Bette and Joan The Divine Feud

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Authors: Shaun Considine

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BETTE AND JOAN
The Divine Feud

 

Copyright © 1989, 2008 by Shaun Considine

 

All rights reserved, No part of this book my be used, reproduced or transmitted by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in brief quotations embossed in critical articles ands reviews

 

Originally published by E.P. Dutton in the U.S.

 

and Random House and Little, Brown in the United Kingdom

 

web site:
shaunconsidine.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The original best-selling book.
With a galaxy of new photos,
posters and a bonus section.

Bette and Joan:
The Divine Feud

 

Reviews

 

"Fascinating and vastly entertaining….all you want is more."

 

Time Out
magazine

 

"A hugely entertaining chronicle - juicy, unrestrained and exhaustively researched. A movie fan's dream. A gossip aficionado's bible."

 

Syndicated columnist Liz Smith

 

"The book has the pace of a tennis match, as the narrative bounces from Crawford's career to Davis's, and back again, all told in a rip-roaring style. A definite ten."

 

New York
magazine

 

"Over ten years in the writing this isn't merely a catch-penny item. It is well researched throughout and quite riveting to read. Splendid stuff!"

 

Film Review
magazine

 

"Should dead coals be raked over? Ah, but these are not women, or even human beings, but glorious, impossible monsters, as deadly and unreal as the Medusa. Their story may be fact, but it is nonetheless, and irresistibly, legend. Let me shame the devil...I loved it."

 

Playwright Hugh Leonard

 

"Quite the best read I've had across the Atlantic - or anywhere else, come to that."

 

Actress Dame Diana Rigg

 

"It is one of those 'don't-put-it-down' books...fascinating…funny, sad, tragic. it's just terrific."

 

Playwright Robert Anderson

 

"'Bette and Joan' is divine fun. Just thinking about a passage would send me into spasms of laughter - on the subway, in the office, on the street, by myself. It kept me in book pleasure Nirvana, one of those rare books you want never to end. Along with being a comic masterpiece, it is a moving and intimate portrait of two one-of-a-kind dames."

 

Author Donna Marie Nowak

 

CONTENTS

 

Title Page

Copyright & Permissions

Reviews

Preface

Part One: 1908-1945

Chapter 1

Sex and Billie Cassin

Bette and Boys

Billie and Bette—Two Dancers

Chapter 2

Bette—A Serious Actress

Joan Goes Straight

Chapter 3

Bette Arrives in Hollywood

Crawford Takes on the Divine Garbo

Grand Hotel—The Premiere

Chapter 4

The New Bette

The True Story of the Divorce of Doug and Joan

Trouble in Paradise

Chapter 5

Bette—A Bitch Is Born

Bette and Joan—Rivals in Love

The Lion versus the Penitentiary

Chapter 6

Joan Tone

The Fight for Scarlett O'Hara

Joan's Sex Life

Bette's Sex Life

Bette and the Kinky Tycoon

Chapter 7

Joan Falls and Rises

The Women

Chapter 8

The 1940s Begin

Glamorous Bette

Daddy Dearest

Chapter 9

The War Years

Queen Bette

And Then There Was Miriam

Chapter 10

Joan's Last Days at Metro

Joan Joins Warner Bros.

The Death of a Husband

Chapter 11

Brave Bette

Getting It

Meanwhile, Back at the Hollywood Canteen

Hello, Joan!

Mildred Pierce

The Casting of the Film

Oscar Night

Part Two: The Years 1946-1977

Chapter 12

Two Queens on One Throne

Chapter 13

Mother Bette

Bette's Last Days at Burbank

Chapter 14

Les Femmes Sauvages

All About Eve

Chapter 15

The Fabulous Fifties

Bette Plays Joan

Joan and the Universal Beefcake Boys

Joan and Marilyn

Chapter 16

Gunfight at the Not-Ok Corral

Joan Gets Lynched by the Press

Chapter 17

"Black Years" for Bette

Chapter 18

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?

Goodbye, Norma Jean

The Selling of Baby Jane

The Oscars

Chapter 19

Bette Bounces Joan from Cannes

The Feud Rolls On

Star Wars Part Two

Cannibal Time in Dixie

Chapter 20

Queens of Horror

The Ladies Who Lunch

Bette and Olivia

Bette and Kate

The Race Goes On

A Call from Bette and Joan

Chapter 21

The Twilight Years

A Last Call from Joan

Bette Rises, Again

Chapter 22

Mother Bette

Bette and Helen and Lillian

The Main Contender

Footnotes

Bonus Photo Gallery

Acknowledgements

 

 

 

 

 

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