acting as though she won the award herself. She even covers the name plaque on the award for photos.
Each of these transformation scenes illustrate that the feud between Crawford and Davis came from several micro-aggressions, those which built over time. Davis was trying to invent her character while also reacting to Crawford’s gossip headlines. Crawford was in a similar uncertain place, as she had been insulted by the Academy Awards. Neither of these situations warranted Davis and Crawford’s behaviour, but they do explain them. It is not even a matter of wanting to be malicious; they were pushed to be.
Feud demonstrates that these two powerhouses were more similar than they were led to believe, and the male dominated industry was afraid of these similarities. I mean, Crawford dismantled the Academy Awards. She did that on her own, imagine what her and Davis could have done together. Their feud was a way to keep them apart from one another, and a way to distract them from taking control or fighting for each other rather than themselves. Although the title of the miniseries is Feud, the show ultimately mourns what could have been if things were different, if they could have been friends. Although such a thing would have been impossible, Murphy’s series makes a point of praising solidarity rather than glorified aggression.