Bette Davis Saved My Life! Now Voyager, All About Eve, Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte

[00:00:01]Hello movie bucks. It's I, James Vans, with yet another video just for you.

[00:00:06]Where's my wig? Where is my wig?

[00:00:09]All right, we have a wig here. I decided I want to do something new for you folks today. I wanted to do a mash of my old series, Idol worship, as well as like talk about movies and style a wig. So, I'm doing so much for you right now. I wanted to talk about one of my favorite actresses in the entire world, Miss Betty Davis. specifically three movies I think should be highlighted that you should watch. Two of which will be outside of her usual cannon that people recommend and one that is a pinnacle movie you have to watch of hers. Without further ado, let's dive into the genius that is Betty Davis as I style this gorgeous medieval wig in black that I put a custom curl pattern into. So, let's get started, shall we? Now, Betty Davis, in case you don't know who that is, she was a classic actress from Warner Brothers in the old Hollywood times. Her peak was like 1930s to 1940s.

[00:00:59]She had hit after hit after hit. She was a major box office attraction. And honestly, one of the first examples of like [ __ ] virtuosity when it came to the world of cinema.

[00:01:09]>> Like to kiss you, but I just washed my hair. Bye.

[00:01:12]>> Women ate her up because she just dove into films. She approached acting as a character study where she could become a character where she could put on lots of makeup, a funny costume, a different wig, and just dive in and be live in the skin of the character she was portraying.

[00:01:30]>> A woman is beautiful if she has 8 hours sleep and goes to the beauty parlor every day.

[00:01:33]>> Now, the first movie I'd like to talk about is one of her first movies. That's one of the first times Betty really got glam. Now, Betty was not known for being a very attractive woman in the early of her career, but when her career really started to go, there was one movie in particular that really stands out in her filmography that not a lot of people still talk about anymore. It's honestly was really really popular in like the 1960s through 80s. They referenced it quite a bit and now it's sort of become a formulaic kind of plot that's used lots and lots and lots of times over in modern day films. The film I want to discuss first is Now Voyager. Now, Voyager is Betty Davis as Charlotte Vale. And Charlotte Vale is a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She is an old spinster that lives with her mother in a glorious Boston mansion. And her family kind of all picks on her, like they all make fun of her and they treat her like garbage because she has such low self-esteem that's just kind of fun, you know? like they they participate in very mean-spirited jabs in order to like crack at her psyche or at least they don't think they're being mean-spirited. They just don't understand that. Like Charlotte is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. And so much so that her mother has called in a psychiatrist to come and take a look at her much against her better judgment.

[00:02:51]Her mother honestly does not think she needs anything. She thinks she is just faking this for attention and that, you know, she just needs a good talking to and she should be fine. things will come to a head with Charlotte when she's being looked over by the psychiatrist.

[00:03:04]He's basically having her walk him through the house, right? Like, okay, show me your room. Show me how you live.

[00:03:08]This is how you live, honey. Then eventually, they go downstairs for tea after Charlotte basically tells him her sad, sad life story about how she once thought she was in love on a cruise, but her mother got in the way and the man that wanted to marry her, ended up getting sent away and fired from his job and never to be seen again. And she's never felt beautiful. And she's allowed herself to basically wilt. Like she's shrunk herself, made herself smaller so that she could live inside the world her mom c her her mother curates for her and basically become her mother's keeper and her mother's daughter. And Charlotte has wilted. She's gained a lot of weight.

[00:03:45]Her eyebrows have grown in. She wears dowy clothes. And she doesn't really take care of herself. She just sits in her room sulking and smoking. Everybody in her family takes turns kind of just like mocking her like, "Oh, poor cousin Charlotte. She's just an old maid. Well, she comes down for tea and one of her nieces is really going in on her and making fun of her to which Charlotte has a full-on breakdown, which is where that famous scene comes from where it's like, "Go on, torture me. You think it's fun making fun of me, don't you?" And she like runs off from the table like she is cracked. And the doctor sees it and he decides, "We don't need to go any further from here, okay? We're going to take her to our sanitarium and we're going to get her well." and she thinks she's going to get taken over to like, you know, this horrible asylum where they're going to lock her up in a padded room and treat her like garbage. No, no, no. He takes her to a glorious, lavish, beautiful recovery center where she's allowed to like see the son and go out and like, you know, just live as a person again amongst the public. And it's coming to the end of her term there. And she's a little worried about going back home because the doctor keeps saying she is almost well. She's just about there, but there's just one more thing she has to do, one more test she has to take. And that test is him and her aunt are conspiring to send her away on a cruise. And it's a cruise going all throughout South America to help her see the world. And honestly, when she was with her mother, her mother always told her, "Do not go outside this world. Do not talk to tourists. Don't act like a common person, okay? We are a high society. Don't go mingling with the rabble." They tell her the exact opposite. They said they make friends, treat people wonderfully, and enjoy every new adventure that comes your way.

