In February 2017, FX renewed the series for a second season. Following a hiatus, in April 2022, it was announced that the second season would be Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, with Jon Robin Baitz serving as showrunner/writer, Gus Van Sant as director, and Naomi Watts starring as Babe Paley. The season will focus on the fallout of a roman à clef story written by author Truman Capote based on the lives of several New York socialites. It premiered on January 31, 2024.[1]
The second season (subtitled Capote vs. The Swans) focuses on the end of Truman Capote's friendships with many New York socialites nicknamed "The Swans" when he lightly fictionalizes their lives in published excerpts from his ultimately unfinished novel Answered Prayers.
Alison Wright as Pauline Jameson, Aldrich's assistant
Recurring
Catherine Zeta-Jones as Olivia de Havilland, Davis's friend and fellow actress who co-stars with her in Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte and participates in a 1970s documentary on Crawford
Kathy Bates as Joan Blondell, Davis's friend and fellow actress who participates in a 1970s documentary on Crawford
In 1978, filmmaker Adam Friedman interviews Olivia de Havilland and Joan Blondell for a documentary about the complex relationship between Joan Crawford and Bette Davis. Seventeen years earlier, with her career gradually waning, Joan pitches a film adaptation of the horror novel What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? to Bette and director Robert Aldrich. Aldrich, in turn, brings Baby Jane to Jack L. Warner, who comes on board despite his hatred for both women. But as filming begins, Joan's acute narcissism and Bette's strong opinions quickly put them at odds.
Bette and Joan act on their shared interest to eliminate a showy supporting actress, but their problems at home spill over at work. Jack forces Aldrich to create a power play between the two actresses for hype.
Contrary to all expectations, Baby Jane is a huge hit. With no other film offers, Joan's jealousy grows as Bette's performance is critically acclaimed. She fears that she will not get an Oscar nomination, but that Bette will. Meanwhile, Pauline hopes to direct her own film but is discouraged by the lack of support from Aldrich and Joan.
Bette is on track to win a record-breaking third Best Actress Oscar. Joan and Hedda Hopper launch a clandestine campaign against her. Joan bullies nominee Geraldine Page to skip the ceremony and allow Joan to accept the award on her behalf if she wins; Anne Bancroft, unable to attend, also allows Joan to accept her award. Offering herself as a presenter, Joan arrives at the 1963 Academy Awards ceremony dressed like a "silver Oscar." With a shocked Olivia de Havilland and crushed Bette watching, Joan accepts the Oscar for Bancroft.
As Joan promotes her new film, Strait-Jacket, Jack enlists Aldrich to write and direct a new film in the successful "Hagsploitation" genre. Aldrich ultimately takes his script, called Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte, to Darryl F. Zanuck to produce, angering Jack. Aldrich lures Joan in return for top billing, and Bette in return for creative control. Bette becomes increasingly unreasonable, and Joan's suspicions about Bette's influence over Aldrich are confirmed when Joan hears Bette having champagne with him.
With Robert's divorce pending, he and Bette have an affair. On location filming Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte, Joan feels disrespected by the production (especially after being left behind when the production wrapped in Baton Rouge) and comes to resent Bette's creative input as a producer. On the other hand, Bette is relishing her new role as a producer but is haunted by Jack Warner's mistreatment when she first started in Hollywood. When filming returns to Los Angeles, Joan fakes an illness to stall production in hopes that 20th Century Fox will cancel the film. She eventually learns that the studio is suing her for breach of contract and, while in the hospital, learns via radio announcement that Olivia has replaced her. Hysterical, Joan destroys her hospital room, and Mamacita leaves her.
8
8
"You Mean All This Time We Could Have Been Friends?"
