A must read / listen

I’ve read and listened to this book over thirty times in the last 15 years and it just keeps getting more enjoyable.

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1 person found this helpful

Skin deep

Before reading this book, I had vague memories of watching Crawford and Davis in old black and white movies, and had heard something of the bad feeling between the two, but my knowledge was sketchy. This book changed all of that. Anyone who reads it will come away with a clear and detailed picture of the lives of these two incredible women. The author does a great job of portraying the totality of their characters. Neither were likeable, and their behaviour at times was disgusting -particularly to people they could get away with harming. However, reading about their childhoods and the abuse they both suffered was also harrowing. The consequences were unsurprising: mental illness, toxic relationships, substance abuse and - at any rate in the case of Joan Crawford - what looks like sex addiction. Overall, this is a fascinating book, and depicts Hollywood at a time when it was at its most magical.

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A wonderful insight into a bygone era...

This is easily the best book I’ve ever read about the golden age of Hollywood; the glitz, the glamour, the double-deals and, of course, the feuding. And nowhere was there a greater, more enduring feud than that between the two undisputed queens of Tinsel Town, Bette Davis and Joan Crawford.

Davis, the ‘serious’ actress, with credits and accolades on stage and screen going back decades. Feisty and uncompromising, intense and demanding, arriving on set alone, eating alone, leaving alone; and Crawford, the ‘Movie Star’; glamourous and aloof, pampered and indulged, and always accompanied by her entourage of assistants, stylists, make-up experts and assorted hangers-on. Both of these women were every bit as serious about their status as Queens of Hollywood, and both every bit as prepared to defend that title, whatever it took.

The book follows their individual paths to fame and glory; Davis, slogging it out in small theatre productions in suburban America; Crawford, with the dazzling beauty and dancing skills, working as a chorus girl, all the time looking for the next step up. On the way they both began to develop the hard shell they would need to break the big time. For Davis this became her acid wit and abrasiveness; for Crawford, her beauty and permissiveness became a weapon she would use to get what or who she wanted. And all the time, they kept an ever-watchful eye out for potential competition, which had to be wiped out at the first opportunity. For both of them, being a movie queen wasn’t a job, it was a 24hr, 7 days a week vocation, one which they both played to the hilt.

And then came ‘Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?”

By the time they finally got to work together both women were established A-listers in the Hollywood scene, and by this time had substantial reputations that went before them. The movie world held its breath at what could happen when these two immovable forces met.

Determined not to give the salivating media what it wanted, both artists individually decided to try and outdo each other by being as nice and supportive as possible. Whilst this approach definitely threw the press off-guard, the pressure of keeping this ‘nicey-nice’ act up, day after long day, started to wear the stars down, and tiny cracks started to appear.

The narration, by January LaVoy (Great name btw), is first-class and keeps the listener engaged throughout. Miss LaVoy also has a wonderful way of suggesting the speech patterns of the two stars (Davis very clipped and staccato, Crawford measured and purring) without descending into a full-on impression, which would’ve been distracting.

There are many, many wonderful insights into the golden era of Hollywood, but one of my favourites, which demonstrates how the stars of the day were constantly on their guard against criticism, and ready with a well-aimed putdown, happened when young Crawford is shooting a scene with an older, established actress, whose husband happens to be directing. The older actress is threatened by Crawford’s outfit, and tells Crawford, “If you’re wearing that to impress my husband, don’t bother. He doesn’t like women who dress like circus clowns.”

“No need to worry, Darling,” purrs Crawford, “I’ve never had a problem taking my clothes off for your husband.”

Absolute gold-dust

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8 people found this helpful

Brilliant

A classic at last available on audio. Faultlessly gossipy text with one of the best narrators. Had stuff to do but this just captivated me. Read it when it first came out and it has improved with age. Viva divas!

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6 people found this helpful

A must-listen & perfectly read.

Highly recommended to those interested in these Hollywood greats. If you watched the tv show there’s plenty more here to sink your teeth into. Perfectly narrated. A must-listen.

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3 people found this helpful

Fantastic book!

l loved listening to every minute of this fascinating and very well written book. Highly recommended!

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2 people found this helpful

Divine subject divine audio book

Loved this book! Read for us by a lady with a voice one step away from American sensationalism!! Hearing it is like stepping back in time to the days of Magical Hollywood when stories were on the QT and always hush hush. This book does a grand job at presenting both actresses lives in full colour detail with a plethora of original named sources and reminiscences. There’s a little bit of Joan then a little bit Bette to compare and consider. Therefore, you never stop thinking about how parallel their star studded lives were. I adored this book and if you have any respect whatsoever for either Joan or Bette (I’m team Bette all the way) then please give it a go. Wonderful!!!

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1 person found this helpful

Enlightening and engaging

Fascinating story. shed a great deal of light on this troubled relationship and the individuals involved. If you like old Hollywood definitely worth a read.

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Fantastic performance

With a compelling book about so many legendary, larger than life characters, January LaVoy brings life, variety, and humour to an enthralling listen!

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Wow, what a book!!!

This really is a fantastic read, I knew very little about these 2 but wow, what a pair they were!!! 😀😀

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