[00:05:23]And this is truly what you need to be able to live your life again and make decisions for yourself cuz that's truly her mother is a spectre and her mother haunts her. And she goes on this cruise and within the first couple days, she starts to open up and she starts to dress a little differently. She's losing weight. She's looking more wonderful.

[00:05:42]And there's that iconic scene of her embarking on the cruise where you see her after all is said and done with those white shoes and that beautiful hat. Her hair is pulled up in a shinyang and she looks beautiful and you think to yourself, "Wow, she has really [music] metamorphosized. The icebergs have melted. She has become a woman." And why this movie is so popular amongst the gay community is because gay people, especially back then, often did feel cloistered. like you could not express who you were freely. You were a prisoner in your own life. Especially in the time when this came out, this resonated with a lot of gay men because they wanted more than anything to just go out in the sun and live their best life and not be in fear. And that's what Charlotte is.

[00:06:26]She's in fear. She's in fear of what her mother will do to her, being cut out of her will, having no access to power. And that is truly where Charlotte just starts to take her life back and even takes on a lover. like she starts to live freely when she's away from her mother's watchful eye. As soon as her cruise is over, she's met a man. She's fallen in love with him. The one downside is the man is married and he's got a child, but he's not happy with her and he wants more than anything to be with her and [music] they can't be together. So, Charlotte breaks it off amicably.

[00:06:59]She confesses her love in the most beautiful scene ever where you see her talking about how she doesn't feel like she's ever deserved this. like no one's ever called her darling before. Like he's even like why are you crying? Like she's never felt more beautiful and more wanted. And that was the real real prefaces of this movie was like how important it is to feel like somebody wants you to be chosen. And honestly it was all just through simple acts of being herself, being her authentic self.

[00:07:28]It wasn't she changed herself for the better. It wasn't she changed herself for other people. She wanted to fix herself to live to keep herself alive because she was burying herself away and giving up. Like she was a woman who had given up and all she needed to do was break away and go away and just like be away from all those awful influences that tell her and beat her down and say you need to shrink. Now the cruise is about to end. She breaks off amicably.

[00:07:54]She doesn't want to. She loves this man, right? But she knows she has to return home to Boston and be with her mother.

[00:08:00]And you fear because you know the second she goes back it's going to fall right back in those old patterns, right? Like her mother's going to go back to treating her like garbage. And for the first 15 minutes of this, you feel like, "Oh my god, her mother's telling her to walk back and forth and turn around like take that makeup off. Wear that dress I bought for you. Like put your glasses on when you had this dinner with the we have when we have dinner with the family. Don't let them see you like this." Like it's very like that and like oh no. Poor Charlotte is going to revert right back into it. And the most wonderful thing happens.

[00:08:29]She stands up to her mother.

[00:08:31]>> You didn't want me to be born either with a calamity on both sides.

[00:08:34]>> And the mom does something the most dramatic thing I've ever seen in my life. The mom throws herself down the stairs. [laughter] I think she fell. But I I always believe that she throws herself down like just to get her daughter to feel bad for her, right? But the crazy thing is like she feels bad, but not in the way she thought she would. She's like, "You know what? Okay, that's fine. We have maids and nurses that can take care of you.

[00:08:59]Like, I'm not going to keep doing this for you, lady. Like, I'm going to go live my life. And the mother tries everything in her power to threaten her and say like, I'll cut you off. You are soon to be the most rich person in the Veil family if if you play by my rules.

[00:09:11]To which she's just like, you know what, that's fine. I'll go be a waitress. I don't care. And the mother is so takenback by this that you see she's kind of like starting to respect her.

[00:09:21]And later on, they end up mending the relationship and the mother ends up cooling down because she realizes she's been stunting her daughter all these years and stopping her from living.

[00:09:32]Like, it is so so beautiful. And I don't want to give away too much the ending goes cuz the ending is iconic. But definitely check out Now Voyager cuz it is so wonderful and it resonates so much with the gay community and I think you're really going to love it. Now, I'm going to start teasing this wig and I'll be right back and talk about our second film. The one I feel like is probably most discussed with Betty Davis aside from another one, but you have to watch this one. We did an obscure one. We're going to do a more well-known one and then another obscure one. Be right back.

