Stardust: The Bette Davis Story (2006)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Extremely entertaining documentary on the life and career of legend Bette Davis features countless interviews with the actress from various shows including 60 Minutes and the Steve Allen Show. The documentary runs 90-minutes and I feel an extra half hour would have helped things because the movie quite often jumps around from her film life to her sexual life. We hear about all five husbands but also how many other actresses, including Joan Crawford, ended up hating her because she would sleep with their husbands or boyfriends. I'm really not sure all of the dirt was needed but it's here. Also on hand is discussing about how difficult she was to work with and how Jack Warner eventually had to sue her to get her to work. We get interviews with James Woods, Jane Fonda, Ellen Burstyn, Gena Rowlands and Samuel Goldwyn, Jr.. Vincent Sherman is also interviewed where he discusses how difficult she made shooting their first film together and when he asked to be let go, according to him, Davis took him back to her house for a sexual night. In the end we pretty much learn that Davis had a very rough life style and it probably ended with her being very lonely. After a series of strokes and the heartbreak of her daughter writing a not-so-friendly book, she eventually went on a tour to great acclaim. No matter how tough her life is, there's no doubt she left us with some great films, which is the documentaries main point to get across.
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Extremely entertaining documentary on the life and career of legend Bette Davis features countless interviews with the actress from various shows including 60 Minutes and the Steve Allen Show. The documentary runs 90-minutes and I feel an extra half hour would have helped things because the movie quite often jumps around from her film life to her sexual life. We hear about all five husbands but also how many other actresses, including Joan Crawford, ended up hating her because she would sleep with their husbands or boyfriends. I'm really not sure all of the dirt was needed but it's here. Also on hand is discussing about how difficult she was to work with and how Jack Warner eventually had to sue her to get her to work. We get interviews with James Woods, Jane Fonda, Ellen Burstyn, Gena Rowlands and Samuel Goldwyn, Jr.. Vincent Sherman is also interviewed where he discusses how difficult she made shooting their first film together and when he asked to be let go, according to him, Davis took him back to her house for a sexual night. In the end we pretty much learn that Davis had a very rough life style and it probably ended with her being very lonely. After a series of strokes and the heartbreak of her daughter writing a not-so-friendly book, she eventually went on a tour to great acclaim. No matter how tough her life is, there's no doubt she left us with some great films, which is the documentaries main point to get across.