Joan Crawford
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Feud: Created by Jaffe Cohen, Ryan Murphy, Michael Zam, Jon Robin Baitz. With Jessica Lange, Alison Wright, Naomi Watts, Susan Sarandon. An anthology series centering on famous feuds, including Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, and Truman Capote and the New York elite.
- (27K)
- 2017-03-05
- Biography, Drama
- 60
- Summary
- Cast and Characters
- Production
- Release
- Reception
- Further Reading
The first season (subtitled Bette and Joan) centers on the backstage battle between Bette Davis (Susan Sarandon) and Joan Crawford (Jessica Lange) during and after the production of their 1962 film What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?. The second season (subtitled Capote vs. The Swans) focuses on the end of Truman Capote's friendships with many New Yor...
Capote vs. The Swans
1. Naomi Watts as Babe Paley 2. Diane Lane as Slim Keith 3. Chloë Sevigny as C. Z. Guest 4. Calista Flockhart as Lee Radziwill 5. Demi Moore as Ann Woodward 6. Molly Ringwald as Joanne Carson 7. Treat Williams as Bill Paley 8. Joe Mantello as Jack Dunphy 9. Russell Toveyas John O'Shea 10. Tom Hollander as Truman Capote
Development
Ryan Murphy, a fan of Davis since his childhood, interviewed the actress just months before her death in 1989. The agreed-upon 20-minute interview lasted four hours, and inspired his characterization of Davis in Feud. He said, "When I would ask her about Joan Crawford ... She would just go on about how much she hated her. But then she would sort of say ... 'She was a professional. And I admired that'." Murphy first conceived Bette and Joan as a film years before the FX series, and approached...
Casting
Frequent Murphy collaborator Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon were attached to star as Joan Crawford and Bette Davis in Feud. Alfred Molina, Stanley Tucci, Judy Davis, and Dominic Burgess were also a part of the cast, in the roles of Robert Aldrich, Jack L. Warner, Hedda Hopper, and Victor Buono, respectively. In August 2016, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Sarah Paulson joined the cast playing Olivia de Havilland and Geraldine Page, respectively. In September 2016, it was reported that American Hor...
Future
FX renewed the series for a 10-episode second season on February 28, 2017, with Murphy and Jon Robin Baitz attached as writers. Initially planned with a focus on the relationship between Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales, the season was first titled Charles and Diana, then renamed Buckingham Palace, with Matthew Goode and Rosamund Pike cast in the titular roles. Plans for Buckingham Palace were eventually scrapped in August 2018. In November 2019, Murphy stated he was open...
Marketing
Murphy gave several interviews about Feud during the 2017 Winter TCA Press Tour. The show's first teaser trailer was released on January 19, 2017, and the second the following day. That same week, Lange and Sarandon appeared on the cover of Entertainment Weekly as Crawford and Davis. FX released another teaser on January 23, two on February 5, one on February 7, and one on February 8. A short commercial for the show also aired during Super Bowl LI.
Premiere
Feud had its official premiere at the Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on March 1, 2017. Before the show's premiere, FX held screenings of the pilot episode at several gay barsacross the United States.
Broadcast
The first season of eight episodes, Bette and Joan, premiered in the United States on March 5, 2017, on FX and on BBC Twoin the United Kingdom on December 16, 2017. The second season of eight episodes, Capote vs. The Swans, premiered in the United States on January 31, 2024, on FX, with a special Director’s Cut of the first episode simulcasting on its sibling network FXX.
Controversy
On June 30, 2017, a day before her 101st birthday, actress Olivia de Havilland filed a lawsuit against Feud: Bette and Joan for inaccurately portraying her and using her likeness without permission. The lawsuit stated that the pseudo-documentary-style of the series leads viewers to believe that the statements made by the actress portraying de Havilland in the show are accurate, but that in fact de Havilland had not said such things in real life. The various defendants filed a motion to dismis...
Ratings
The first episode drew 2.26 million live-plus-same-day viewers, which Deadline.com characterized as "solid" and made it the most watched program on FX that week. In comparison, the premiere of The People v. O. J. Simpson attracted 5.1 million viewers in 2016, and the FX limited series Fargo got 2.66 million in 2014. The premiere earned 3.8 million viewers in the Nielsen live-plus-three-days ratings, and 5.17 million viewers total when including two encore broadcasts, making it the highest rat...
Mascio, Antonella (2023). "Feud: Bette and Joan. The representation of ageing in TV series between crisis and wardrobes". Film, Fashion & Consumption. 12 (2): 139–150. doi:10.1386/ffc_00058_1.
“Feud: Bette & Joan” is very watchable. Its star power is so bright—both in characters and the people who play them—that it’s almost impossible not to be at least engaged by it as pure spectacle.
FEUD: Bette and Joan, the first installment of the new FX anthology series from Ryan Murphy, tells the story of the legendary rivalry between Joan Crawford (Jessica Lange) and Bette Davis (Susan Sarandon) during their collaboration on the Academy Award®-nominated thriller What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, and well after the cameras stopped rolling.
co-stars Joan Crawford and Bette Davis, two of the most prolific actresses in the history of Hollywood, had a famous feud while shooting the 1962 film.
- (118)
- March 5, 2017
- Ryan Murphy, Gwyneth Horder-Payton
Jan 13, 2024 · Feud: Bette and Joan uncovers the deep-seated sexism in Hollywood during the 1950s and 1960s. The rivalry between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford fueled their critically acclaimed film,...
Feb 23, 2017 · Bette and Joan’s co-star Victor Buono (Dominic Burgess) lives the double life of illegal homosexuality that the era required, even in the enclave of Hollywood.