[00:10:01]Welcome back. All right, I teased this wig out. Now, it's time to start styling it and talk about our next film. Now, our next movie is in the Betty Davis Cannon. Like her top performance ever.

[00:10:13]Like this is one that should be studied by people. That of course is Betty Davis and All About Eve. I've talked about a little bit here on this channel. Like I did a whole like full breakdown on it, but I never really got into like really dissecting as to why gay people really really like this movie. Now, all about Eve. I have a whole video dedicated to it on this channel. But to sum it up briefly for you, Betty Davis plays Margot Channing, who is like the queen top actress of the theater. And she takes under her wing a girl who sells her a sob story that is her biggest fan.

[00:10:47]And you know, her life was saved by Margot Channing. You know, Margot Channing's acting is the reason for her to breathe is essentially what she was saying to her. And Margot buys it hook, line, and sinker. And she lets this woman into her house. She lets her into her group of friends. Everyone befriends her. They all love her. They all think she's wonderful. [music] But underneath the surface, Eve has been studying Margot Channing. The way she walks, talks, acts, and sleeps. Like, she wants to learn everything about her so that she can usurp her and become the next Margot Channing. And she does. But Margot, unfortunately, learns the truth far far far too late. And Eve comes very very close to taking her man. All right.

[00:11:30]You can take my love, you can take my body, you can. But if you touch my man, you touch too much is what Margot is saying. Okay. One of the big reasons of why this movie is so beloved in the gay community is because well, gays all can relate to growing older and the fear of growing older, which is a central theme of All About Eve. Like Margot Channing is obsessed with her age. Like she's reached the age of 40 and she thinks her goose is cooked. like she thinks she's basically going to be like put out the pastor pretty soon, especially considering like her director best friend keeps casting her and writing parts for her where she's playing a woman of 25 years old. And she knows as well as others that she can't keep doing this and eventually the critics are going to be nasty about it and really start to point it out more and more. And she wants him to start writing her like more appropriate parts or just more interesting love stories than the ones she's dealing out right now. Margot is really tested with Eve when it comes to her man Joe Gillis, who is played by the [ __ ] hot Gary Merrill. Oh my god, he's so hot. But I digress. You can tell, no wonder Margot was pissed, okay?

[00:12:35]No wonder she ruins a dinner party over this man, okay? She's just like, "Look, this is my man, [ __ ] Like, you to back up." Like Love Island has nothing on this dinner party scene where like the biggest piece of action is Betty Davis running down a staircase so she can catch Joe talking to Eve and she knows that little [ __ ] is talking to him.

[00:12:53]Like she's on to her and she lets the claws out, but it all is Eve's plan to make Margot look crazy and make everyone look at Margot like she's overreacting and creating a mountain out of nothing.

[00:13:05]It's like she fools everybody. Like Eve is one of the great villains of this picture. And Betty Davis, you think the fact that she's playing the woman that's basically being usurped and having the wool pull over her eyes, you think she wouldn't be entertaining, but by all means, Betty Davis is like on fire in this. This is her most entertaining role. Like, she's so funny in it. Like, she's all these mannerisms and like witicisms. Like, she's so great. She doesn't suffer fools. And even when she's having the [ __ ] pulled over her eyes, she still has such a great snarky sense of humor. Like, this is such a good broad comedy. And gay men, we really resonated with this because like everyone has that idea of like, you know, maybe your lover is going to replace you down the line with someone a newer, hotter model or even in your workplace where you feel like you're the queen bee, there's always somebody nipping at your heels, okay? Like Britney Spears is always nipping at your heels. You're always going to be replaceable. Like nothing in this world is guaranteed to you. No matter how much work you put in, your exit will always be unceremonious. And that's something a lot of people fear, especially in show business. just like there is no loyalty even among friends. And what's upsetting about this movie is like Eve convinces everyone to betray Margot from her close friends to even minor acquaintances.

[00:14:16]Like she uses them all and convinces them all that like she's doing too much.

[00:14:21]Like I don't know why she's acting like this with me. Like I'm so innocent and it's nothing of the sort. And it sounds like it'd be really really devastating, but it's so fun to watch because she does it in ways where it's not malicious and it doesn't really like hurt anyone particularly where they can't recover from it. Like just not realizing this girl you care so much about is such a climber and is just using you. Us gay folks can we can resonate that quite a bit because we get used all the time by people be it our straight friends or even our close acquaintances. Like people will often use your divinity and not really appreciate you or see the magic that you bring until it's too late. Like we've all come across that one upstart queen that just wants to use you and you don't really notice it until it's too late that this person doesn't really have a whole lot to give and doesn't really value you as a person.

