Larry Cohen's Side of the Story (shocking details)

I just read an article on the Film Comment site where director Larry Cohen writes about his experience with Bette Davis on "Wicked Stepmother" and why she left the film. It's an interesting read. According to Cohen, after Davis left the film she later gave a sworn statement to the completion bond lawyers that she left because of her dental problems and not anything Larry Cohen did. Cohen claims that Davis' stories about creative differences was simply Davis trying to protect herself from embarrassment and the fear that she would not be insurable in future films. After Davis left (and not being able to get Lucille Ball due to her illness), Cohen had to rewrite the script so that he could somehow still use the footage with Bette Davis. Anyway, it sounds like it was a disaster from the start.

Aside from that, Cohen mentions a horrifying incident involving a special effect gone awry with Bette Davis hooked up to a self-igniting cigarette. A wire in the FX rig accidentally delivered an electrical shock to Davis. The incompetent FX guy tried to fix it and then wound up shocking her even worse. And then a third attempt created a flash fire that scorched Davis' eye. Unbelievable. Cohen also mentions another incident where Davis took a bad fall after tripping on cables. And the woman only worked one week on the film! Those two incidents alone would have been reason enough for her to leave.

http://www.filmcomment.com/article/i-killed-bette-davis