Bette Davis Eyes

Bette Davis led a very interesting life. She was a Hollywood movie star at a time when actors were on contract with studios. As such, they did the roles given to them by the studios. This had a huge influence on Bette, not only in terms of the movies she made, but also in her attitudes toward her work and her struggles to win the roles she wanted. This play is a retrospective of her career, as told by her at the age of 43. She reprises some of her movie roles, from Mildred, in Of Human Bondage, 1934, to Margo Channing, in All About Eve, 1950. Along the way, she reveals details about her personal life during those years. A one woman, one hour monologue with an on-stage dresser, playing multiple small occasional roles. Simple single set. Many costume and wig changes, done on stage without a break in the performance. The play is a retrospective of the life and career of Bette Davis, done in the first person. It takes place in 1950, right after finishing All About Eve, at the age of 43, and covers her life up until that point.

Drama. 60 minutes. 1 female. 1 dresser.

Produced by Talia Pura See more in Actor

Excerpt

Bette Davis Eyes © Talia Pura

This excerpt may not be used for any purpose whatsoever. Rights to produce, in whole or in part, by any group, amateur or professional, are retained by the author.

BETTE: Then I got pregnant. Both Ruthie and Ham insisted a baby would be bad for my career, and besides, did I think that he was going to let ME pay the hospital bills when the baby was born? A studio doctor performed the abortion. After Ham brought me home I went to bed and cried for hours.

And a lot I was saving myself for, too! Sure, I made a lot of pictures and a lot of money. I was on the cover of scads of magazines, but the roles I was given were largely unsatisfying. They just wouldn’t take me seriously. They had me all done up like a third-rate imitation of the MGM glamour queens. That isn’t me. I’ll never be a clotheshorse or a romantic symbol. They said I was beautiful. Beautiful? Never. Striking, sometimes, if I’m lucky. Besides, I wanted to be praised for my talent, not my legs or my hair or my eyes.

Finally, I heard that John Cromwell wanted to borrow me for Mildred in Of Human Bondage. What a marvelous part for an actress. No other Hollywood star would touch it. Jack Warner was afraid to let me play it. He thought it would destroy my career. Mildred was a very unsympathetic character, but after all those horrible B grade movies, I had to take the risk. I showed up in Jack’s office every morning for months. Finally he said I could go hang myself if I wanted to. I immersed myself in that role like no other before it. I was appalled when I realized that I was able to understand Mildred’s vileness and machinations.

“ You cad, yew dirty swine! I never cared for yew – not once. I was always makin a fool of yuh! Yuh BORED ME STIFF! I HATED yuh! It made me SICK when I had to let yuh KISS ME! I only did it because yuh BEGGED me. Yuh HOUNDED me, yuh DROVE ME CRAZY, and after yuh kissed me, I always used to WIPE MY MOUTH! WIPE MY MOUTH! But I made up for it. For every kiss I had to LAUGH. (laugh) We LAUGHED at yuh! Miller and me and Griffith and me! We LAUGHED at yuh because yuh were such a mugger, mugger, MUG! (throw cup) You know what you are, you gimpy-legged monster? You’re a cripple, a cripple, a cripple!”

Not only did I allow myself to be so mean and raw, I also insisted that I look exactly as I should. Mildred was not going to die of a dread disease looking as if a deb. had missed her noon nap. It was unheard of in 1934 for a star to look bad on film willingly. Most still won’t do it, but I got my way.

When the public preview came, I sent Ham to see it. I was too nervous to go, the reaction to that picture meant too much to me. Finally he came home, but he didn’t say anything. Well?

HAM: Bette, it was just too painful for me to watch. I’m afraid it might be the same for your audiences. I doubt that it will do your career much good. It might even do you harm.

BETTE: I went to the next preview to see if he was right. I was stunned. I was so much nastier than I had expected. And I looked so ghastly. I waited the two months until the picture debuted in New York. Audiences were shocked, but the critics, and finally the public, loved it. Everyone said I was a sure thing for an Academy Award, but I didn’t win. The Academy was so conservative, not ready for Mildred. So I didn’t get an Academy statuette, but I did think Mildred would convince Jack Warner that I could handle juicy roles in top-flight productions. I was wrong about that, too. It was back to second rate characters that were nothing more than window-dressing. And the more frustrating the studio became, the less interest Ham showed in my career. There were times when he was as distantly related to my career crisis as a fur trader in the Yukon.