[00:15:10]And like what's so marvelous about Margot is like yeah her friend betrays her but she takes it in stride and she moves on and she moves on to better things. Like, yeah, the career she had may not be what it is anymore, but she's found happiness and purpose somewhere else, which is a running theme amongst a lot of Betty Davis movies, which is like, don't be afraid to start over or start again or start something new, to embark on a new journey. Like, that's something you shouldn't fear as a person.

[00:15:37]>> The things you'll drop on your way up the ladder so you can move faster. You forget you'll need them again when you get back to being a woman.

[00:15:41]>> Or in the 1930s terms, when these movies were coming out, that's something you shouldn't fear as a woman. like you should not be afraid to start over or to embark on a new journey or a new adventure. Like sometimes it's just what your life needs. All right, I'm going to smooth this out a little bit and I'll be right back with our third and final film we'll talk about. Be right back. Welcome back. I am sitting here smoothing this out. Let's talk about our third and final picture, shall we? Now, this is a third more obscure film of Betty Davis's I wanted to bring your attention to.

[00:16:12]Now, I talked about Now Voyager, All About Eve. I think it's time we talk about Hush Hush, Sweet Charlotte. Now, it's often overshadowed by its predecessor, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. Bear in mind, it is not a sequel.

[00:16:26]This film is not a sequel. It is its own creation. It just happened to come from the success of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane with Betty Davis and Joan Crawford.

[00:16:35]Well, what sets this movie apart is that it is both written by Henry Frell, who wrote the original book. This is the short story, Whatever Happened to Cousin Charlotte, that they adapted and expanded upon for this film. And it is essentially a swap, like a villain swap, where instead of Betty playing the great ghoulish villain, Betty Davis is playing the victim in this and Joan Crawford will be playing the great heel. Well, after the whole Oscar debacle with Anne Braftoft winning best actress and Bae Davis feeling in her heart that she was robbed of an Academy Award, she swore upon herself that if her and Joan worked together again, she was going to make her life a living hell. And by golly, she lived by that. They got cast in this movie together. And it started off nice at first and then suddenly Betty Davis basically brought Joan Crawford to her knees very very quickly.

[00:17:31]>> Like she would make loud comments while Joan would talk. She replaced the Pepsi machine on set with a Coke machine. Like she did anything she could to throw her off her game to where Joan eventually would stop showing up and fake a whole battle with pneumonia, like an illness.

[00:17:47]Basically set production behind schedule. Well, they had decided they were going to cast somebody else. They went to all sorts of women like Loretta Young and Barbara Stanwick. All were huge, huge friends of Joan Crawford, allies. They did not want to go behind her back. And the third and most stunty of all that they really tried to get and really really worked hard to get was Vivian Lee. To which Vivian Lee famously quipped, "Oh no, I could barely wake up at 6:00 in the morning to see Joan Crawford. I could never do that for Betty Davis.

[00:18:20][laughter] So they went with a safer alternative.

[00:18:25]Another Gone with the Wind alumni and good friend of Betty Davis, Olivia De Havland, who honestly is really really beautiful. Her performance is this is very stilted. Like she's very very flat.

[00:18:38]Charie, what's the matter with you?

[00:18:42][laughter] But it's I that's iconic. Like there's so many creative choices. Like Betty Davis has the countryest of country accents and this movie's plot I really really like. I will argue it is better than whatever happened to Baby Jane.

[00:18:56]It's got a far more interesting story and a lot more interesting stuff and violent things happen in it. So if you're like a really horror like buff, you're going to love it. So what happens is Charlotte is the daughter of a wealthy plantation owner. And at a party, it is revealed that Charlotte's bow, John, is actually a married man.

[00:19:16]He's carrying on affair with Charlotte to which John's wife, Juel Mayhew, goes and makes a point to tell the father that they are carrying on this dirty affair. [music] And Charlotte's father tells Jon he has to break it off at this party. He can no longer see his daughter again. Like, he will never let this happen. So, Jon breaks the news to her. And Charlotte goes off the rails and screams, "I could kill you." Well, the door closes. Jon sits in the dark. And suddenly he sees a door open and he thinks it's Charlotte, but soon what comes in the view is a giant meat cleaver. And it goes, takes off his hand. He screams bloody murder.

[00:19:57]It goes up again. Whack whack. It takes off his head. Jon is murdered. Cut to Charlotte entering the ballroom where the party is all going on. Everyone's doing the Charleston. They're all having a good time. It comes to a screeching halt and you see a young Betty Davis Charlotte in a white white bell dress with blood going down the front of it.

