S9.E2

Bette Davis: A Basically Benevolent Volcano

Episode aired Nov 2, 1983
1h

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

A documentary about and an interview with Hollywood actress Bette Davis about her life and career from the late 1920s to the 1980s on stage and mostly before the camera.A documentary about and an interview with Hollywood actress Bette Davis about her life and career from the late 1920s to the 1980s on stage and mostly before the camera.A documentary about and an interview with Hollywood actress Bette Davis about her life and career from the late 1920s to the 1980s on stage and mostly before the camera.

Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.2/10

588

YOUR RATING

Stars

8User reviews

See production info at IMDbPro

Photos

Storyline

Edit

Did you know

Edit

Quotes
Olivia de Havilland: Bette Davis is a basically benevolent volcano.

Connections
Featured in Hollywood Greats: Bette Davis (1999)

User reviews8

Review

Featured review

Horribly produced docu

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.