Wednesday, July 9, 2008

CLASHES OF THE TITANS

Nothing perks up a slow day like a good old-fashioned battle of the divas. Bette Davis vs. Anne Baxter in All About Eve. Bette Davis vs. Anne Baxter and Sunset Boulevard's Gloria Swanson for Best Actress at the 1951 Academy Awards. (Non-diva Judy Holliday won--deservedly, in my opinion--for Born Yesterday.) Bette Davis vs. Joan Crawford in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?

Moving right along from Bette and her fighting fits... Shirley MacLaine vs. Anne Bancroft in The Turning Point. Krystle vs. Alexis on Dynasty. (Krystle, after kicking Alexis' butt for the umpteenth time: "If you want a rematch, just whistle.... If you can.") Michael Jackson vs. Paul McCartney on "The Girl Is Mine." Brandy vs. Monica on "The Boy Is Mine." Elton John vs. Tina Turner behind the scenes at VH1's 1999 Divas Live after she dared to give him musical direction while rehearsing their duet of, appropriately, "The Bitch Is Back."

Back to Bette for a second: Her war with Joan actually crossed over into real life. I read somewhere that once, after arriving in her New York City hotel suite, Bette looked outside the window, saw gloomy, gray skies, and declared, "Another shitty day. Joan has seen to that!" Priceless!

But my favorite diva-on-diva diss would have to be the one Omar Sharif bestowed upon his Oscar-winning Funny Girl costar--and ex-flame!--Barbra Streisand (with him, above, in the 1968 film): "I think her biggest problem is that she wants to be a woman and she wants to be beautiful, but she is neither." Ouch!

So, Mr. Sharif, tell us what you really think.

VIDEO Krystle vs. Alexis on Dynasty: Round 47

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I made Dave watch Whatever Happened to Baby Jane the other week. It's so brilliant. My grandmother and her sister used to quote it to each other then cackle with laughter.

Also for the Battle of the Divas: Christina Crawford and Joan Crawford in Mommie Dearest : "I should have known you'd know where to find the boys AND the booze!"