Following the critical failure of her latest film, Trog, and bad publicity photos, Joan officially retires from acting. In the following years, she moves to New York City. Realizing how miserable she is alone, she makes amends with Mamacita and her daughter, Cathy. One night, Joan hallucinates Jack and Hedda having a party in her apartment, where she joins them and is later joined by Bette. In the fantasy, Joan and Bette end their feud and speak civilly toward each other about one another. In mid-1977, Joan's health deteriorates rapidly, and she dies with Mamacita at her side. Meanwhile, Bette, who has worked consistently since Sweet Charlotte, learns of Joan's death via a journalist who asks for comment. Bette responds with one final negative comment towards Joan. At the 1978 Academy Awards ceremony, Adam finishes his interviews for his documentary, with Bette refusing to be a part. Bette, Olivia, and others express sadness at Joan's brief appearance in the In Memoriam segment, while simultaneously being horrified by the brevity of the moment. A flashback to the first day of filming Baby Jane shows Bette and Joan chatting happily before going into their separate trailers.
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'."[13] Murphy first conceived Bette and Joan as a film years before the FX series, and approached both Sarandon and Lange about the lead roles.[14] Sarandon said, "It just felt like it didn't have a context, just being bitchy and kind of funny, but what else? In expanding it to eight hours, you could get more complexity and so many other characters."[15]
Feud: Bette and Joan was being written at the same time that Murphy was forming his Half Foundation, which promotes an increased presence of women in film and television production positions.[15] The series features 15 acting roles for women over 40,[15] and half the episodes were directed by women, including actress Helen Hunt.[14] Initially conceived as an anthology series, Feud, developed by Murphy, was picked up to series by FX on May 5, 2016.[16]Bette and Joan was inspired by the real-life feud between Crawford and Davis,[16] and explores issues of sexism, ageism, and misogyny in Hollywood.[15] Its eight episodes were expanded from a feature-length screenplay Murphy had optioned called Best Actress by Jaffe Cohen and Michael Zam.[17]
Sarandon said, "In our story, it was a fact that [the people behind Baby Jane] encouraged the animosity [between Crawford and Davis], first of all to control them, second of all to make what they thought was more onscreen tension, and that really hasn't changed a lot."[15] Melanie McFarland of Salon wrote that the series shows "just how brutal the Hollywood system was on some of the greatest talents in its firmament" and that it "cuts to the root of why collaborating and delighting in the fall of the mighty is eternally marketable."[18] The Crawford-Davis feud was also documented in Shaun Considine's 1989 book Bette and Joan: The Divine Feud.[19]
Sarandon admitted to initially being "overwhelmed and terrified" about the prospect of portraying Davis accurately. She said, "She's so big and she really was so big, so I tried not to make her a caricature or someone a female impersonator would do ... That was my fear, that she would just be kind of one-dimensional."[15] Lange said her performance was informed by her view that Crawford's "brutal childhood" was masked by the "beautiful, impenetrable veneer of this great, gorgeous movie star ... So she was always on, which is a tremendous burden in and of itself, but always there was this thing lurking underneath of being this poverty-stricken, abused, unloved, abandoned young child and woman."[15] Both Sarandon and Lange researched their roles by reading books by and about Davis and Crawford, and watching and listening to TV performances and recordings.[14][28]
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,[35] the season was first titled Charles and Diana, then renamed Buckingham Palace,[36] with Matthew Goode and Rosamund Pike cast in the titular roles.[37] Plans for Buckingham Palace were eventually scrapped in August 2018.[38] In November 2019, Murphy stated he was open to resume work on Feud.[39]
Murphy gave several interviews about Feud during the 2017 Winter TCA Press Tour.[40] The show's first teaser trailer was released on January 19, 2017, and the second the following day.[41] That same week, Lange and Sarandon appeared on the cover of Entertainment Weekly as Crawford and Davis.[42] FX released another teaser on January 23, two on February 5, one on February 7, and one on February 8.[43][44][45][46][47] A short commercial for the show also aired during Super Bowl LI.[48]
Premiere
Feud had its official premiere at the Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on March 1, 2017.[49] Before the show's premiere, FX held screenings of the pilot episode at several gay bars across the United States.[50]
Broadcast
The first season of eight episodes, Bette and Joan, premiered in the United States on March 5, 2017, on FX[51] and on BBC Two in the United Kingdom on December 16, 2017.[52]
