Bette Davis: A Basically Benevolent Volcano (TV 1983)

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:

Bette Davis, Ian Holm, Geraldine Fitzgerald

Cast

Credited cast:
Bette Davis	...	Herself
Ian Holm	...	Narrator
Geraldine Fitzgerald	...	Herself
Anne Baxter	...	Herself
Olivia de Havilland	...	Herself
Joseph L. Mankiewicz	...	Himself (as Joseph Mankiewicz)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
George Brent	...	Himself (archive footage)

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

character name in title

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Genres:

Documentary

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Also Known As:

Bette Davis: The Benevolent Volcano

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min 60 min (TCM print)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Features June Bride (1948)

User Reviews

An entertaining look at the life of a legend

I must admit before my critique that I have a bias. It's because of Bette Davis that I fell in love with film. The movie was "Dark Victory," and I only saw Part 1 on television, but it was enough. When I went to college, I was able to see many of her greatest films with my friends, and those movies stand side by side with some wonderful memories.

Before her debilitating stroke, Bette Davis gave a highly entertaining interview which is incorporated into this British documentary. The portions in which she discusses her life and career are the best parts. The film clips are so grainy as to be distracting. Besides Davis, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Anne Baxter, Olivia de Havilland, and Joseph Mankiewicz are interviewed. The funniest section is Davis' description of making the dreadful Beyond the Forest, about an unhappy woman who wants to get away from the husband and the town in which she lives. "My husband," she says, "should have been Eugene Palette, a big fat character actor. Instead it was Joseph Cotten. Now, who could leave Joseph Cotten?" Davis states she was too old for the character, but doesn't add some other problems (besides the script): the character's name was Rosa Moline, so she had to wear a black wig. She also had to walk on hills and rocks wearing high heels. Age was the least of her problems.