[00:20:20]Charlotte is responsible for John's murder. [music] Years later, her father is dead and she is a spinster living alone in said dilapidated decaying mansion in the south. and she is firing off her guns at developers because they want to build a freeway through that land and they want her to sell and she refuses to budge. Like this house has too many memories. She doesn't want to leave it cuz she doesn't know how to like exist outside of it. Well, she calls in her cousin Miriam who grew up with her. She was her white trash cousin that was very very poor and brought into the family to have a better advantage by living with this well-off family. So, she brings in her cousin Miriam, who's now a successful businesswoman, to help her fix things up. And it's honestly just Charlotte and her white trash maid Velma, who is played by Ages Morehead.

[00:21:08]And her her accent in this is everything. Like, just watch the trailer. You'll get a taste of her.

[00:21:13]Like, what's going on in here that y'all don't want me to see? [laughter] But again, it's another theme that runs through and through with Betty Davis films where change. We're all so afraid of change and we're all afraid of like the outside world and what it could possibly have in store for us to where you would rather feel cloistered and feel safe and never let things change rather than go out and experience a new adventure. And Charlotte is that theme pushed to its extreme. Like she has locked herself away in this mansion and has blamed herself for her unhappiness.

[00:21:47]And so much so to the point that she doesn't even remember what happened that night anymore. like it's so traumatic to her and so hard for her to think about and Miriam comes back and decides, you know what, let's gaslight this [ __ ] Oh my god, it turns into a amazing gaslighting story with Miam and all of her cohorts who are trying to drive Charlotte to the brink of insanity. And this movie would become a major major charge in the world of cinema. like it stars so many amazing actors, Academy Award winners, and even its theme song, Hush Hush, Sweet Charlotte, became a standard love song in the 1960s, especially a very, very big hit for the singer Patty Paige, which is crazy to think about. Like, you do hear the song from time to time being played. Like, it's a beautiful song. Like, hush Hush, Sweet Charlotte is a really beautiful song. And honestly, I stand by it. I think this movie is far more entertaining than Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. like Betty Davis gives a far more interesting performance and she has a lot more to do and the film does not pull any punches. It really does bring the horror and suspense that you expected from whatever happened to Baby Jane and didn't necessarily get like hush hush sweet Charlotte really delivers on that. Now I'm going to cut the lace on this and try this on. I'll be right back with our final result.

[00:23:06]Welcome back. This is the final result and she will be available at jamesmansfieldbeauty.com.

[00:23:12]If you love my styled wigs, be sure and check that out for some gorgeous ready toear hair. That's jamesmanskillbeauty.com.

[00:23:20]All right. Now, I have to say I really, really love the way this hair came out.

[00:23:24]I think it's so beautiful. Like very burlesque ready, like very sexy. I feel like Maria Montes right now. Now, I hope you enjoyed my recommendations for Betty Davis films. Two obscure and one essential. Now, honestly, if you ask me, I think they're all essential viewing.

[00:23:40]But if you want to shape your mind and learn some new references and honestly have an experience like especially with now Voyager an out-of- body experience is what I had the first time I watched it. It was so beautiful. And then All About Eve is so fun and so biting.

[00:23:55]You're going to get such a lesson in how to like have witty comebacks and and really sharpen your teeth when it comes to being clever as a gay person. and then Hush Hush, Sweet Charlotte, where you get to see what it's like to age and why you shouldn't be afraid to live your life. I hope you enjoy my recommendations. Let me know if you've seen these movies or if you decide to seek them out after watching this video.

[00:24:17]Please let me know down below what you thought. I'm love to hear from you. If there's any actress you want me to pick three more movies from, be sure and leave it down below as well. I love taking in your recommendations. I think next maybe Joan Crawford because I have three movies in mind that I think people need to see. All right. And before I go, I have to take a moment for my wiglets.

[00:24:35]Roll it.

[00:24:36]>> A moment for my wiglets. I just want to say thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. You, too. Thank you so much. Oh, and you. I can't forget you. Thank you so much. Oh, and you, of course. How could I forget you? Thank you so much.

[00:24:50]Especially you. Thank you. Oh my god.

[00:24:53]Thank you so much. Oh, thank you. Thank you so so so much.

[00:24:59]How would I live without you? Thank you.

[00:25:01]Oh my god, without you, I'm nothing.

[00:25:05]Thank you.

[00:25:06]>> Thank you so much, Wiglets. And here's to our community spotlight. Thank you so much for those wonderful comments about me community. I love you. Now, thank you all so much for watching. Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe. And I'll see you all in the next one.

[00:25:20]Bye-bye. Now, hit the outro.

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[00:25:45]Styling hair from head to toe.

[00:25:49]Watch the [music] transformation.