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.[1]
Soundtrack
The original television soundtrack of Feud: Bette and Joan, with music by Mac Quayle, was released in two editions: a regular edition with 23 tracks, and a limited edition with 31 tracks.[citation needed]
Reception
Critical response
Bette and Joan
Feud received critical acclaim, with major praise for Lange and Sarandon's performances. On review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, the first season has an approval rating of 95% based on 118 reviews, with an average rating of 8.15/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "While campily and sweetly indulgent, Feud: Bette and Joan provides poignant understanding of humanity, sorrow, and pain while breezily feeding inquisitive gossip-starved minds."[53] On Metacritic, the first season has a score of 81 out of 100, based on 44 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[54]
Melanie McFarland of Salon called the writing "creatively wicked" and the series "outrageously fantastic", praising Lange and Sarandon for their performances and for "tempering their decadent rages and vengeful spats with a gutting sense of loneliness that tempers its lightness in solemnity."[18] Verne Gay of Newsday wrote that the series is "Full of joy, humor, brilliant writing and performances, and a deep unabiding love for what really makes Hollywood great—the women."[55]People called the series "bitter, biting and entertaining".[56]The Atlantic's Spencer Kornhaber described the first few episodes as "deft and satisfying" but suggested that "maybe six installments, rather than eight, were all this tale needed".[57]Alan Sepinwall of Uproxx wrote that the series is "big and it's catty, but it's also smart and elegant, with the old Hollywood setting toning down some of Murphy's more scattershot creative impulses."[58]Emily Nussbaum, in The New Yorker, praised Murphy's ambition and lauded both stars, saying of the series, "Beneath the zingers and the poolside muumuus, the show's stark theme is how skillfully patriarchy screws with women's heads—mostly by building a home in there."[59]
Not all reviews were positive. Sonia Saraiya of Variety compared Bette and Joan unfavorably to Murphy's The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story, writing that Feud is "neither as brilliantly campy and hateful as What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? nor as contextualizing and profound as People v. O. J. Simpson."[17] David Weigand of the San Francisco Chronicle gave the series a mixed review, criticizing the script and Lange's performance, but praising Sarandon's, writing: "Lange is always interesting, but she’s only occasionally convincing here as Crawford. The voice is too high, for one thing. Sarandon fares better, as much good as that does with such a lousy script."[60]The Guardian also criticized the series for being "lightweight", noting, "At just eight episodes, there’s almost too much to cover and at times, one craves a little more depth to certain moments." They singled out Lange's performance, however, writing, "Lange in particular moves past just an easy impression to something with far more weight. In a reversal of fortune that would make Crawford cackle in her grave, it’s likely that she’ll be the one up for awards at the end of the year rather than her co-star."[61]
Capote vs. The Swans
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Feud: Capote vs. The Swans has an approval rating of 77% based on 79 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "While this Feud might lack the abundance of incident that made its predecessor such a nasty delight, Capote vs. the Swans' luxe milieu and dynamite ensemble will keep spectators entertained."[62] On Metacritic, the season has a score of 70 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[63]
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.[64] 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.[65] The various defendants filed a motion to dismiss under California's "anti-SLAPP" law. The trial court denied the motion but, on March 26, 2018, the California Court of Appeal, Second District, reversed the decision and ordered the lawsuit dismissed on the grounds that no person can "own history". The Court of Appeal further ruled the defendants were entitled to be reimbursed their attorneys' fees.[66] De Havilland filed for estoppels to pursue action with higher courts, securing a restraining order against Murphy and the production company from airing Feud until further review and a court date with the United States Supreme Court. In January 2019, the Supreme Court declined to hear the case.[67]
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.[3][68] 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 rated new series debut on FX since The People v. O. J. Simpson.[69][70]
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.
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