Is it just me or
Was there something off about the way Bette looked in this movie? Her eyes were unusually popped and her nose didn't seem like her own and her teeth looked horrible, but she was a chain smoker.
shareYes, she looks very different and that is by design. Her mouth has been shaped into almost a bow and she has been given puffy bangs along with some narrowing of her eyes a bit. I read about this in one of her biographies. The idea behind make-up artist Perc Westmore's look for her was to make her character look cheap and I think he succeeded. Appparently the public complained a great deal about her new look when the picture was released and Westmore was reprimanded by the WB brass and told never to so dramatically change Davis' look without prior permission. As Westmore said, studio heads saw the rushes every day. They knew the way Davis looked but didn't say anything until the public outcry and then they pretended like it was the first they had known about the change in her looks.
I think the only time she looks like Bette Davis is in the scene after Peter's suicide when she is in bed and Roy visits her. Because her bangs are off her forehead and I think the make-up is toned down a bit, she looks like Bette Davis normally looked in that period.
Thanks for the explanation. Have been watching this today on TCM.
Ms. Davis was never afraid to challenge her own good looks with odd make-ups.
This make-up is pretty weird.
Doesn't help having Olivia (already 8 years Bette's junior) looking so naturally lovely.
Always get a kick out of Davis's affectionate complaining about Olivia being 'so damned good-looking'. Nice to know these two wonderful actresses were real-life girlfriends.
Gu susanleslie2,
I hadn't seen the film in years and am watching it now. I think one of the problems was that Ms. Davis was a bit mature for the role. In trying to make her look like a vamp, Westmore made her look hard. As a previous poster noted before, she only looked like herself in one scene, when she is in bed. Davis had no vanity about her looks, but in this case, I wish she had.
She may have been a bit mature for the role, but women I have known who are sociopath-types always believe they are hot and vampish. They have a huge ego. I loved her in this movie and have never seen before. I am so happy TMC shows movies that aren't usually shown on other channels :)
shareI think "hard" was part of the goal here.
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Nothing to see here, move along.
The idea behind make-up artist Perc Westmore's look for her was to make her character look cheap and I think he succeeded.
Hah! So much for my taste - this is one of my favorite looks for her! Except for - as noted - her teeth, which look pretty bad here. share
I think the only time she looks like Bette Davis is in the scene after Peter's suicide when she is in bed and Roy visits her. Because her bangs are off her forehead and I think the make-up is toned down a bit, she looks like Bette Davis normally looked in that period.
I couldn't agree more. I was truly impressed by the huge change and by how gorgeous and much younger she looked in that particular scene, even though she was supposed to be feeling a huge grief. It kind of reminds me of Dark Victory. I think her makeup and hair in the other scenes were just too much, but then again, I think all of that was done totally on purpose, so that we'd perceive her as a complete nutcase.
Animal crackers in my soup
Monkeys and rabbits loop the loop
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