Wicked Stepmother (1989)
Trivia
Despite getting top billing, Bette Davis only appears in the film for roughly 11 minutes.
In the scene where Jenny talks to Steve about how much she misses her mother, we see two pictures of Jenny's deceased mother in her room. Both pictures are of Joan Crawford, Bette Davis ' on-and-off screen rival.
According to actress Colleen Camp, when Bette Davis walked off production several days into shooting, filmmakers reportedly considered recasting role with either Lucille Ball or Bea Arthur, before deciding on bizarre rewrite in which Davis' cat morphs into seductress played by Barbara Carrera.
Bette Davis died eight months after the film was released.
According to Bette Davis, she was so disgusted by the script that she demanded it be rewritten, and left when the filmmakers refused. The script was then reshaped to explain her absence. Larry Cohen says Davis had to leave for New York for medical reasons and that she later claimed she left because of the script because she was worried she wouldn't be able to get another job if people thought she was in too bad health.
Lucille Ball almost replaced Bette Davis, but her own illness led her to back out. She would in fact predecease Bette Davis by several months.
Despite the disjointed end results of the movie caused by Bette Davis suddenly leaving early into the shoot, producer/writer/director Larry Cohen was not only able to sell the finished movie to the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio, he actually managed to make a profit in the process.
A week into principal photography, Bette Davis took a leave of absence for a dental appointment...and never came back. Larry Cohen perceived her exit as a result of her never fully appreciating his directing style.
The picture was nominated for Worst Picture at the Hastings Bad Cinema Society's 12th Stinkers Bad Movie Awards in 1989.
Actor/female impersonator Michael Greer reportedly dubbed in some of Bette Davis' dialog when she left production.
After Jenny throws a bucket of water on her, Priscilla shouts, "This is reality, not MGM!" But in fact, the movie actually was released by MGM.
When Jenny thinks she is seeing Miranda everywhere, she walks off and the camera pushes in on the "Legends of Hollywood" mural that was near the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Hudson Avenue in Hollywood. The stars visible here are Marilyn Monroe, Humphrey Bogart, Fred Astaire, and Bette Davis. Also on the mural, but obscured in this shot by a building were James Dean and Clark Gable. Painted by Eloy Torres in 1983, it was destroyed by the Northridge earthquake on 17 January 1994.
